Trump’s Cabinet Packed with Highest Bidders and Loyalist Grifters
Why this is no surprise at all and what the point of picking inexperienced losers is
Trump’s Cabinet Packed with Highest Bidders and Loyalist Grifters
As nominations for the incoming Trump/MAGA regime are announced, the picture becomes more clear: The U.S. Government is being sold to the highest bidders and the most loyal to Donald Trump’s campaign. This includes a rag-tag bunch of bootlicking, power-hungry grifters who are only in it to serve their own self-aggrandizing interests.
So far, every single cabinet pick features an individual with zero expertise for the position they will oversee. If you’re aware of Project 2025, this was the plan all along and if you recall the first Trump administration, this is the point.
In Trump round 1, he filled his cabinet with loyalists and figures he could parade around as prized trophies. The problem for Trump was those loyalists and trophies had lines drawn they would not cross.
Trump’s first cabinet lingerers, as well as GOP Congressional leaders, were cool with bending and manipulating the law to one-party rule—even to saving Donald Trump’s ass from conviction of impeachment in the Senate and additional federal criminal indictments—but they did not co-sign on to Donald Trump as King. For many, that line was January 6, 2021. A line drawn too far down the road, frankly.
Now, in Trump’s return, he and his inner circle have ensured that those who serve in the incoming administration pledge loyalty to the anointed King (thanks to the Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. United States giving him broad immunity). A loyalty to serve Donald Trump and the special interests who own him above the U.S. Constitution.
Make no mistake: Donald Trump demands loyalty above all else. Rule of law be damned. The individuals he is picking to run the Government are like-minded individuals. They too believe the law does not apply to them and they also believe they can use the law as they wish.
Similarly, these individuals are also only loyal to Donald Trump so far as it serves their interests. This makes the incoming regime a recipe for constant conflict.
And we are already seeing that being borne out with Trump’s picks for Attorney General, Defense Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Director of National Intelligence, etc., as well as technocratic broligarch Elon Musk’s persistent presence at Trump’s Confederate White House, Mar-a-Lago.
But what about Senate confirmations?
In many ways, what Trump and his cronies are doing with these cabinet picks is a crawl test.
With former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as AG and neo-Nazi slash FOX & Friends Weekends mouthpiece Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, specifically, Trump is publicly pressuring Congress to stand down and allow recess appointments. It’s a loyalty test, as well as a bully’s way of demanding obedience by giving up power.
At the same time, Trump continues to ignore democratic norms by deliberately not signing agreements with the White House or Department of Justice for vetting cabinet picks, which is required for the Senate confirmation process. Note that the only reason someone would behave this way is if they have something to hide. This is par for the course with Donald Trump.
Even if GOP Congressional and Senate leaders do not back down, Donald Trump will still ultimately get his way. And even if Gaetz and/or Hegseth are not confirmed, they will be shuffled to other positions or installed as acting AG or acting Defense Secretary to get around the Legislative branch. Recall that Trump installed several acting leaders in his first administration to avoid the confirmation process.
Discussing the fact that what Trump is doing here is illegal is futile. A despot does not care about the law, except for how he can use it to his advantage. That is precisely how Trump operated in his first term and it’s no different now as President-elect.
A key to leveraging the law at his will is filling his cabinet with yes-men and yes-women who do not care about serving the people, nor do they have the expertise or competency to execute their duties. It’s authoritarianism 101.
So, what now?
None of this is surprising. Anyone, including the Corporate news media, pretending that it is brand new information is being dishonest with everyone, including themselves.
Trump has been pushing democratic norms since before he occupied the White House for the first time. When he lost in 2020, he orchestrated a coinciding legal and violent coup to remain in power. While he failed, Trump and his party continued to break democratic institutions and social norms over the past 4 years.
Despite all that, the American electorate narrowly decided to reward them for it by giving Trump a get-out-of-jail free pass with a lawless crown and the GOP a trifecta over the U.S. Government. The consequences for inviting the criminals and extremist ideologues back in will be swift and brutal.
The institutions are gone and cannot save us. Sadly, trust in legacy media is forever broken, which is deeply unfortunate as the American public needs it more than ever. So we all must be more discerning in what and how information is presented to us.
Questioning the narratives driven by the powerful and demanding transparency and accurate, truthful answers is dissent.
What I’m trying to say is that we the people still have the power. It’s up to us to save ourselves. And the first step is to not obey in advance or fall for the false notion that all is lost.