Thwart Trump's unwise Cabinet selections

President-elect Donald Trump would be making a serious mistake if he goes forward with his troubling nominations of several irreparably unqualified people to serve in his Cabinet.

Trump certainly has a mandate to shake up the status quo and he deserves to have people at his side whom he trusts. Regardless of the policies he wants his team to follow, his obligation to the nation is to find superbly competent individuals with proven experience and character. Leaders of the nation's government must also have a deep understanding of the enormous bureaucracies they would control and incontestable executive skills.

Even evaluated through the lens of his own self-interest, bad choices would squander Trump's second opportunity to fulfill his stated agenda if his appointees become mired in controversy and conflicts. Skilled leadership is required, otherwise there will be chaos as in his first term. Former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn had to resign after only 22 days and later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russians.

Trump has made some solid choices including Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state. But such picks have been overshadowed by four terrible choices: Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. If the president-elect advances their nominations to the Senate for confirmation, it will be an early and crucial test for the new GOP majority. All four should be rejected.

Certainly, the Senate must not allow any nomination to move forward under the recess appointments process, an archaic loophole. The Constitution requires the Senate to carefully review each nomination as part of the system of checks and balances, a foundational democratic process.

Matt Gaetz, attorney general

The former House member was admitted to the Florida bar in 2008 and briefly worked with a local law firm before winning a seat in the Florida legislature. With less than two years' legal experience, he might have the skill to handle a house closing but not to lead the Justice Department's more than 9,000 well-trained lawyers, among 115,000 public servants who staff 40 bureaus and departments including the FBI. 

Worse is the shallowness of his character. Gaetz was an instigator of the effort to subvert the 2020 election. Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr oversaw an investigation of Gaetz for sex trafficking and having sex with at least one underage woman during a drug-fueled trip to the Bahamas. There was no prosecution, likely because Barr had no jurisdiction in another country, but one of the women, who was 17 at the time, testified for three days before the House Ethics Committee. The committee's report, which was considered very damaging, was to be released Friday but Gaetz resigned his seat, giving Speaker Mike Johnson an excuse to quash the findings. Before Trump left office in 2021, Gaetz asked for a pardon but did not get one.

If his nomination advances, the Senate must be provided with the details of the House Ethics probe. Trump ran on depoliticizing the Justice Department and if you accept the assumption DOJ is political, it's a fair goal. But we fear Trump wants to use Gaetz as a tool to weaponize the department against those Trump perceives as enemies.

Pete Hegseth, defense secretary

Hegseth is considered a talented host at Fox News and probably will be excellent at handling news conferences and advancing the culture wars in the military. He has said women shouldn’t serve in combat roles and wants to purge "woke generals" at the Pentagon. Hegseth seems intent on eradicating the nation’s historic tradition of an apolitical military. He would be Trump’s agent in creating a "warrior board" of retired military officers to purge three and four-star generals who run afoul of the president-elect's plans to use the military domestically to clamp down on protests and deport millions of immigrants.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., health and human services secretary

Kennedy's erratic behavior and troubled history as a conspiracy theorist is worrisome enough, but now he would also have a mega platform to preach against lifesaving vaccines while making the nation ill-prepared to respond to new pandemics and lethal pathogens. Kennedy’s tenure is likely to affect the American people most directly and immediately because of his power over the development of drugs and treatment therapies.

Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence

Gabbard, a former Democratic House member and 2020 presidential contender, is now a Republican and a Fox News contributor with neither the skills nor experience to coordinate the nation’s many intelligence agencies. More troubling is that the former Army reservist has praised Russia strongman Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who used chemical weapons on his people. In a 2022 interview on Russian TV, Gabbard is introduced as "our girlfriend Tulsi." One panelist asks: "Is she some sort of a Russian agent?" The Russian TV host quickly replies: "Yes." What could possibly go wrong with putting her in charge of the nation's secrets?

Trump's appointments make clear he wants the federal government's most premier and powerful organizations to be personal satellites for his own ends. The Senate confirmation process must be a bulwark against these reckless decisions.