Trump’s choices
Tenor of president-elect’s Cabinet selections is decidedly hard-right.
Back in 1970, President Richard Nixon got the idea that his White House uniform guards looked “slovenly,” so he ordered new attire that featured doublebreasted white tunics with starred epaulets, gold piping, draped braid and high black plastic hats decorated with a large White House crest. Nixon got the idea from honor guards he’d seen in Europe.
The military-style uniforms didn’t last long. The Buffalo News commented that the newly outfitted guards looked like old-time movie ushers. As columnist Megan McArdle reported a few years ago, they ended up as uniforms for the Southern Utah State College band.
None of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices are in uniform — not anymore, at least — although three of them are retired generals. Reportedly, Trump is impressed by their swagger and self-assurance, even though he once proclaimed that he knows more about ISIS than the generals do. Retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis is likely a good choice as defense secretary, but the preponderance of generals — with more to come, reportedly — raises the question of whether the habit of command lends itself to the basic tenets of democracy.
The military-heavy trend also raises concerns about the nation’s fundamental commitment to civilian leadership. With its nearly $600 billion budget, the Pentagon already exercises a huge influence in Washington and, as New York Times columnist Carol Giacomo points out, it dwarfs the State Department in resources. With a woefully inexperienced and ill-informed president, the possibility of an undue reliance on military solutions to international problems has to be a concern.
Aside from the brass sitting around his Cabinet table, Trump has favored either fellow plutocrats or loyalist ideologues bent on deconstructing whatever agency they’ve been picked to run or some combination of both. Although Trump’s actual policy positions are fluid, the tenor of his Cabinet choices is hard-right.
Members of the deconstruction category are likely to be disastrous, but Americans shouldn’t be surprised. Candidate Trump’s contempt for government, particularly the federal government, was a campaign hit for Trump true-believers across the country. Aided and abetted by a compliant Congress, the new president is about to give his supporters what they asked for. They include a billionaire education secretary who doesn’t believe in public education (Betsy DeVos), a labor secretary who takes positions that are virulently anti-worker (fast-food executive Andrew Puzder), an Environmental Protection Agency head who doesn’t believe in climate change (Oklahoma Attorney Gen. Scott Pruitt), a health and human services secretary who wants to eliminate public health programs (Georgia Congressman Tom Price) and a secretary of Housing and Urban Development whose only qualification is his home ownership (Dr. Ben Carson). We’re still waiting for a Secretary of State choice.
That list doesn’t include Jeff Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama who is Trump’s pick for attorney general. Sessions is an opponent of voting rights, has a sketchy past when it comes to civil rights and is likely to unleash the full force of the Justice Department on the undocumented among us. Nor does it include former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin, the president elect’s choice for Treasury secretary and a man who made millions during the subprime loan debacle just a few years ago. Trump’s proposed Cabinet so far has a combined wealth of more than $14 billion, according to multiple news sources. The choice of Mnunchin and other Wall Street types is called “draining the swamp” — to be replaced, apparently, by a luxury swimming pool.
Trump’s Cabinet picks are subject to Senate approval, although they’re unlikely to face formidable opposition. Presidents usually get their way, plus Democrats’ ability to block Trump’s selections is limited due to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision in 2013 to change the filibuster rules, so that certain executive branch nominees only required a majority vote.
Senators, Democrat and Republican, still have an obligation to raise questions and highlight concerns about Trump’s choices. It’s the American people who suffer when a president chooses a nominee who’s unqualified and unfit to serve. In a Trump Cabinet, that’s a real possibility.