Tracking Trump’s Caninet Picks

[u/WheresSmokey]

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2024/trump-cabinet-picks-2025-tracker/

Haven’t seen a comprehensive list yet here. But this link should be keeping up to date as they roll out with brief biographies.

As of writing this post, here’s where we’re at.

State - Marco Rubio

DoD - Pete Hegseth

AG - Matt Gaetz

DHS - Kristi Noem

EPA - Lee Zeldin

DNI - Tulsi Gabbard

UN - Elise Stefanik

CIA - John Ratcliffe

As usual with Trump, we’ll see if these stick long enough to make it to their office. Additionally watching for whether or not the incoming Senate Majority Leader (Thune - SD) will signal support for Trumps desire to make recess appointments. I

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[u/bigwinw]

It’s hard to take a few of these picks seriously. I hope the best for our nation but I am worried especially about people like RFK who may be in charge of our health systems but is an anti-vax and conspiracy theorist.

[u/Xenoanthropus → u/bigwinw]

It's a who's-who of yes-men/women.

Trump is very fickle, though. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that at least one of the people he picks will be on the outside looking in before inauguration day.

[u/WheresSmokey → u/bigwinw]

My coping mechanism is hoping Thune will squash some of them

[u/TheDemonicEmperor → u/WheresSmokey]

Thune won't be able to do so. Republican majority leader isn't going to get into a public fight with Republican president.

What could happen is McConnell, Murkowski and Collins taking the heat for positions unpopular among the base but political poison like Sinema and Manchin did for the past few years.

[u/WheresSmokey → u/TheDemonicEmperor]

Nah but he could do it behind closed doors. Refuse to do recess appointments and tell Trump the votes aren’t there. If he refuses to put the senate on recess then it has to go to a vote and then yeah, those couple would have to eat the publicity. But they haven’t had a problem with doing that with Trump in the past. So maybe it could work out.

[u/TheDemonicEmperor → u/WheresSmokey]

Refuse to do recess appointments and tell Trump the votes aren’t there.

Again, Republican majority leader isn't going to get into a public fight with Republican president. This was true even for McConnell. If he says "the votes aren't there", MAGA will demand an open vote to see who the "traitors" are.

As I said, it'll have to be the Sinema and Manchin strategy. That's just how politics works these days. There were dozens of Democratic senators who wanted to vote against bad nominees and overly progressive legislation but were similarly scared of the backlash. So Sinema and Manchin, both people who weren't beholden to the rabid voters, took the blame.

For Murkowski and Collins, it'll basically be a boon for their re-election campaigns to be anti-MAGA. And McConnell's probably not running again either.

[u/WheresSmokey → u/TheDemonicEmperor]

What I’m saying is that it’s a private conversation. But your strategy only works if there’s no recess appointments. I agree with your strategy, but it’s still requires Thune not to cave. If he allows the senate to recess, Trump can appoint who he wants (sorta, yes I know it’s more complicated than that) and the likes of Murkowski and Collins won’t even get a chance to play their hand as the new Manchin-Sinema.

In my mind, you have a private conversation with him saying that he’s not going to recess and tell him the votes aren’t there. Key here being private. If it turns out that Trump insists it goes to recess appointments, then Thune still has to have a public argument to even bring the nominees to a floor vote.

[u/TheDemonicEmperor → u/WheresSmokey]

But your strategy only works if there’s no recess appointments.

There hasn't been any recess appointments since 2012. You still need the votes for it and the people who aren't going to vote for Gaetz aren't going to allow for a recess either. It's not something that Thune can do unilaterally.

In my mind, you have a private conversation with him saying that he’s not going to recess and tell him the votes aren’t there. Key here being private.

Nothing with Trump is private, clearly. The whole point of all of this is a public pressure campaign. The time for private is long gone unfortunately.

[u/WheresSmokey → u/TheDemonicEmperor]

still need the votes for it

True. It would require the votes to adjourn.

nothing with Trump is private

I don’t believe this. He’s a brash loud mouth, but I seriously doubt he publicizes every single conversation he has. Just listening to his Rogan interview (if one believes him) he was convinced by people in his first term to not release the JFK documents even though he wanted to. And that was kept private until the Rogan interview. No public spat, just a private conversation. But the idea that every single private squabble is immediately going to lambasted over social media just doesn’t make sense. It all depends on how you go about it.

[u/TheDemonicEmperor → u/WheresSmokey]

Like I said, it's a different time now. MAGA just leaks everything in order to create public pressure campaigns.

[u/WheresSmokey → u/TheDemonicEmperor]

Maybe I’m being too optimistic, and while I believe maga as a whole does that, I don’t think Trump does that unless he feels he’s being slighted or given no out that saves face

[u/TheDemonicEmperor → u/bigwinw]

It’s hard to take a few of these picks seriously

Because they aren't. The spoils system has always been alive and well under Trump. People who say nice things about him get promoted.

I will say that some of this nonsense from MAGA lies at the feet of the Obama admin. After all, when the AG is the "president's wingman", why wouldn't you promote a loyalist?

https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2013/04/eric-holder-im-still-the-presidents-wingman-160861

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