The Senate must reject Trump’s dangerous, unqualified cabinet nominees | Editorial

To say that Donald Trump’s cabinet picks resemble a clown car would be to defame clowns.

Beyond the obvious disqualifications of being sexual predators, anti-vaxxers, Russian sympathizers, and climate change deniers, many lack relevant experience.

Most have no business overseeing important agencies charged with keeping the country safe. Some could not pass an FBI background check, while others even pose a national security threat.

Yet they all possess one very important quality for at least one man: They are sycophants who put Trump above America.

This should not come as a surprise given Trump’s demand of loyalty to him above all else. But it is still alarming to Americans who support the Constitution, the rule of law, and the Founders’ vision of a government with checks and balances.

One adviser said Trump picked Matt Gaetz to be attorney general because other candidates talked about quaint things like the Constitution, while Gaetz reportedly said that once installed he would start cutting off heads. Gaetz, in what may be a rare example of good judgment on his part, announced Thursday that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the post.

Yet the former Florida congressman’s disregard for the rule of law was just one of his problems. If he had been confirmed, the 42-year-old would have led the department that investigated him for sex trafficking and obstruction of justice.

The House Ethics Committee also investigated him for claims involving drugs, bribes, and sex with a minor. Gaetz denies the charges. But Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) told CNN that Gaetz showed lawmakers nude pictures and videos of women he had sex with.

The Justice Department is not a frat house. Nor should it be run by an alleged lawbreaker.

Beyond Gaetz’s alleged crude and deviant behavior, he lacked the legal experience to oversee the Justice Department. During a stint as a lawyer, he tried a handful of minor civil disputes but never served as a prosecutor or judge and was ranked one of Florida’s least effective members of Congress.

Gaetz’s only “qualification” was that he would do whatever Trump wants, which includes using the Justice Department to prosecute enemies. That would undermine public faith in the department’s independence and the rule of law — hallmarks that have long distinguished America from many other countries.

Undermining institutions is part of Trump’s plan to MAGA-fy the government by firing career public servants, closing departments, slashing spending, and eliminating safety regulations.

Elon Musk, who is parading around Mar-a-Lago as co-president and also faces sexual harassment claims, was given a made-up title and wants to cut at least $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion federal budget — a move that would require slashing Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits as well as defense spending and many other programs.

Musk, whose billions in federal contracts create a conflict of interest for any government oversight role, acknowledged the cuts would result in “temporary hardship” for many people.

Some wonder if the end game is to neuter the government so that many services can be privatized and further enrich the oligarchs supporting Trump. But the immediate result will be to destabilize and weaken America.

Trump’s supporters are enthralled with the reality show theater of it all, as he “owns the libs” by naming D-list apparatchiks to run the government. Trump is also taking sick pleasure by preemptively firing those who sold out by supporting him but cannot be trusted to do right by Trump, denying cabinet spots to people like Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo.

Are you not entertained?

Is destroying 248 years of democracy worth the promise of cheaper eggs?

The chaos, lies, and corruption of Trump’s previous term — which included two impeachments, tens of thousands of needless pandemic deaths, and a deadly insurrection — may soon seem like the good old days if the Senate bows to pressure and approves the most extreme cabinet ever.

Since Trump’s election, stock indexes have dropped and mortgage rates have increased.

The smart money is jittery over Trump’s reckless economic policies and a government run by inept miscreants.

Indeed, the biggest election winner — beyond Trump dodging his criminal indictments — is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants the United States to split apart like the Soviet Union and join it in the graveyard of former superpowers.

Putin sees Trump as a useful idiot in achieving his goal. That’s why Russia openly worked to help elect Trump again by spreading disinformation on social media and calling in bomb threats at polling stations in swing states.

Trump, in turn, nominated former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) to be the director of national intelligence. Gabbard has no experience in intelligence gathering.

Even more dangerous, she traffics in conspiracy theories and has been a vocal supporter of Russia. State-controlled TV in Moscow celebrated Gabbard’s nomination by referring to her as “our girlfriend.”

“Do you really want her to have all the secrets of the United States and our defense intelligence agencies when she has so clearly been in Putin’s pocket?” asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.).

The same goes for Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, whom Trump nominated to be secretary of defense. Hegseth, 44, brings no experience but lots of baggage.

He was accused of sexual assault and paid the woman as part of a nondisclosure agreement, but claims the encounter was consensual. He sports a tattoo that a fellow service member from his time in the National Guard flagged as a possible white nationalist “insider threat.”

Hegseth supports waterboarding, claims the Geneva Convention is outdated, wants to rename the Defense Department the War Department, is opposed to women in combat, and complained about diversity in the military. “The dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” he told a podcaster.

In addition to his retrograde beliefs and lack of character, Hegseth is uniquely unqualified as he would be the least experienced defense secretary in U.S. history.

Several of Trump’s picks seem less qualified than the next. Like a Bizarro World cabinet, many are poised to do the opposite of what the job requires.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a conspiracy theorist with no scientific background, is not only unfit to run Health and Human Services but is a public health danger. He is a former heroin addict, sexual philanderer, and prominent vaccine skeptic who spews reckless conspiracy theories.

Kennedy, 70, falsely claimed the virus that causes COVID-19 was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and the Chinese. He falsely linked vaccines to autism and suggested AIDS may not be caused by HIV.

Beyond his disturbing interactions with dead bears and whales, Kennedy’s fringe views put him at direct odds with the career scientists, researchers, and inspectors responsible for the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs, vaccines, medical products, and the nation’s food supply.

Following Kennedy’s advice on vaccines will likely get people killed.

Kennedy’s own family has said he is too dangerous to run HHS. Even the New York Post’s far-right editorial board, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said Kennedy overseeing public health violates the first rule of medicine to do no harm.

“His views were a head-scratching spaghetti of what we can only call warped conspiracy theories, and not just on vaccines,” the editorial board wrote.

Trump has also tapped Mehmet Oz, a physician and former television talk show host who endorsed quack treatments, to lead the agency that oversees Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, which together provide health insurance to more than half the country.

Oz, a wealthy dilettante who ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania in 2022 mainly from his mansion in New Jersey, has no experience running a sprawling health insurance operation, which he supports privatizing.

Oz would report to Kennedy, making for a dangerous duo of know-nothings.

Trump and his supporters claim he has a mandate to do what he wants. But there was no landslide. Trump got less than 50% of the popular vote and won Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin by roughly 232,000 votes combined.

Trump is allowed to nominate anyone he wants, but the Senate is not obliged to rubber stamp unqualified and dangerous officials.

Trump wants to overwhelm and circumvent the confirmation process with recess appointments because he knows his cabinet picks are unfit. But the Senate must do its sworn constitutional duty: complete background checks, hold hearings, and vote to accept or reject the nominees.

For the safety and health of the country, Gabbard, Hegseth, Kennedy, Oz, and other nominees who pose a danger to American health and security and can’t meet the minimum qualifications should be rejected.