OPINION: Cabinet of Chaos
Photo via Gage Skidmore/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
Ava Jelepis, a Freshman studying Journalism, argues that President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet selections are beyond concerning.
President-elect Donald Trump quickly chose his cabinet nominees for his second term. Since Republicans flipped control of the Senate, most of his nominees will likely be confirmed. Despite what may be a swift confirmation for members of Trump’s administration, many of Trump’s nominees are controversial and unqualified. These positions are imperative to our government, and it is crucial they are in good hands. Unfortunately, some of Trump’s cabinet picks have proven to be very concerning.
For Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg warned that having Kennedy as head of this department would be “beyond dangerous.” Kennedy, though he denies it, has a long history of being an anti-vaxxer. He is even the founder of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit group, and has spread the false claim that vaccines cause autism. This is not the only harmful and false conspiracy theory that Kennedy supports. He has said that “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese” and that the COVID-19 vaccine was the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” He has also questioned the fact that AIDS is spread by the HIV virus.
Even outside of the U.S., Kennedy has caused damage. During his visit to the Pacific island of Samoa in June 2019, Kennedy cautioned against the measles vaccine; 83 people died a few months later from a measles outbreak, and Kennedy suggested this was due to defective vaccines rather than people not receiving their vaccinations after he discouraged them. On top of his concerning stance on health issues, he was also accused of sexual assault by his former family babysitter, Eliza Cooney. Despite all of these disturbing facts and more about him, the scary reality is that the Department of Health and Human Services might face Kenndy’s harmful conspiracy theories.
Trump selected the CEO of the world’s second-largest fracking services company, Liberty Energy, as Secretary of Energy. Chris Wright, not surprisingly, is not in favor of the fight against climate change. He has said, “there is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either.” Trump’s pick for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lee Zeldin, like Wright, has also shown he is not concerned about the climate crisis as he voted against 51 of 53 climate change measures when he was a congressman. Trump’s staff and cabinet picks are dangerous to the environment, and I doubt we will see much effort against climate change during his term, but instead revert progress that has been made.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is Trump's pick for Secretary of Homeland Security. You may also know her as the governor who shot and killed her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, wrote about it in her book, and went on to defend it. Noem is also banned from all of the tribal lands after her claims that some had been infiltrated by drug cartels and even going so far as to say, “We've got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that's why they attack me every day.” Trump says that Noem will work closely with his pick for “border czar,” former police officer Tom Homan, to secure the southern border. Homan believes there is “no other option” than mass deportations.
Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education is Linda McMahon, who spent the majority of her career as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Trump chose her to lead the Small Business Administration after defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. A lawsuit was filed in October against McMahon, claiming that she turned a blind eye to child sexual abuse happening within the WWE. Though McMahon has little experience when it comes to the American school system, that shouldn't be an issue for Trump since he plans to defund the Department of Education.
Trump’s first pick for Attorney General was Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress the day he was nominated. However, he has since withdrawn since he is facing allegations of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl in 2017. He wrote on X, “It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” Trump has now chosen Pam Bondi, who has been close to Trump since his 2016 campaign and supported his false claims of election fraud in 2020.
For the Secretary of Defense position, Trump is now reconsidering his choice of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and former Army National Guard major. Since Trump announced him as his pick, his negative history has come back to bite him. Ten of his current and former Fox News colleagues reported that he drank in ways that concerned them and would smell alcohol before going on air. Records of a police investigation were released from 2017 when a woman accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her. An email from 2018 from his own mother accusing him of mistreating women for years came out. He has been called “the least qualified nominee in American history.” Now, Trump is considering replacing Hegseth with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who graduated from Harvard Law School and then served as a Navy Lawyer. However, the Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried says, “Americans will be in grave danger if Ron DeSantis is nominated as our next Secretary of Defense.” Currently, things are looking increasingly in favor of Desantis, but Hegseth says he “won't back down.”
These cabinet picks alone speak volumes about the Trump administration and should be cause for concern. Unfortunately, most of his picks will likely be confirmed, and we will just have to figure out where to go from there.
Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.