Trump made some good picks and some very questionable ones. Let’s also discuss recess appointments, when and why.
Recess-Appointment Scheme
Please consider Trump’s Recess-Appointment Scheme
The Constitution restrains the President’s appointments by giving the Senate the power to confirm, or not, his nominees. Hamilton in Federalist No. 76 writes that this provides “an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters.”
“We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” he posted on Truth Social. The prospect is that Mr. Trump might try to bully the Senate to go into a recess, so he can unilaterally make Mr. Gaetz the Attorney General, maybe until the end of 2026.
In 2005, when President George W. Bush sent John Bolton to the United Nations on a recess appointment, Mr. Bush noted that the Senate had “held thorough confirmation hearings,” and Mr. Bolton had won majority support. Yet a Democratic filibuster blocked an up-or-down vote.
Mr. Trump will face no such obstacles next year. Republicans are firmly in control of the Senate, and presidential nominees are no longer subject to the 60-vote filibuster rule, thanks to the late Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Many of Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks so far are competent, mainstream figures, and they’ll have no trouble getting through quickly. Although hundreds of positions require confirmation, lower appointees don’t need the same level of vetting as an Attorney General.
Recess appointments are Mr. Thune’s first test. He has said they aren’t off the table, and he wants to approve Mr. Trump’s nominees fast.
But his comments Wednesday suggest he also sees the gravity of what Mr. Trump proposes. “I’m willing to grind through it and do it the old-fashioned way,” Mr. Thune said.
Secretary of State – Marco Rubio – Good
“Little Marco”, as Trump used to call him (and Democrats now likely will), has decades of foreign policy experience in the Senate. He’s met a lot of foreign leaders. He’s honest and is known by allies.
But will Rubio jell with Vance and other isolationists?
Presumably, Trump must have talked to him about policy and Rubio agreed to carry out Trump’s agenda.
Assuming so, Rubio is a very good choice. If not, there will soon be major problems.
Attorney General – Matt Gaetz – Bad and Ugly
Judging from the cheering on X, many like Gaetz. However, he is woefully unqualified for the job. He only practiced for two years in a small law firm in tiny Fort Walton, Florida. He went into politics two years after law school, getting elected to vacant seat in the Florida state senate.
There’s no indication he ever practiced law after that. And he has no sense of what can be done. Look at House infighting making a farce of their budget demands.
Is that who you really want for Attorney General?
There’s an ugly aspect to this as well.
Gaetz’s only qualification is that he would do whatever Trump wants. But haven’t we had enough of lawfare?
I realize some of you will say they are OK with all of that. Add in sex with minor charges. Who cares.
But the one thing that matters is Trump should have known Gaetz would blow up. And in doing so, there went any hope of mass recess appointments.
Before Getz blew up, I emailed friends with these comments.
Gaetz is largely responsible for all the House infighting that led to the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Might Trump just want to get rid of Gaetz?
I dismiss the idea because it seems to be a foolish way to accomplish things. But why nominate someone who seems destined to fail?
Gaetz will not be confirmed. That much is clear. And Gaetz is so bad (whether you see it or not) that Senators will look harder at some of Trump’s other choices.
Many will disagree, but Trump should have vetted questionable choices with some Senate leaders. He failed to do so.
Many want Trump to snap his fingers and for everyone to bow down. Gaetz is the sorry result.
Don’t confuse an electoral college blowout with a mandate to be a king. Trump will have to work with the Senate and the House or he will be fuming for four years.
EPA – Lee Zeldin – Excellent
Zeldin is good because he knows the EPA. His objective is to trash it. The bureaucrats can’t dodge him.
Zeldin said his priorities on “day one and the first 100 days” are to “roll back regulations.” Sounds good to me.
We need to undo Green New Stupidity fast, and Zeldin is the man.
Might he go overboard? Yes. If so, Democrats brought this on themselves.
UN Ambassador – Elise Stefanik – Mostly Good
“She will be an incredible Ambassador to the United Nations, delivering ‘Peace through Strength’ and ‘America First’ national security policies!” according to Trump’s team.
She is deeply critical of the UN an has called for a “complete reassessment of US funding” of the organization.
As an isolationist, I agree. But I have serious concerns over her unwavering support for Israel no matter what Israel does.
Secretary of Defense – Pete Hegseth – Good and Bad
On the good side, Hegseth commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge. He supports soldiers and veterans and has written a book on that.
Also on the plus side, Hegseth is very charismatic and would connect and command the respect of the troops. He would remove woke ideology from the services and service academies.
On the bad side, Hegseth doesn’t have any experience running organizations.
“The bureaucrats would run circles around them. It’s ridiculous to have this guy running a $900 billion enterprise. He’s never run anything. It’s the same with Gaetz,” said one of my insider friends.
And the Pentagon is puzzled because he really does not know anything about defense systems.
Let’s call this one questionable as opposed to terrible. I doubt he is confirmed. But he should have a place somewhere. How about Veteran’s Affairs?
National Intelligence Director – Tulsi Gabbard – Good
Gabbard is combat veteran who currently serves as a U.S. Army Reserve officer.
She served for two years on the House Homeland Security Committee that would have given her access to U.S. intelligence during classified briefings.
That’s on the light side, but in contrast to Gaetz, concerns over Gabbard are mainly from people who’s opinions are almost always wrong.
Here’s a few hoots courtesy of the Washington Post.
“Do you really want her to have all the secrets of the United States and our defense intelligence agencies when she has so clearly been in Putin’s pocket?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said on CNN on Thursday.
“Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) wrote on Twitter on March 13, 2022, after Gabbard’s video about “biolabs.”
In 2019, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton appeared to refer to her as a “favorite of the Russians” and suggested, without evidence, that Moscow was “grooming” her as a third-party candidate
If the above nonsense is the best rebuttal anyone can do, I am happy with the choice.
She is another isolationist who fits in nicely.
The Hill notes that Gabbard was also critical of Trump while she was still a Democratic House member, calling on CNN America’s assassination of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, an “illegal and unconstitutional act of war.”
She was right. Trump was wrong.
Also from the Hill … “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms,” she said in a video statement in October 2022.
“Dear Presidents Putin, Zelensky, and Biden. It’s time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love, for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that Ukraine should be allied with neither NATO nor Russia, a decision that she said would “allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace.”
I approve those messages. Now, if she can only get Trump to pardon Edward Snowden.
Will Tulsi be confirmed? I don’t know. As with Hegseth, she’s an excellent person but perhaps cast in the wrong role.
White House Chief of Staff – Susie Wiles – Excellent
Wiles is a very conservative, by the book lady. She’s solid and a great appointment. She will be the first female chief of staff in United States history.
Trump called Wiles the “ice maiden”. As a political operative, “Susie does not f*** around.”
Perfect.
Department of Homeland Security – Kristi Noem – Good
Noem is under fire for shooting her dog because it was untrainable. Before that, she was on Trump’s short list of VP candidates..
She is a good choice in that she will carry out whatever Trump wants.
There won’t be squabbling, and that’s certainly good. I personally hope Trump starts with criminals and new arrivals then takes a pause.
Otherwise, mass deportations could get ugly fast.
Health and Human Services – RFK – Bad and Ugly
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has some major valid gripes about Covid. The rest is bad and ugly.
Kennedy is an anti-vax nutcase. The Wall Street Journal has some comments to consider.
Government health agencies certainly need a shake-up. The National Institutes of Health has become too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and it funds much dubious social-science research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has failed at its core mission while extending its mandate into other areas like gun violence.
The Food and Drug Administration is too slow to approve novel therapies but has also been too slow to pull some medicines from the market when evidence shows they aren’t safe or effective. Bureaucrats apply inconsistent standards for drug approvals that generate suspicion about political favoritism.
Alas, Mr. Kennedy isn’t the person to fix all this, and he could make things worse if he puts government power behind his views. Start with his longtime campaign against vaccines. “There is no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective,” he told CNN last December. None? Has polio nearly vanished on its own?
He has suggested that “wifi radiation” is increasing autism, food allergies, asthma and chronic illnesses. “I think it degrades your mitochondria and it opens your blood-brain barrier,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan last year.
Mr. Kennedy has blamed chemicals in water and consumer products for every health ill from cancer to gender dysphoria among young people. Genetically modified foods are another RFK Jr. villain. He has proposed that the government create organic-farming communes to treat drug addictions.
“Large-scale hog producers are a greater threat to the United States and U.S. democracy than Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network,” Mr. Kennedy declared in 2002.
Some Republicans have rallied in support of Mr. Kennedy because they think he will make public-health agencies more transparent and weed out alleged collusion between Big Pharma and government. But he lacks the experience and temperament to manage, let alone reform, HHS’s unwieldy bureaucracy. Mr. Kennedy’s expertise is as a gadfly.
A friend, Mark, commented
I have never trusted RFK Jr. since the mercury-in-swordfish panic. He was dead wrong (as we proved by our testing of a frozen prehistoric swordfish). But he still threw his political weight around to destroy that segment of the fishing industry.
All of these political jerks are nothing but walking egos that think they were put on this Earth to receive grand accolades because they saved humanity from some dreamed up global calamity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Polio, measles, mumps, and smallpox have been eradicated or nearly so.
Kennedy is a fringe gadfly that has no business in an official role.
D.O.G.E – Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Trump can do what he wants in Dogeland because the “Department of Government Efficiency” is not a government agency.
Creating a new agency takes an act of Congress.
I hate to burst any bubbles, but I have a question: When has Musk ever delivered any promise on time? He is decades behind on full self driving.
Musk has pledged to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget but the total discretionary spending budget is about $1.7 trillion. Is Musk going to cut $2 trillion from $1.7 trillion?
$100 billion? Anything at all?
Trump said he will not cut Social Security and Medicare, so someone tell me how this will work.
I am all 100% in favor of closing down the Department of Education. Heck, that should be the starting point.
However, Musk has no idea in any meaningful detail how the department interacts with other entities as states and universities. You can’t send an email to Indiana and say we are closing the Department of Education down on Monday. Come pick up some boxes.
It takes an act of Congress to start or shut down a government agency. There are about 450 departments. Anyone care to bet how many get shut down?
If you want to close down Education, then bring back Betsy DeVos. She ran it for four years and wants it shut down. However, she resigned after January 6.
DOGE has no power to do anything but make recommendations. I can do that too. But making recommendations and getting things done are two different things.
Heck, give this dynamic duo a shot. It can’t hurt unless it turns into a clown show. Then again, that’s a very reasonable fear.
Regardless, any actions will be up to Congress.
A Look at the House
Meanwhile, Only 8 House Seats Still Undecided, Remaining Map Favors Democrats
Currently, Republicans have 220 seats. And despite the alleged blockbuster mandate, Republicans may end up with as few as 219 for the next session.
My guess is 221. However, Matt Gaetz resigned after being nominated by Trump for Attorney General. And Trump nominated New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to be ambassador to the UN.
That’s two less Republican votes until those seats are filled. A mere two or three defections could sink any Republican agenda if Democrats remain united.
It’s going to take statesmanship, not petulant demands, to get some things passed this session. House republicans proved that in the ouster of Johnson.
Judgment on Display
If the Senate can block one appointment to Trump’s ire, why not more? I don’t think RFK is possible either, and I hope not.
Trump put his judgment on display. And some of his picks are so excruciatingly bad that it’s safe to say he flunked.
By making at least two awful choices, Trump invited closer looks at the rest.
Art of the Possible
Even if you like Gaetz, he could not possibly get confirmed. Trump should have known this in advance.
Politics is the art of the possible. Trump has made it the art of the impossible. He has already lost a lot of political capital. It didn’t take long.
Trump does not have a working majority in the House, and the incumbent party typically loses seats in the midterm elections.
It’s a bad start and a mess of his own doing.