So it's officially RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services—which includes the CDC, NIH, FDA, the Surgeon General etc. But it could have been worse, right? Trump could have nominated Martin Shkreli. Or he could have staged a competition: whoever silences Dr. Fauci with extreme prejudice gets to be HHS secretary.¹
We're still waiting on the Treasury Department. Let's see. Trump likes people with loose ethics and good TV skills. Maybe he'll pardon Sam Bankman-Fried and nominate him. Or maybe Larry Kudlow, a Fox News mainstay. Or Maria Bartiromo. Or the reanimated corpse of Lou Dobbs.
WTFK?
¹Totally legal, in case you're wondering. Since the lucky winner is acting under presidential orders, the feds can claim jurisdiction and Trump can issue a pardon. And this is plainly within the scope of the president's constitutional duties, so the Supreme Court says Trump himself would also be immune from prosecution.
Kudlow is in the running. I doubt Bartiromo would be willing to take the pay cut. My guess for Treasury would be a crypto king.
TBH I'm kind of surprised it's not everyone's favorite turdburger, Elon.
I’m guessing Musk’s lawyers have told him he might have to step down from various corporate duties where he to take a cabinet position. I’m assuming the waste cutting job is a voluntary, advisory role, but I haven’t really looked into it.
The Department of Government Efficiency will be an advisory commission, despite its cabinet-like "department" name. Musk is not taking a government job.
Don't know if Elon and Vivek even get paid, though the commission itself will be funded by the government.
This week they are seeking "super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting," but no one should get too excited about potential career opportunities. The pay for those revolutionaries: nothing.
Also:
DOGE expiration date: July 4, 2026.
All his choices are him rewarding loyalty. That's it. He has no interest in learning what all these jobs entail. All he cares about is loyalty. He will be running his administration like he did his business.
I think there’s also some swagger involved — he’s demonstrating his hold over Republican Senators by forcing them to approve nutjobs and unqualified nitwits. I think he’s quite sure they will bend the knee, at least for most of the votes.
There's definitely some kind of trolling and flexing going on. Trump surely welcomes the controversy and lib owning, too.
RFK Jr's version of MAGA. MADYA. Make Americans Die Young Again
Democrats have long criticized Republicans for not caring about governing when they win, because they don't believe it can do anything well.
But it's clearly worse when they try.
They try to make it worse. It's not incompetence, it's malfeasance.
the cruelty is a feature, not a bug
Joe Exotic for Interior.
The only good thing about RFK Jr as head of HHS is that he'll be too busy telling people that you can cure AIDS by drinking undiluted kangaroo urine to do stuff like harass abortion providers and so forth.
From the perspective of the political interest of Democrats, this parade of freaks and lunatics is probably a net plus. Trump does not have a “reach out to the center and expand the tent” bone in his body. This dynamic didn’t prevent him from winning last week, because the fundamentals were sufficiently strong, but that doesn’t mean the specter of this clown parade won’t hurt Republicans in 2028. Thermostatic effects are pretty strong in US politics.
Ahh, I think it is possible that there is another issue behind this.
Move over, Lincoln's team of rivals. Make way for...
The Team of Virals
👍👍👍👍👍
After Trump's election in 2016, Norman Mailer called Trump "America's middle finger." His nominations in the second term are multiple middle fingers to America.
Yes, indeed.
What an apt description.
He's like one of those caterpillars in the grip of some kind of parasite that compels it to climb up the highest branch, anchor itself thete and die.
It's a joke government, formed by a joke personality, for people who think it's all a big joke, and they're in on it, and he thinks that's hilarious.
For future reference, vaccines in Canada do not require citizenship.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/register
That might change with 15 million vaccine tourists per year, but then again, people might as well make a vacation in Canada out of it. There would likely be a huge net economic benefit to allowing Americans access to routine vaccines in Canada.
My wife and kid have [redacted country name] passports. I can imagine a situation where future visits to said country include a stop at the doctor to pick up vaccine shots that we can no longer get in the US.
It's not too late for Joe Biden to hire a hit squad. Perfectly within his constitutional duties to protect the country like that.
If only...
Kudlow is quite likely on his short list. Ditto Stephen Moore.
Yes, Moore was who I was going to mention. I don't watch Fox, though, so I don't know how well he does on that qualification. But I'd keep my dark-horse bets open for any random crypto bro who's on there a lot.
Trump is nominating people with flaws because of their flaws, not despite of them. It is the kompromat theory of hiring. Trump will give out the carrot of a job in an area they care about but they also know there is a giant stick waiting for them if they get out of line. It will probably work with everyone except Musk. The outcome of that inevitable battle will be interesting. Trump is no Putin and our oligarchs have more options.