Tonight, radio silence from Maralago on Hegset's fight to lead the Pentagon.

Is Donald Trump ready to move on?

Then, new reporting on President Biden weighing blanket pardons for officials who could be targets of Trump's DOJ.

And the Doge Road Show, Musk and Ramoswamy, pitched GOP lawmakers on their plan to slash federal spending as the 11th hour gets underway on this Thursday night.

Good evening. Once again, I am Stephanie Ruhl, and for the fourth day in a row, Pete Higgseth spent his day on Capitol Hill,

trying to convince senators that he is the right person to lead the Department of Defense,

which is the largest government agency with nearly three million employees and an $800 billion

budget. Well, that bid, it is clearly in trouble. Senator Joni Ernst says she has no plans to

meet with Hague Seth today or tomorrow after essentially confirming she is not a yes for his confirmation.

Earlier today, my colleague Garrett Hake did catch up with him, and here's what he said.

Are there any circumstances where you would withdraw from this process?

I'm here with the support of President Donald Trump.

As long as he supports me, which he told me this morning, I'll be here.

And while Heggseth's bid hangs in the balance, it sounds like there are other nominations

Donald Trump cares a lot more about.

According to a new report from the bulwark, Trump and his team are most focused on getting

former Democrats, Tulsa Gabbard, and RFK Jr. confirmed.

Trump allies believe that would cement Trump's legacy as expanding the Republican coalition

to include disaffected Democrats and independence.

They also believe Trump would fight much harder to save their nominations than any others.

Meanwhile, at least one Republican senator is very optimistic about Cash Patel becoming the

next FBI director.

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