Democrats grill Trump nominees on gay marriage again and again and again



Senate Democrats are obsessed with sex. Each of Trump's nominees to the departments of defense, housing, and the Central Intelligence Agency endured a steady bombardment of questions about gay marriage. It was a needless LGBT hat-trick.

At all three hearings, Democrats demonstrated how their fascination with gay marriage eclipses their interest in military preparedness, urban development, and cybersecurity. Even more telling, they completely disregarded the president-elect's position on social issues.

Trump might have campaigned against political correctness. But he didn't run to resurrect the religious right's crusade for traditional marriage. On social issues, he's less Pat Buchanan and more Mitch Daniels. Anyone who doubts that should revisit Trump's 60 Minutes interview and Vice President-elect Mike Pence's Focus on the Family roundtable.

One more time, the president-elect accepts gay marriage as "the law of the land." And his vice-president advocated an era of gay federalism. But even those facts still couldn't stop the repetitive questions.

As the Islamic State endures and Al-Qaeda metastasizes, Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand opted to ask secretary of defense nominee James Mattis about gays and women in the military. While the Marine commander has been critical of the Obama administration's social engineering in the ranks, the nominee said he's primarily focused on military readiness.

Continually pressed about the sexual preferences of his enlisted men and women, Mattis echoed the party line. "Frankly, senator," he said, "I've never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with."

Things weren't much different for Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan. Russia might have undermined an election recently, but Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., grilled the aspiring CIA chief about employee benefits for gay public servants. She spent most of her allotted time on questions that, frankly, were better suited for Langley's HR department.

Harris wanted assurances that the top spy would "not put in place any policies that would discriminate against any members because of their sexual orientation." Without hesitation, just like his bosses promised to leave the LGBT issue be, Pompeo gave it.

Even evangelical favorite Ben Carson didn't bite at the question when pressed by Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Asked about protections for same-sex marriages, the HUD nominee replied that he'd "enforce all the laws of the land." Though a vocal opponent of gay marriage, the neurosurgeon and aspiring bureaucrat held his tongue.

In three separate committee rooms, each Trump nominee gave a variation of the same answer: Gay marriage is the law of the land and they don't plan on challenging it.



When Trump won, Democrats lost an opportunity to advance the ball on LGBT issues. No doubt that's a defeat for them. But the incoming executive is exponentially more moderate than a potential President Rubio or a Commander in Chief Cruz. Rather than ignore the facts and monger fear, they should focus on winning other issues.

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