No surprise that Donald Trump is proceeding to do exactly what he said he would. His cabinet nominations fall well within the purview of the utter disruption and complete chaos he led us to expect during his crazy-quilt campaign.
First he lulled us into placidity by nominating the almost-normal Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Then, he played “gotcha” to the max, naming a bunch of singularly unqualified sycophants—Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Pete Hegseth for Defense, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Health & Human Services.
This group of misfits represents an historic low, and that is saying something given some of Trump’s first-term appointees. This go-round, he is probing beneath the underside of the bottom of the barrel in order to come up with this Fab Four. Let’s examine each one of these unique norm-breakers in turn:
Matt Gaetz (who dropped out of consideration following meetings with Senators who told him he could not possibly be confirmed). Upon graduation from William & Mary Law School, a reputable institution, he briefly practiced law before turning his talents to public/pubic service. After an undistinguished tenure in the Florida legislature, he secured a congressional seat where he quickly gained a reputation for blowing things up and contributing nothing to the legislative canon. His ability to disrupt House proceedings was on a par with the likes of “Gym” Jordan, Lauren Boebert of handsy renown, and the execrable Marjorie Taylor Greene. His legal experience was minimal, his ability to run a large organization non-existent, and his judgment terrible. In other words, he would have been the ideal candidate to carry out Trump’s transformation of the Justice Department into a Trump Organization subsidiary.
Tulsi Gabbard. She is fondly known in Kremlin circles as “our girlfriend.” She is as staunch a defender of Vladimir Putin as his spokesman, Dmitri Peskov. She is the ideal Russian asset. Moreover, she is also a champion of Bashir al-Assad, who has done for Syria what Adolf Hitler did for Poland in 1939. Brutal dictators get her pulse racing. It is an open question whether our allies will want to share intelligence with someone they view as a conduit to the Russian FSB (successor to the KGB). Moreover, she has zero experience in both intelligence and running a large organization of 18 disparate federal agencies.
Pete Hegseth. I suppose having had an actor in the White House and a professional dancer from Hollywood in the Senate, the notion of a TV host as Secretary of Defense is no big deal. Except that it is. I can tell you from ten years of experience as both an employee of and advisor to the Department of Defense that this sprawling bureaucracy of millions of employees is pretty much ungovernable even by the most highly experienced and capable individuals. The seat once occupied by George C. Marshall, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and James Mattis will now devolve upon someone whose only qualification for the job is that he served in the military. Note that his post-service claim to fame is having persuaded Trump to pardon a number of war criminals. Did I mention that, like Gaetz, he too has a history of alleged sexual misconduct?
RFK, Jr. Which brings us to perhaps the looniest cabinet nomination of all time in any nation (its close among this crowd). The Secretary of Health & Human Services supervises the National Institutes of Health, the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid and several other organizations central to public health. In addition to his penchant for consuming bears and whales—and his brain being consumed by worms—Bobby, Jr. has made anti-vaccination a cottage industry. His zany pronouncements on the dangers of vaccines have been responsible for the deaths of both adults and children. Had he been around in the early-mid 1950s, polio might still be a parent-terrifying scourge and iron lung manufacturers might still be making a profit. He is also Mr. Tooth Decay’s best friend, questioning 70 years of fluoridated water. And this just scratches the surface of Kennedy’s crackpot views on health.
Overlooked in the maelstrom of unqualified Trump nominees is canine-killer Kristy Noem, governor of South Dakota, a state where she is prohibited from entering its Indian reservations because of her Native American trashing. She is slated to become the Secretary of Homeland Security, a cabinet department that oversees more than 20 agencies including FEMA and the Secret Service. She too knows nothing about the department she will head. Given the competition, she almost comes across as a conventional pick. Almost.
And, Dr. Mehmet Oz, shill for worthless remedies and the 21st century version of a snake oil salesman, would be in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.
If you are among those Democrats and Never Trump Republicans (assuming there are any left) who want Trump to fail, you might be ecstatic at these selections. I am not. These jobs are much too important to be left in the hands of outlandish nebbishes and hucksters whose very existences are a clear and present danger to the republic.
Trump has threatened to use his recess appointment authority to ram these terrible characters through. This could mean that a Bobby Junior and other monumentally unqualified appointees could conceivably serve for almost two years without Senate approval. Article I, Section 5, Clause 4 of the Constitution gives the House and Senate authority to adjourn. They can do this independent of each other, but if one Chamber wants to adjourn for more than three days, it requires the other’s consent. If the two houses cannot agree, the President can adjourn them for as long as he wants.
While Senate Republican spines have yet to emerge from their lockboxes, some of these whackadoodle appointments in addition to Gaetz may be too much for some Senators to swallow. Assuming Trump allows his nominees to come to a vote, members up for re-election in 2026 may be candidates for a thumbs down. The fear, however, is that GOP Senators, having taken what they view as a bold stance vis-à-vis the Gaetz nomination, will be willing to let the other exceptionally awful picks sail through the confirmation process. Abject servitude has been the order of the day for eight years. It might be too much to hope that this time could be different.
Dick Hermann
November 22, 2024
First he lulled us into placidity by nominating the almost-normal Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Then, he played “gotcha” to the max, naming a bunch of singularly unqualified sycophants—Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Pete Hegseth for Defense, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Health & Human Services.
This group of misfits represents an historic low, and that is saying something given some of Trump’s first-term appointees. This go-round, he is probing beneath the underside of the bottom of the barrel in order to come up with this Fab Four. Let’s examine each one of these unique norm-breakers in turn:
Matt Gaetz (who dropped out of consideration following meetings with Senators who told him he could not possibly be confirmed). Upon graduation from William & Mary Law School, a reputable institution, he briefly practiced law before turning his talents to public/pubic service. After an undistinguished tenure in the Florida legislature, he secured a congressional seat where he quickly gained a reputation for blowing things up and contributing nothing to the legislative canon. His ability to disrupt House proceedings was on a par with the likes of “Gym” Jordan, Lauren Boebert of handsy renown, and the execrable Marjorie Taylor Greene. His legal experience was minimal, his ability to run a large organization non-existent, and his judgment terrible. In other words, he would have been the ideal candidate to carry out Trump’s transformation of the Justice Department into a Trump Organization subsidiary.
Tulsi Gabbard. She is fondly known in Kremlin circles as “our girlfriend.” She is as staunch a defender of Vladimir Putin as his spokesman, Dmitri Peskov. She is the ideal Russian asset. Moreover, she is also a champion of Bashir al-Assad, who has done for Syria what Adolf Hitler did for Poland in 1939. Brutal dictators get her pulse racing. It is an open question whether our allies will want to share intelligence with someone they view as a conduit to the Russian FSB (successor to the KGB). Moreover, she has zero experience in both intelligence and running a large organization of 18 disparate federal agencies.
Pete Hegseth. I suppose having had an actor in the White House and a professional dancer from Hollywood in the Senate, the notion of a TV host as Secretary of Defense is no big deal. Except that it is. I can tell you from ten years of experience as both an employee of and advisor to the Department of Defense that this sprawling bureaucracy of millions of employees is pretty much ungovernable even by the most highly experienced and capable individuals. The seat once occupied by George C. Marshall, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and James Mattis will now devolve upon someone whose only qualification for the job is that he served in the military. Note that his post-service claim to fame is having persuaded Trump to pardon a number of war criminals. Did I mention that, like Gaetz, he too has a history of alleged sexual misconduct?
RFK, Jr. Which brings us to perhaps the looniest cabinet nomination of all time in any nation (its close among this crowd). The Secretary of Health & Human Services supervises the National Institutes of Health, the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid and several other organizations central to public health. In addition to his penchant for consuming bears and whales—and his brain being consumed by worms—Bobby, Jr. has made anti-vaccination a cottage industry. His zany pronouncements on the dangers of vaccines have been responsible for the deaths of both adults and children. Had he been around in the early-mid 1950s, polio might still be a parent-terrifying scourge and iron lung manufacturers might still be making a profit. He is also Mr. Tooth Decay’s best friend, questioning 70 years of fluoridated water. And this just scratches the surface of Kennedy’s crackpot views on health.
Overlooked in the maelstrom of unqualified Trump nominees is canine-killer Kristy Noem, governor of South Dakota, a state where she is prohibited from entering its Indian reservations because of her Native American trashing. She is slated to become the Secretary of Homeland Security, a cabinet department that oversees more than 20 agencies including FEMA and the Secret Service. She too knows nothing about the department she will head. Given the competition, she almost comes across as a conventional pick. Almost.
And, Dr. Mehmet Oz, shill for worthless remedies and the 21st century version of a snake oil salesman, would be in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.
If you are among those Democrats and Never Trump Republicans (assuming there are any left) who want Trump to fail, you might be ecstatic at these selections. I am not. These jobs are much too important to be left in the hands of outlandish nebbishes and hucksters whose very existences are a clear and present danger to the republic.
Trump has threatened to use his recess appointment authority to ram these terrible characters through. This could mean that a Bobby Junior and other monumentally unqualified appointees could conceivably serve for almost two years without Senate approval. Article I, Section 5, Clause 4 of the Constitution gives the House and Senate authority to adjourn. They can do this independent of each other, but if one Chamber wants to adjourn for more than three days, it requires the other’s consent. If the two houses cannot agree, the President can adjourn them for as long as he wants.
While Senate Republican spines have yet to emerge from their lockboxes, some of these whackadoodle appointments in addition to Gaetz may be too much for some Senators to swallow. Assuming Trump allows his nominees to come to a vote, members up for re-election in 2026 may be candidates for a thumbs down. The fear, however, is that GOP Senators, having taken what they view as a bold stance vis-à-vis the Gaetz nomination, will be willing to let the other exceptionally awful picks sail through the confirmation process. Abject servitude has been the order of the day for eight years. It might be too much to hope that this time could be different.
Dick Hermann
November 22, 2024
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