Medved: Trump’s cabinet picks amid controversial pardons

In a sweeping, historic move, President Biden has granted nearly 1,500 pardons, including three individuals from Washington state — a paralegal in Seattle, a woman in Colville and a veteran in Cowlitz County — all of whom had non-violent drug offenses. This unprecedented act of clemency has sparked a debate on the presidential pardon power, especially as incoming President Donald Trump promises to pardon January 6 rioters within his first nine hours in office.

Michael Medved, a political analyst, suggested on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, it might be time to rethink the pardon system.

“The one terrible mistake that Biden made was pardoning his son separately,” he said. “If Hunter’s pardon had been included among the 1,500 others, it would have been different.”

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Most of Biden’s pardons were for individuals who had been moved from jail to house arrest due to COVID-19, highlighting the pandemic’s impact on the prison system.

However, changing the President’s pardon power would require a constitutional amendment, which is unlikely.

“It’s constitutionally protected,” Medved noted. “You can’t really restrict it in any meaningful way.”

The tradition of issuing pardons at the end of a president’s term is well-established, but Trump plans to break this norm by pardoning over 1,000 January 6 rioters on his first day.

“This is very different,” Medved said. “His first priority seems to be rewarding those who participated in the Capitol riot, which is troubling.”

Shifting the conversation to Trump’s cabinet picks, Medved highlighted the controversy surrounding some of the appointments. Pete Hegseth, nominated to run the Pentagon, faced rocky approval prospects, while Robert Kennedy’s nomination drew opposition from Nobel laureates in medicine due to his controversial views on vaccines.

“Trump’s appointment of Robert Kennedy is ridiculous,” Medved said. “And appointing Carrie Lake, an election denier, to head the Voice of America is equally troubling.”

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Despite these controversies, some of Trump’s picks have been well-received.

“Appointing Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior are solid choices,” Medved said. “Most of the appointments are okay, but some stand out for the wrong reasons.”

Reflecting on Trump’s first term, Medved noted that many of his initial cabinet choices were distinguished and qualified, including several generals.

“Those choices didn’t work out as Trump felt betrayed by them,” he said. “This time, he’s going for a different standard.”

As the conversation wrapped up, Medved shared his thoughts on Trump’s ability to navigate these challenges.

“Trump won’t win all of these fights, but never underestimate his ability to pull victory from surprising sources.”

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.