Donald Trump didn’t expect to win in 2016 and was playing catch-up in appointing a staff and Cabinet. This go-round Trump was prepared, aided by the 2025 Project staff, who prepared lists of candidates to work in the next administration.
Trump had his fill last time of strong-willed staffers who refused to carry out orders like shooting protesters in the legs and upheld the Constitution. With the Senate, House, and Supreme Court, the incumbent president has started his plan to eliminate generals who are not subservient. He has begun the appointments of those who share his limited vision (Stephen Miller) and those whose will has already been broken (Marco Rubio).
Hillary Clinton may have gotten wrong by saying you could put half of Trump’s supporters in a “basket of deplorables.” The truth is well over half of his announced picks for the White House belong in that basket, and all of his supporters are going along for the ride.
There are positions requiring Senate confirmation and others where that process isn’t required. Trump has floated the idea of putting people in place requiring Senate approval in recess appointments when the Senate is not in session for ten days. Those people could work under acting titles for up to one year. By then, their damage could be done. Senator Rick Scott volunteered to carry out this end run when vying to be the Senate Majority Leader, but he finished in last place in a secret ballot of Republican Senators. John Thune, a supposed institutionalist, ended up getting the job.
Trump has also suggested that the FBI stop doing background checks on his nominees. The purpose wasn’t immediately clear until he announced he would make former House representative Matt Gaetz his Attorney General, a position that would have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Gaetz was a Congressman until a day before the announcement when he resigned. Days before, the House planned to release its ethics report on Gaetz. They had investigated whether Gaetz had transported a minor out of the country for the purpose of having sex. Former wingman Joel Greenberg is serving an eleven-year sentence after being convicted of several crimes overlapping with Gaetz’s behavior. The Justice Department reviewed the case and elected not to prosecute, supposedly because they would have to rely on testimony from the criminal lying beside him.
Gaetz’s appointment may well be a test to see if the Senate will lay down and accept whoever Trump nominates. Many of those same people have attempted to grow a spine but have ultimately been grounded into submission. Trump suggested Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the shooting of JFK and criticized his wife. He also insulted Mitch McConnel’s wife, Elaine Chao, who served as his Secretary of Labor.
Trump announced that Tom Homan will serve as his Border Czar. He, along with white nationalist Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, will carry out the deportation of between 11–20 million immigrants. In the last Trump administration, Miller devised the family separation plan, and Homan helped carry it out. They are both chomping at the bit to deport brown and Black people. Melania Trump need not fear about having worked illegally when entering the country and later getting a “genius visa” for “distinguished merit and ability.”
Trump’s appointments are coming down the pike. It appeared he was attempting to pick more reasonable choices for positions requiring Senate approval. Marco Rubio appeared as an easily confirmable choice as a current Senator and the ranking member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, among other related committee assignments. Little Marco proved to be Trump’s staunchest defender when he was taking heat for comments made by a comedian at a Trump rally calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Rubio was slighted in 2016 when he hoped Trump would pick him as his Vice-President. After he was rejected for Mike Pence, Rubio campaigned even harder for Trump. May I have some more, sir?
The truth is that Donald Trump’s choices would never be popular on the left or even the middle. The choice of Gaetz and others opens the possibility of getting the whole gang back together. Steve Bannon just got out of jail; he’s not busy. Rudy Guiliani is bankrupt and must give up assets; he needs a job. Trump could pass an executive order saying one doesn’t have to be a lawyer to be the White House Attorney. Guiliani was disbarred for his actions in the fake elector scheme along with Kenneth Chesebro. John Eastman and Jenna Ellis have had their law licenses suspended for their deeds in support of Trump. Michael Cohen lost his law license as well, but I suspect he won’t be welcomed back after all his testimony, books, and television appearances shouting about Trump’s guilt.
The televised hearings for candidates undergoing Senate confirmation should be popcorn-worthy. We’ll learn more about the Senators doing the questioning than the candidates themselves—we already know who they are. My only wish is that Kamala Harris could serve as an ad hoc committee member on the various Senate committees conducting confirmation hearings. Her grilling of nominees was always something to look forward to. If you don’t know, ask Jeff Sessions or Bill Barr.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Garrick McFadden's work on Medium.