Concerns that Donald Trump's second term as president will be even more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents say are only getting worse. There is.
Disappointment with some of the president-elect's early nominations escalated into anger after it was announced that far-right Florida congressman Matt Gaetz would be chosen to be attorney general. Trump has previously called the job the most important in his administration.
The choice also sparked distrust among Republicans, raising concerns that President Trump intended to carry out mass layoffs at the Justice Department in retaliation for the criminal investigation it instigated against him. Ta.
playing cards reportedly Gaetz, 42, was chosen after the congressman, who himself faced a two-year investigation by the Justice Department for sex trafficking that ended without indictment, told Trump: . ”
Others considered for the post were rejected as being too concerned with legal concepts and constitutional minutiae.
Ty Cobb, White House Counsel under President Trump, said: called Gates' nomination “I'm very grateful to America.”
“Matt Gaetz is completely unqualified academically, professionally, ethically, morally, and empirically,” he told CNN this week.
The nomination follows two other shocking appointments: Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Fox News' Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
Gabbard, 43 – a former Democrat turned Republican – will oversee America’s vast intelligence agencies despite past accusations that she is a Russian. assets Or spitting out Kremlin talking points.
Her nomination followed President Trump's repeated pledges to purge intelligence agency chiefs he considers part of the “deep state.”
Hegseth, 44, an Army veteran, slammed the military's “woke” leaders. He was named as report President Trump had considered issuing an executive order early creating a “warrior commission” with the power to recommend the removal of generals and admirals deemed to lack “required leadership qualities.” .
And on Thursday, President Trump announced he had nominated anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the post of secretary of Health and Human Services, which would allow him to oversee administration of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.
After declining his own candidacy for a third-party presidential bid, Kennedy campaigned in support of Trump, but he has been criticized for his unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about public health necessities such as vaccines and water fluoridation. Mr. Kennedy opposes this. painted by kennedy sharp rebuke In 2023, for saying during an event that he believed the coronavirus was “targeted to attack white people and black people” and would not save Jews and Chinese people.
While campaigning with Trump, he used the slogan “Make America Healthy Again” and highlighted chronic disease as a top concern. On the contrary, President Trump vowed, “I'm going to make a fuss about health.'' cause fear Public health experts are divided about Kennedy's influence in the Trump administration.
Some observers see these nominations as a deliberate challenge to Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans on Wednesday elected John Thune to replace retiring Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader after Republicans won a 53-47 majority in last week's general election.
The Senate is constitutionally responsible for scrutinizing senior appointments during confirmation hearings. There are already predictions that Gates in particular will have a hard time gaining acceptance.
But President Trump, in what appears to be an early test of Thune's independence, asked the Senate to avoid such a hearing by allowing him to make the recess appointment.
“These choices seem designed to goad the Senate,” said Michael Waldman, director of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan legal policy institute. told the New York Times. “[They] It's very scary and it's a kind of performance art. ”
The three most recent nominees have overshadowed concerns about Trump's appointees on immigration, a key issue he has emphasized by pledging mass deportations of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Tom Homan, the hardline former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was chosen as border director, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who gained notoriety after admitting to shooting her own dog, was named border director. Department of Homeland Security.
President Trump chose an even more immoderate man, Stephen Miller (who designed the child separation policy for immigrant families when he was the first president), to be his deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House; It is certain that this will also be included.
President Trump also raised eyebrows by choosing former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the US ambassador to Israel. Mr. Huckabee has previously defended Israel's illegal settlements internationally, saying that Israel has a “deed” to the West Bank and that the Palestinians want it as part of a future state. said. He calls the West Bank by its Hebrew names: Judea and Samaria.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's golf partner at his West Palm Beach golf club during the second assassination attempt in September, has been selected as special envoy to the Middle East.
Elise Stefanik, the New York state congresswoman whose aggressive questioning of anti-Semitism led to the ousting of two female Ivy League presidents, will become ambassador to the United Nations, a role she frequently holds. criticized.
Some of the nominations are relatively uncontroversial, such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and veteran Republican operative and senior campaign staff Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff.
