Donald Trump has begun nominating and naming his Cabinet members and key administration members at an accelerated pace compared to both his predecessors and his own first term.
According to The Washington Post, loyalty to Trump is a determining factor. In addition to choosing more established Republican politicians for some roles, in others, Trump and his team selected individuals who don’t possess much, if any, governing experience in their related roles to oversee broad policy portfolios.
One selection that has generated particular attention is the surprise choice to appoint Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and combat veteran, as Secretary of Defense.
Hegseth will likely face an uphill battle for Senate confirmation, but he is amenable to Trump’s vision for the military and has criticized military leadership as being too focused on diversity and not on global threats.
According to The Associated Press, Trump has also named noted white nationalist Stephen Miller, his longtime advisor, as one of his deputy chiefs of policy.
Miller was one of the chief architects of Trump’s first term’s immigration policy, including family separation, and Miller has been a key influence on Trump’s more hardline speeches.
At Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden, Miller seemed to set the table for what he could focus on as one of Trump’s unofficial policy czars.
Miller told the crowd, “Your salvation is at hand” after “decades of abuse that has been heaped upon the good people of this nation — their jobs looted and stolen from them and shipped to Mexico, Asia, and foreign countries. The lives of their loved ones were ripped away from them by illegal aliens, criminal gangs, and thugs who don’t belong in this country.”
Trump also appointed former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a selection that seems to mirror his previous term’s selection of Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education.
Zeldin, according to a statement released by Trump, is expected to “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses,” as well as maintaining “the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”
Zeldin, however, does not come highly recommended by the environmental community, as the League of Conservation Voters scored his eight-year tenure in Congress at 14% regarding his approach to economic policy.
According to his statements to Fox News, Zeldin seems more concerned with business and capitalism than protecting the environment.
Zeldin told the outlet on Nov. 11 that he wants to make sure the United States can “pursue energy dominance … bring back American jobs to the auto industry and so much more.”
He also seemed excited about Trump’s economic agenda, adding, “I think the American people are so hungry for it. It’s one of the big reasons why they’re sending him back to the White House.”
According to The Washington Post, the rapid-fire nature of Trump’s appointments and nominations have left some members of his staff reeling.
One member of his staff told the outlet that “There is a total atmosphere of chaos,” said a person who spoke on condition of anonymity. “No one knows where the leaks are coming from, and nothing is real until Trump announces it.”
Another railed against the selection of Trump loyalist and South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem as Trump’s secretary of homeland security.
“What does she know about FEMA? What does she know about homeland security? She’s the governor of South Dakota!” an anonymous advisor told the Post.
According to James P. Pfiffner, a political scientist at George Mason University, Noem and Hegseth’s appointments will likely be the norm in the next iteration of Trump’s administration.
“The lesson is to have people who are personally loyal and will do anything he wants,” Pfiffner told the Post. “I expect these are going to be people who are really loyal to President Trump rather than taking an oath of office to the Constitution. They are not going to be hesitant about anything he decides to do.”
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