Donald Trump doesn’t care if his Cabinet picks are controversial. And that’s certainly his prerogative. The Constitution gives precious little guidance about who a president should select for the roles that surround him most closely.
Typically, presidents nominate Cabinet members who they know will be confirmed by the Senate. Nominees go through rigorous background checks and public hearings in order to get confirmed, and presidents-elect typically work with their transition team to find nominees that can get the votes. For example, during Trump’s first term, he nominated Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense. Mattis was a Marine Corps four-star general and was confirmed 98-1.
There are a number of picks that will make for easy confirmations in the Senate. Pam Bondi for Attorney General, for example. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior.
But some of the picks have been more than a little eyebrow-raising. The clamor over Matt Gaetz’s nomination eventually led to him dropping out of the running. Incoming Deputy Chief of Staff and longtime Trump ally Stephen Miller acknowledged it head-on: “Donald Trump is a blunt-force instrument applying blunt-force trauma to the system.”
There are a couple of nominees that stand out to me. Controversial? Yes. But more than that: potentially dangerous in the roles they are nominated for. Today let’s dive into fellow Minnesotan Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.
And by the way, I’m not the only one with concerns. A new AP-NORC survey shows that only 20% of Americans approve of Pete Hegseth as a choice for Trump’s cabinet.
What I think about Hegseth as a nominee: