Resist from the First Day — that needs to be the GOP guiding principle.

This will be a test of whether GOP Senators are committed to the idea that election fraud, and manipulation of election laws in a variety of ways by Democrats and Democrat interest groups are responsible for the alleged outcome two weeks ago.

If they are committed to that idea, then any Biden Administration is illegitimate, and needs to be resisted until such time as it can be replaced — whether 2024 or earlier.

There is simply no basis to give any cooperation to anything the Biden Administration seeks to do.

Biden’s “victory” in the Presidential contest was married to the worst performance in history in down-ballot races for federal office by a party that captures the White House.  Literally — not figuratively — there is no basis to conclude that the electorate wants the Democrat party to carry forward on anything they promised to do in the campaign.  Maybe they voted for Joe Biden, but they did not vote to give Joe Biden the parts of the government needed to enact the agenda the Democrat party campaigned on.

There is no basis for “unity” or “cooperation”.  Nothing they propose comes even remotely close to being acceptable on a policy basis.  So “resisting” the efforts of the Democrats to carry their agenda into action must be the first principle of the GOP Senate over the next 24 months.  That begins with denying Biden the benefit of Cabinet selections who have disqualified themselves from Republican approval by their conduct over the past 4-12 years.

Resistance should begin with the efforts to fill Administration positions.

It was gratifying to see Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas take a first step in this direction today when, on the Hugh Hewitt Show, he said:

What the Democrats have done for the last four years, if it was good for the the goose, it’s going to be good for the gander as well.

Hewitt then asked Cotton about how the Senate might respond to unacceptable nominees to key cabinet positions, specifically with regard to the rumor floated in the media that Biden was considering Susan Rice for his Secretary of State:

No, I cannot imagine a Republican Senate confirming Susan Rice to any position.  Remember that Susan Rice is the “Typhoid Mary” of the Obama Administration foreign policy.  Every foreign policy disaster of the Obama Administration…. has Susan Rice as a central player in it.”

Even though they lacked a majority in the Senate, the Democrats led by Chuck Schumer did EVERYTHING they could to slow down and impede the Trump Administration’s efforts to staff the Executive Branch in 2017 – and beyond.  They refused every unanimous consent request on every nominee that required Senate confirmation, meaning under Senate rules the specified number of hours of debate on EVERY nominee was required, slowing  the confirmation process to a crawl.  It meant months – and years in some instances – that positions remained vacant.

This lack of political leadership in various Departments and Agencies to the policy goals of the Administration impeded the pursuit of the Administration’s policy agenda.

If a Democrat Administration is not made to pay a price for the conduct of a Democrat Senate MINORITY, then such obstruction will have been shown to have worked.

A Democrat Administration must be made to feel worse pain in this regard in order for the principle to be established that once the lawful and legitimate votes are counted, the outcome must be respected.  The Democrats failed that test in 2016, and if they prevail in 2020 — and if the GOP holds the Senate — the punishment must be meted out.

If the GOP controls the Senate Majority, I would go one step further than the Senate Minority was able to go over the past four years – the GOP must block confirmation of a particular groups of individuals if nominated by a Biden White House.

No Russian Hoaxers Confirmed

Nothing handicapped the Trump Administration more than the Russia Hoax investigation which was a fraud during the last four months of the 2016 campaign which extended to the middle of 2019 when AG Barr was able to bring it to a close.

Any person who lent credence to the claims made as part of the Russian Hoax either in the media or before Congress should be persona non grata for any post requiring confirmation.  It should be a singular disqualifying mark.  There needs to be a price paid by the hoaxers whose only goal was to hinder the Trump Administration, and further the false narrative that Trump’s 2016 election win was somehow connected to Russian efforts to “interfere.”

This is going to be a long list – too fooking bad.  Find other people for the positions – the Senate door is closed to everyone on this list.

No Participants In Ridiculous Impeachment Exercise

Again, that was a fraudulent effort to create “bad press” at the beginning of the final year Pres. Trump’s first term.  The specifics of the conversation were never in doubt.  The dire predictions of calamity as to the “rule of law” and foreign policy were barely above “laugh out loud” seriousness. Those involved were almost entirely Democrats burrowed into the NSC staff and NeverTrumpers. Everyone connected to the process — including members of Congress — should be DQ’d from any position that requires confirmation. It was a political stunt and should be punished as such.

No Chinese Lobbyists

I’m quite certain in the next 9 weeks we will hear quite a lot of new information from the Trump Administration on the ties between the Biden family and the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army interests.  How widely this might be reported in the media remains to be seen.  But the GOP Senate knows the big lobbyists for the Chinese Government, and NONE of them should gain policy positions requiring confirmation in a Biden administration.  Anyone from the Obama Administration who had a hand in setting China policy should be prohibited from being in a position to do so again.

Even if the GOP wins both remaining contests in Georgia, Senate Majority Leader McConnell will have only a two-vote margin to work with in his majority.

And the GOP caucus does still include Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney.

But, Collins is now out of electoral danger, I doubt she will run again in 2026, and even if she does her actions regarding Biden Administration nominees in 2021 won’t be an issue.

I suspect Mitt Romney is going to look for a way back into the “mainstream” of the GOP in the Senate.  He’ll need to earn his way with his votes.  I don’t see any reason why he would be particularly incentivized to work with a Biden Administration on anything, so I expect he’ll fall in line behind Senate Majority efforts.

That leaves Murkowski.  A real test will be if she has a primary opponent in the next 6 months — or if she even seeks to run again.  She could break with the party and join Schumer, although that would pretty much end her Senate career in Alaska.