President elect Donald Trump has completed assembling his Cabinet and senior staff for his second term in the White House before taking office on January 20, 2025. Trump must nominate Cabinet Secretaries for government agencies and other top administration jobs that require United States Senate Advise and Consent confirmation mandated by the US Constitution.
Trump has announced the appointment of at least 9 individuals that are extremists who are clearly some of the most unqualified individuals whose only qualification is blind loyalty to Trump and who will have the ultimate goal to carry out Trumps political MAGA agenda. Their goal is to undercut our country’s military hierarchy, destroy the Department of Justice and US law enforcement agencies, reveal to our enemies the country’s security secrets, destroy our national health care structure and dismantle and destroy government agencies.
This article is an in-depth review of the 9 most troubling individuals Trump has selected to serve in his second term. The POSTSCRIPT to this article contains a listing of Trump’s other appointments.
ATTORNEY GENERAL: PAM BONDI
The most controversial announced appointment was Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. On November 21, Gaetz withdrew from consideration as Attorney General under a scandal involving a House investigation into whether he engaged in drug use, sex trafficking and sexual misconduct with underage children for money. Trump immediately announced that former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will be his next nominee for U.S. attorney general.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-picks-pam-bondi-attorney-general-1989893
Bondi has spent the last decade defending Trump, including being defense council in one of Trump’s impeachment trials. A central question is whether Bondi will follow through on threats she has made in television interviews to investigate what she called out-of-control federal prosecutors and FBI agents. Bondi said this:
“The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones,” Bondi said on Fox News last year after Trump was indicted in Georgia on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “The investigators will be investigated.” Bondi called the prosecutors who charged Trump with crimes members of “the deep state” as she spread a false conspiracy theory that DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents were part of a secret cabal trying to undermine Trump. Bondi, without citing evidence, said that since they were no longer “hiding in the shadows … they can all be investigated.”
On November 22, The Washington Post reported that Trump plans to fire the entire team that worked with special counsel Jack Smith to pursue two federal prosecutions against him, including career attorneys typically protected from political retribution. Trump is also said to be planning to assemble investigative teams within the Justice Department to hunt for evidence in battle ground states that fraud tainted the 2020 election. The proposals offer new evidence that Trump’s intention is to dramatically shake up the status quo in Washington and to focus heavily on the Department of Justice and that at least some of his agenda is fueled not by ideology or policy goals but personal grievance and vendetta.
One of the first order of business for Trump will be to demand the resignations of all United States Attorney’s which he did when he was first elected 8 years ago and no doubt appoint private attorneys who will do his bidding, including prosecute his opposition and anyone who got in his way.
DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: PETE HEGSETH
Hegseth served as an officer in the Army National Guard and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, earning two Bronze Stars. He is currently a co-host for “Fox & Friends Weekend.” Trump has pledged to fire generals involved in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and to eliminate “woke” initiatives that focus on diversity and equity in the military.
Secretary of Defense designate Pete Hegseth has railed against women in the military saying women should not be in combat, voiced support for troops accused of and in some instances, convicted of war crimes, and advocated for the firing of the military’s most senior officers accused of supporting so-called “woke” policies. Trump’s decision to place Hegseth into the top Pentagon job means he is set to put his ideas into action and clash directly with most current Pentagon leadership.
CREATING COMMISSION TO TARGET MILITARY FIRINGS
In various podcasts and interviews one of Hegseth’s biggest claims has been that senior military leadership has allowed the “politicization” of an apolitical military force. Hegseth told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in June that he believes, without offering any proof or names, roughly a third of the military’s most senior officers are “actively complicit” in the politicization of the US military. Speaking out in his book, Hegseth railed against what he described as “woke, CRT, DEI things, gender stuff” that has “seeped into” the military. Hegseth said this:
“I would say over a third [of the military] are actively complicit, and then you have a lot of grumblers who are sort of going along, trying to resist the nonsense as much as they can, but they’re not fundamentally changing it.”
As of 2023, there were roughly 800 general and flag officers in the US military. Among the generals that Hegseth has suggested should be fired is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown. Brown became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2023 after serving as the Air Force Chief. He was nominated by then-President Trump. Brown, the first Black man to serve as the Air Force chief, has been a target of conservatives before due to perceptions that he is “woke” or political. Barring Trump taking any action against him, Brown is set to serve as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until 2027.
Hegseth has embraced the concept of creating “a commision” of former military that would “know who to go after.” Hegseth said this:
“You have to start with people who can say, ‘OK, I know who the political animals were in those places,’ because that’s the challenge of a new administration. … Everyone’s going to jump up and down and say, ‘I was this, or I was never really for that,’ because they want to preserve their careers. And you have to have somebody that’s able to call balls and strikes.”
It has been reported that the Trump transition team is compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and exploring whether they could be court-martialed for their involvement. Officials working on the transition are considering creating a commission to investigate and gathering information about who was directly involved in the decision-making for the military, how it was carried out, and whether the military leaders could be eligible for charges as serious as treason.
Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, has criticized the Afghanistan withdrawal, saying the U.S. lost the war and wasted billions of dollars. In his book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote, “The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired. The debacle in Afghanistan, of course, is the most glaring example.”
NO WOMAN IN COMBAT
Hegseth has severely criticized the Obama-era decision to open up all combat jobs in the military to women, saying it has lowered the military’s standards, made units less effective, and overall made the military less lethal. Hegseth said this in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro in June:
“Women shouldn’t be in combat at all. They’re life-givers, not life-takers. I know a lot of wonderful soldiers, female soldiers, who have served, who are great. But they shouldn’t be in my infantry battalion,”
Asked if he doesn’t “like women in combat,” Hegseth responded, “No … because everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means casualties or worse.”
Women serve in combat jobs across the military services and have successfully completed some of the military’s most grueling training courses. More than 140 women have finished Army Ranger School, and in 2020, a woman joined the ranks of Army Special Forces for the first time after completing the Army’s Special Forces Qualification Course. In 2021, a woman qualified to join Naval Special Warfare Command for the first time.
CAMPAIGN TO PARDON SERVICEMEN ACCUSED OF WARCRIMES
CNN reported in 2019 that Hegseth, while working at Fox News, privately encouraged Trump to pardon some United States servicemen accused of war crimes. Trump went on to pardon two service members, Army Maj. Matthew Golsteyn and 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, and restore the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who had been demoted.
Before Trump’s pardons, Golsteyn was charged with the 2010 murder of an Afghan civilian, to which he pleaded not guilty, and Lorance was found guilty of second-degree murder for ordering his troops to fire on three men on a motorcycle in Afghanistan.
The Trump pardons went against the advice of then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other senior military leaders, who had told Trump that a presidential pardon could potentially damage the integrity of the military judicial system. But defenders of Gallagher and other service members accused or convicted of war crimes have defended Trump’s move as having the backs of military warfighters who are simply doing the dirty work others won’t do.
Hegseth said this in an interview regarding the cases of Gallagher, Golsteyn, and Lorance:
“We sent them to do these really dangerous, dirty, difficult things that no one else would do, and then sort of like the line from A Few Good Men, and then we challenge the manner in which they do it.”
CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Allison Jaslow, an Iraq War veteran, harshly criticized Hegseth’s position, saying such advocacy on behalf of service members convicted of war crimes should be disqualifying. Jaslow said this:
“The active lobbying to pardon convicted war criminals can and should disqualify Pete Hegseth from being Secretary of Defense over any other criticism that may be brought against him, and I hope the United States Senate understands that as they consider his nomination.”
SEXAUL ASSAULT SETTLEMENT
Pete Hegseth’s attorney confirmed to NBC News that Hegseth paid a woman an undisclosed amount after she accused him of sexual assault. Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said this in a statement:
“In 2023, Hegseth paid the complainant as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement and maintains his innocence. This is a situation where a consensual encounter occurred and, unfortunately, the woman had to come up with a lie to explain why the woman had not come back to her husband’s room that night. … It wasn’t reported until days later until there was pressure from her husband. It was fully investigated by police and video surveillance as well as multiple eyewitness statements show that she was the aggressor.”
Authorities in Monterey investigated the allegation in 2017 and did not file charges against Hegseth.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research, Medicare and Medicaid. Kennedy founded one of the most prominent anti-vaccine groups in the country and has promoted the debunked claim that childhood vaccines cause autism. Kennedy vowed to purge entire departments at the Food and Drug Administration to root out corruption.
Kennedy is best known for his criticism of childhood vaccines. Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, he said in a podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism.
In a 2021 podcast he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines that advise when kids should receive routine vaccinations. Kennedy said this:
“I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, ‘Better not get them vaccinated.”
Repeated scientific studies in the U.S. and abroad have found no link between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have been proven safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization credits childhood vaccines with preventing as many as 5 million deaths a year.
Kennedy also has said he would make a controversial recommendation to remove fluoride from drinking water, although fluoride levels are mandated by state and local governments. The addition of the mineral has been cited as leading to improved dental health and is considered safe at low levels.
During the campaign, Kennedy said Trump had asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Kennedy has pushed against processed foods and the use of herbicides like Roundup weed killer. He has long criticized the large commercial farms and animal feeding operations that dominate the industry.
Trump said Kennedy would target drugs, food additives and chemicals. Trump said this in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment:
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. [Kennedy will] end the Chronic Disease epidemic” and “Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-rfk-hhs-health-kennedy-f40ee2398e3a280c1586eecdd80bdf7c
MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS): DR. MEHMET OZ
Trump has nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a physician, TV personality and former Republican candidate for Senate, who Trump endorsed, to run Medicare and Medicaid as administrator for the CMS. Oz has espoused conflicting visions for healthcare. Prior to running for office, Oz supported health insurance mandates and proposed a Medicare Advantage for All program. However, by 2022, Oz said he would back repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Trump said this in his announcement on social media platform Truth Social :
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”
Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., said this:
“Even putting aside the raft of alarming pseudoscience Dr. Oz has previously endorsed, it is deeply disappointing to see someone with zero qualifications being announced to head up such a critical agency. … I am also profoundly concerned by the extreme anti-abortion views Dr. Oz holds. CMS has oversight over a wide range of reproductive health care issues and the last thing women in America need is more extremist Republicans getting involved in their personal health care decisions.”
EDUCATION SECRETARY: LINDA MCMAHON
On November 20, Trump named his transition co-chair Linda McMahon as his pick to serve as the next Secretary of the Department of Education. McMahon, a major Republican donor and a former pro-wrestling executive, served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. She was appointed in 2017 and resigned in 2019 to become the chair of America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. McMahon is also the former CEO of the WWE, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon. Linda McMahon has ZERO background in education.
It’s likely Trump will task McMahon with overseeing the department’s demise after Trump repeatedly called for abolishing the agency on the campaign trail. It will be difficult to get rid of the entire department, which delivers federal funding to nearly every public K-12 school in the country and manages the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio.
Shutting down and abolishing the department will require an act of Congress. Under the new education secretary, the department may use the formal regulatory process to undo changes the Biden administration made to Title IX that sought to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students. A new rule could potentially say that Title IX prevents trans students from playing on girls’ sports teams, something Trump campaigned on.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/19/politics/linda-mcmahon-education-secretary-trump/index.html
On November 22, South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds introduced a bill in the Senate to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Rounds said this in a news release
“We all know local control is best when it comes to education. … Local school boards and state Departments of Education know best what their students need, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”
Rounds’ Returning Education to Our States Act proposes redistributing the work of the Education Department to other federal departments.
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN LAWSUITE FILED
A lawsuit filed in October alleges Linda McMahon knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee as early as the 1980s. She denies the allegations. The suit alleges McMahon, her husband, the WWE and TKO Group Holdings, the league’s parent company, knowingly allowed employee Melvin Phillips Jr. to use his position as ringside announcer to sexually exploit children.
The lawsuit alleges Phillips would recruit children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events. However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the children, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, the lawsuit alleges. He also would often film his sexual abuse, according to the filing.
The suit was filed in October in Baltimore County, Maryland, on behalf of 5 John Does, who say they were ages 13 to 15 when Phillips met and recruited them to work as “Ring Boys.” Each of them say they suffered mental and emotional abuse as a result of the alleged abuse. “Phillips lured and manipulated the young boys with promises of meeting famous wrestlers and attending the highly popular wrestling shows, experiences that were otherwise unattainable for these kids,” the lawsuit alleges. “[The McMahons, WWE and TKO Holdings] allowed Phillips and others to engage in, and foster, the WWE’s rampant culture of sexual abuse.”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/business/linda-mcmahon-abuse-wwe-trump-education/index.html
DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE: TULSI GABBARD
Gabbard, a four-term Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran against President Biden in the 2020 primaries, left the Democratic party in 2022 but did not officially become a Republican until earlier this year. She is a National Guard veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East and has long been critical of the Democratic establishment, especially of the country’s engagement in wars in that region.
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a position that was created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in order to make sure America’s national security apparatus was working together and sharing information about the most critical threats. The job typically requires confirmation by the Senate Intelligence Committee which in the past has reviewed the nominee’s financial disclosures and an FBI background check. Those reviews are conducted to ensure a DNI nominee doesn’t have any large outstanding debts or connections to foreign governments that might compromise them in coordinating the work of thousands of intelligence officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Gabbard has no experience and no background in intelligence nor law enforcement, yet she will be in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Administration (NSA) and other agencies. Gabbard will be tasked with overseeing the country’s 16 other intelligence agencies, and some of the country’s most secret national security programs. Intelligence analysts are most concerned that Gabbard, in the role of director of national intelligence, might be motivated to censor intelligence conclusions critical of Russia and shut down funding for potentially fruitful investigations.
Gabbard has a history of making statements about countries like Russia and Syria that have raised more than a few concerns about her allegiance to American interests and questions about her judgment. Some people, including Hillary Clinton, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Senator Tammy Duckworth have gone so far as to label her a Russian Asset.
Gabbard has frequently appeared to take positions more favorable to foreign leaders widely considered not just American adversaries but, in some cases, brutal dictators, including the presidents of Syria and Russia, raising questions from allies and critics alike. Gabbard notably met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2017, and said in 2019 that he was “not an enemy of the United States.”
In early 2022, she echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rationale for the country’s invasion of Ukraine, pinning the blame not on Moscow but on the Biden administration’s failure to acknowledge “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO”, a popular strain of thought in right-wing circles.
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NOMNEE: KRISTI NOEM
Kristi Noem, a Republican who has served as South Dakota governor since 2019, is a staunch Trump loyalist and will help oversee Trump’s immigration crackdown in a second term. Noem, 52, is a former state legislator and four-term congresswoman who was elected governor of South Dakota in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Her profile grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she rejected mask mandates and social distancing.
Noem is best-known nationally for the controversy that followed the publication of an excerpt of her memoir in which she revealed she’d shot and killed a family dog, a 14-month-old wirehair pointer named Cricket, in a gravel pit because the dog was “untrainable” and “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with.” Facing backlash, Noem defended her actions, writing on X that her book had “more real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping.” She also retracted a story in the book about a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. It turned out that such a meeting never happened.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s ascension to Homeland Security (DHS) secretary-in-waiting came as a shock. The former member of Congress hasn’t worked in the department and does not have any law enforcement background. DHS is complex, and only the Defense Department has more employees. It also includes the federal agency tasked with cybersecurity and election security, and an in-house intelligence office.
Noem’s elevation is an indication that Trumps immigration policy will be run out of the White House by his two immigration hardliners and extremists, incoming Deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller and Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan, both early choices that signaled Trump is serious about his pledge to conduct mass deportations. Noem, with her limited experience in the policy area, will likely focus her attention on the numerous other agencies within DHS, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration and Secret Service.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/13/kristi-noem-dhs-trump-policy-00189513
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/13/politics/who-is-kristi-noem-homeland-security/index.html
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: OLIGARCKS ELON MUSK AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY
Trump announced that Elon Musk, a billionaire backer, and Ramaswamy, another billionaire and a former primary rival who endorsed Trump, would lead an effort to slash government spending and regulations. They are expected to conclude their work by July 4, 2026, just a few months before the midterm elections. Trump said the effort would partner with the Office of Management and Budget, but would provide guidance from “outside of Government.” Musk in particular has extensive financial holdings with government contractors that could complicate an official government job.
Since Trump announced his plans for a “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE”, both Musk and Ramaswamy have talked up their big plans to slash government regulations and spending while downsizing the federal workforce. Despite its name, it won’t actually be a government “department,” like the Department of Education or the Department of Homeland Security. Creating a government agency would require approval from Congress. The effort won’t even be inside the government.
Both Musk and Ramaswamy have put forth some of their ideas for government reform. Musk has pledged to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, though he has offered few specifics about what he would look to cut. The total amount of discretionary spending in the federal budget is about $1.7 trillion, and Trump has pledged not to cut Social Security and Medicare, two of the government’s largest expenses. During a late-October town hall on X, Musk suggested his ideal spending cuts could trigger economic pain for people.
“We have to reduce spending to live within our means. … And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.”
On November 21, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy outlined a plan for Trump to oversee a massive reduction in the federal workforce, arguing the employees won’t be needed after Trump eliminates “thousands of regulations” in his next administration.
Musk and Ramaswamy, singled out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed federal employees “who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.” The duo pointed to recent Supreme Court decisions to argue the incoming president has the executive power to nullify many regulations unilaterally without Congress, pursue “large-scale firings” of federal workers and relocate some agencies outside of Washington. They said “a drastic reduction in federal regulations” would require vastly fewer federal employees.
One area Musk targeted after the panel was announced was spending on medical research.
Ramaswamy, meanwhile, said on X that the government shouldn’t appropriate money for programs that have expired. Ramaswamy said this:
“There are 1,200+ programs that are no longer authorized but still receive appropriations,” he wrote. “This is totally nuts. We can & should save hundreds of billions each year by defunding government programs that Congress no longer authorizes. We’ll challenge any politician who disagrees to defend the other side.”
Ramswamy’s post prompted some users to note that among those expired programs is veterans’ health care, one of the largest expenses in that bucket.
Ramaswamy, the founder of the biotech company Roivant Sciences, had a laser focus on slashing the federal bureaucracy during his time as a GOP presidential primary candidate. Speaking with NBC News as a candidate, he outlined his desire to use what’s known as “reduction in force” regulations to trim the federal workforce while also shuttering a number of federal agencies. Ramaswamy predicted he would overcome any legal challenges because he wasn’t proposing to fire individual career officials, who are covered by civil service protections, but to institute widespread layoffs, eliminating jobs altogether.
Ramaswamy also sought to eliminate the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Education Department; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and the Food and Nutrition Service within the Agriculture Department.
Speaking recently with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson on X, Ramaswamy predicted Republicans could trigger a mass exodus from the federal workforce by simply mandating a five-day, in-office workweek across the government, estimating that “25%” of civil servants would hit the exits soon after.
Links to other relied upon and quoted news sources are here:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4985802-trump-cabinet-nominees-second-term/
https://www.livenowfox.com/news/trumps-cabinet-picks-those-still-in-running
https://www.koat.com/article/donald-trump-key-position-picks-second-administration/62872388
RECESS APPOINTMENTS
Now that Republicans control both the Senate and House, Trump wants Republicans to help him use a special procedure called “recess appointments” that would allow him to install Cabinet appointees and even a Supreme Court justice without confirmation hearings nor a single vote on confirmation. In theory, Trump’s push for broad recess appointment power could allow him to disregard the Senate confirmation process entirely. This would mean that as many as 1,200 positions requiring Senate confirmation could be filled without even an FBI background check or a confirmation hearing.
Trump could get his choices confirmed with just 50 votes because of Vice President-elect JD Vance’s tie-breaking power. With Republicans projected to hold 53 seats, Democrats can’t stop a nomination on their own. But they can force Republicans to grind it out. The Senate would need to vote on adjournment. The Constitution also requires the House to approve the Senate breaking for over three days. A 2014 Supreme Court decision held that the Senate would need to recess for at least 10 days.
There’s a way for Trump to avoid the House’s need to sign off on a lengthy break. Under Article II of the Constitution, Trump has the power to force an adjournment if the House and Senate are divided on what to do. Time is the only true limit on recess appointments.
Officials installed as a “recess appointment” can only serve until Congress’ next session. If Trump uses this power immediately upon taking office, officials or judges could only stay through the next Senate session, in January 2027. Otherwise, there is virtually nothing Senate Democrats could do to stop the process. Adjournment votes can’t be meaningfully filibustered.
In his push for recess appointment power, Trump is arguing it is about ensuring he could staff up in a timely manner. According to the Center for Presidential Transition, it took President Trump twice as long on average to get his nominees approved during his first three years in office (115 days) than it did Ronald Reagan’s presidency (56.4) days. Through late November 2023, it took President Biden roughly 109.6 days on average. The center also found that while the Senate filibuster is part of the reason for delays, even complete control of Congress hasn’t sped things up.
Not everyone is convinced that ensuring he could staff up in a timely manner is Trump’s sole motivation, particularly when many of his early selections illustrate how much he will elevate controversial choices like Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth and Kennedy.
Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at Brookings, said this:
“From the president’s perspective, I suppose he would see this as a shortcut to take his favorite list of appointees and put them in for temporary appointments.”
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who won the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as Senate Majority Leader, said this:
“All options are on the table, including recess appointments. [However] you have to have all Republican [Senators] vote to recess as well. The same Republicans … that might have a problem voting for somebody under regular order might be the same Republicans that have a problem voting to put the Senate into recess.”
Casey Burgat, the director of the Legislative Affairs Program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management told Business Insider had this to say:
“It’s just been made so explicit and used as a strategy in and of itself that even though former presidents made recess appointments, they didn’t say this part, and there wasn’t widespread fear about what it means and why they are using it now.”
ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY
When it comes to all of Trump’s cabinet appointments, the single most important qualification to him is absolute loyalty to him and qualifications do not matter. His clown car appointments are a clear message that he intends to dismantle government and rebuild it in his own image. What is also clear is that Project 2025 is indeed the conservative blue print do centralize more power than ever in the Presidency with no checks and balances by congress and the courts.
It was the economy and inflation that swept Trump to a decisive victory. Exit polls showed that the voting public were extremely disgruntled if not downright hostile with the direction the country is going, with inflation out of control. Voters were far more were concerned about making a decent living, angered over grocery and gas prices, as opposed to any threat Trump posed to democracy. Voters simply believed they were better off when Trump was President the first time believing all his lies. Voters chose to forget the 4 years of total chaos Trump brought upon the county and his failure to deal with the pandemic that killed millions worldwide and in the United States and that had a strangle hold on the country and that destroyed the economy.
In the end, voters simply ignored Trumps flawed character, the multimillion dollar civil judgements against him for sexual assault and slander, his criminal conduct in the private sector and while in office, his fraud in securing millions in loans in New York, the multiple state criminal convictions and pending federal criminal charges, his two impeachments, his misogyny and racism, his threat to democracy, his attempt to overthrow the government with all his lies that the election was rigged and stolen from him, his attacks on woman’s rights and civil rights, his partiality to racists groups such as the Proud Boys, his promotion of racist policies and his cult following of Christian fundamentalist who totally ignored his immorality, multiple marriages and affairs and praised him as the second coming.
Trump will be our President come January 20 and there will be a peaceful transfer of power, unlike 4 years ago when Trump promoted an insurrection. The country will get the President it has elected. Voters will get a clown car of a cabinet filled with people who have no business being appointed and whose goal is to destroy the very agencies they will head. The reality is that with his appointments he is following the Project 2025 agenda (see postscript below on Project 2025).
There may be a peaceful transition of power, but come January 20, four years of total chaos will commence. Trump has already said he can only serve another term but hinted that may change if people really want to change that. With Trumps announced appointments, it his clear he intends to gut the Department of Justice, the military leadership, our health care system and dismantle government to carry out his personal vendetta.
Trump and his Republican Party will overreach declaring they have a mandate to do whatever they damn well want with no guard rails. Trumps selections for cabinet positions also indicate there will be no checks and balances from congress in that some Senate Republicans are already indicating a willingness to forego their “advise and consent” of appointments an allow for “recess appointments”. There will be no intervention from the Trump appointed Supreme Court of right-wing conservative disciples who have given him immunity from prosecution making him above the law.
As the saying goes elections have consequences. But that includes unintended consequences. Trumps agenda will go way beyond what people thought they were voting for. It’s not at all likely voters will be any better off financially than they are now in two years under a Trump second presidency let alone the 4 years to come. His imposition of tariffs and the effects of mass deportation on the agricultural work force will have an impact as will corporate greed and refusal to reduce consumer prices. It may be the “economy stupid” but in reality a President can do little to bring down the cost of goods and services which is subject to the laws of supply and demand, and corporate profits and sure greed.
It’s only a matter of time before the general public turns on Trump as they did 4 years ago once they realize they have been had once again. Stupid is as stupid does. The public turned on Republican President George W. Bush after he was elected by a popular vote and the Republicans lost congress. It will happen again. Voters have now voted for the return of chaos. Based on Trump’s agenda, and his cabinet appointments, chaos is exactly what we will get with millions getting hurt in the process. This is what happens when the big lie replaces reality and personal finances outweigh preservation of our democracy.
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POSCRIPT
The full list of Trump’s Cabinet picks and other top staff appointments with links are as follows:
- White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles who served as co-chair of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, previously worked on his 2016 campaign, as well as Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign. She is longtime strategist and registered lobbyist for business interests and political campaign.
- Secretary of State: Marco Rubio, Florida US Senator
- Attorney General: Pam Bondi (See above article)
- Deputy Attorney General: Todd Blanche. He is best known for representing Trump in the 2024 criminal trial in New York
- HHS Secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (See above article)
- Office of Management and Budget Director: Russ Vought, a co-author of Project 2025 who served as a platform policy director for the Republican National Committee. Vought argued for conservative blueprint Project 2025 that the OMB director “should present a fiscal goal to the President early in the budget development process to address the federal government’s fiscal irresponsibility.”
- U.N. Ambassador: Elise Stefanik. She is the U.S. representative for New York’s 21st congressional district. As chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021, she is the fourth-ranking House Republican.
- “BORDER CZAR”: Tom Homan served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trumps’s last administration and will be in charge of the nation’s borders. Homan argued that “families could be deported together”, including America born children, when asked about Trump’s pledge to carry about mass deportations immediately upon entering office.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/10/politics/tom-homan-border-czar-ice-donald-trump/index.html
- Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth (See above article)
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins
- National Security Adviser: Michael Waltz. Waltz represents Florida’s 6th congressional district. Waltz is a combat-decorated Green Beret still serving as a colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard, and a former White House and Pentagon policy advisor. He is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress.
- Interior Secretary: Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota, was on Trump’s list for Vice President.
- Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy, North America’s second largest hydraulic fracturing company.
- Secretary of Transportation: Sean Duffy is a former reality TV star who was one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable news, Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, was a member of the Financial Services Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on insurance and housing.
- Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick, an American businessman, who succeeded Bernard Gerald Cantor as the head of Cantor Fitzgerald. Lutnick is the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Group.
- Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon (See above article)
- Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessen, 62, is the founder of Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group
- Secretary of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer is a first-term Republican representative from Oregon who narrowly lost her House seat. She was one of only a few House Republicans to support major pro-union legislation, and she split her district’s union endorsements with her Democratic opponent, Janelle Bynum, earning nods from ironworkers, firefighters and local Teamsters.
- White House Counsel: William McGinley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McGinley
- U.S. Ambassador to NATO: MatthewWhitaker who served as acting attorney general during Trump’s first term. Whitaker will lead the US mission to NATO during a period where the defensive alliance may still be facing one of its toughest challenges , how to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. He is also likely to be tasked with increasing pressure on countries in the alliance to increase their defense spending – renewing an effort that Trump undertook in his first term.
- Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem (See above article)
- HUD Secretary: Scott Turner
https://apnews.com/article/housing-secretary-trump-scott-turner-nfl-727417b56d0e1f85a40eaf5f7d13d42f
- CIA Director: John Ratcliffe is an attorney who served as the director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021. He previously served as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 4th district from 2015 to 2020. During his time in Congress, Ratcliffe was regarded as one of the most conservative members.
- Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard (See above article)
- EPA Administrator: Lee Zeldin
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/politics/lee-zeldin-epa-administrator/index.html
- Solicitor General: Dean John Sauer who argued Trumps immunity claim before United States Supreme Court
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/14/congress/solicitor-general-pick-00189754
- FDA Commissioner: Marty Makary
- Secretary of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins
(https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/23/politics/brooke-rollins-trump-agriculture/index.html)
- CDC Director: David Weldon
- FCC Chairman: Brendan Carr. Carr wrote the FCC chapter in ‘Project 2025” and now he will be running the agency
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/18/media/brendan-carr-trump-fcc-nominee-project-2025/inde
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz (See above article)
- Surgeon General: Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox news contributor
- U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee,
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/mike-huckabee-israel/index.html
- U.S. Ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra
https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/trump-nominates-pete-hoekstra-ambassador-to-canada/
- U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton who is an American attorney who was the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from May 4, 2017, until December 23, 2020
- Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (See above article)
- Deputy Chief of Staff: Dan Scavino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Scavino
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser: Stephen Miller
https://apnews.com/article/trump-stephen-miller-policy-immigration-9cc6ad3118779b23bff88022ca5e2260
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs: James Blair
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-white-house-senior-staff-1985212
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel: Taylor Budowich
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-white-house-senior-staff-1985212
- Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor
- White House Communications Director: Steven Cheung
- White House Press Secretary: Karoline Leavitt, Campaign Press Secretary
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/karoline-leavitt-youngest-ever-white-house-press-secretary/
The link to relied upon news source is here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-might-be-in-donald-trump-cabinet/
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