Summary
Donald Trump’s recent cabinet picks, including controversial figures like Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., signal a deliberate effort to upend norms, bypass accountability, and impose a new reality on American governance.
By ignoring FBI background checks, exploiting legal loopholes, and sidelining Congress, Trump aims to consolidate power, destabilize democratic institutions, and govern unilaterally.
This strategy echoes authoritarian tactics, where truth and law are manipulated to serve power.
Critics warn of a growing “kakistocracy,” threatening U.S. governance and fostering public disorientation and disengagement.
For decades Republicans have been weakening the government, then using the weak government as an excuse for why we need less government.
I’m pretty sure it’s to sort the congress-critters into those who will confirm whatever nonsense he picks and those who are “traitors”…
Because he’s incompetent, and has a non-existant vetting process beyond checking for loyalty to him?
Anyone who thinks that America as it was can be returned to after Trump isn’t paying attention. Trump and the right wing have been tearing America apart for the past eight years. The right wing for even longer. The Rs as of now are a very organized well funded domestic threat that will restructure America so they are in power indefinitely.
Both parties have been trash since 2002. Republicans are just honest about being trash.
The preferred Plan A is probably to bully and pressure at least 50 of the likely 53 GOP senators into supporting his nominations, to establish dominance over Congress and castrate its role as a check on presidential power while making the notion of “advise and consent” an 18th-century anachronism.
How many people rotated through his cabinet the first term? How many staffers walked away?
This is a loyalty test. A hazing. Get on board and confirm the worst possible choices or be relegated to the trash heap with Cheney and Kinzinger.
Trump’s ego requires that these fools be confirmed but I doubt half of them make it to the midterms.
You know, the single “disrupt the norms” part is actually perfectly legit. We need that desperately in some departments. The people he chooses and why they are chosen are terrible dogshit, though, obviously.
Harris was threatening to put Republicans in some of these positions, which isn’t equally bad but still a terrible idea. I personally would love to see a progressive shake-up cabinet, although my priority is always education. Depts of Education are often led by establishment figures (and even Dems have picked donors for it as a reward for service) and it’s a big reason we see little movement at both federal and state levels.
There are a lot of very progressive, research-backed education specialists who would absolutely rock my world. But they’re always Socialist, if not Marxist. Turns out to be a good worldview when addressing public school effectivemess, but they won’t ever be picked unless the dems get more progressive.
Because anyone of competence knows better
They agree with Trump. That is what he cares about.
