Fears that Donald Trump’s second presidency will be more extreme than his first have intensified amid a flurry of senior nominations that opponents have criticised as going from bad to worse.
Some nominations are relatively uncontroversial, including Marco Rubio, a Senator for Florida, as Secretary of state, and Susie Wiles, a veteran Republican operative and senior campaign adviser, as White House Chief of staff.
Rubio was a choice that was met with widespread approval.
More controversial have been his selection of outspoken Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, Fox News Presenter Pete Hegseth as Defence Secretary, and former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.
Trump had also raised eyebrows with his choice of Mike Huckabee, a former Governor of Arkansas, as US Ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee has previously championed internationally illegal Israeli settlements and has said Israel has a “title deed” to the West Bank, which the Palestinians want as part of a future state; he calls the West Bank by its Hebrew name, Judea and Samaria.
Additionally, Trump announced that he had tapped the anti-vaccine Crusader, Robert F Kennedy Jr for the position of Health and Human Services Secretary.
In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that Americans have been “crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies” and that Kennedy “will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
He has been criticised for making false medical claims, including that vaccines are linked to autism. He opposed state and federal restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.
He also has said that he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water. He has accused the FDA of waging war on options for products that he claims could help human health such as raw milk, certain vitamins and stem cell therapy. He also doubts the effectiveness of measles vaccines.
In response to Kennedy’s nomination, Public Citizen, a progressive nonprofit organization focusing on consumer advocacy, said that Robert F Kennedy Jr is a “clear and present danger to the nation’s health.”
“He shouldn’t be allowed in the building at the department of health and human services (HHS), let alone be placed in charge of the nation’s public health agency.
“Donald Trump’s bungling of public health policy during the COVD pandemic cost hundreds of thousands of lives. By appointing Kennedy as his Secretary of HHS, Trump is courting another, policy-driven public health catastrophe.
Public Citizen
The conservative pundit and lawyer George Conway also commented on Kenedy’s nomination, along with that of Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz.
“Very little of what Trump does these days amazes me. Any one of the last three of Trump’s Cabinet-level picks (Gabbard as DNI, Gaetz as AG, RFK Jr for HHS), standing alone, would arguably have been the worst in American history. The fact that Trump made all three in a span of roughly 24 hours is astonishing.”
George Conway
Nominations Seen As Challenge to Senate Republicans
Some observers saw these nominations as a deliberate challenge to Senate Republicans, who on elected John Thune to replace the retiring Mitch McConnell as Senate leader after the party won a 53-47 majority in the chamber in last week’s general election.
The Senate is constitutionally responsible for vetting senior appointments in confirmation hearings. Forecasts have already rolled in noting that Gaetz in particular would struggle to win acceptance.
However Trump has urged the Senate to circumvent such hearings by allowing him to make recess appointments in what is seen as an early test of Thune’s independence.
Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice – a non-partisan law and policy institute – told a news agency “These choices seem designed to poke the Senate in the eye.” He added “[They] are so appalling they’re a form of performance art.”
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