Trump’s cabinet picks are cast of vultures

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wasted no time nominating potential cabinet members and other members of his second administration. Trump’s selections departed from how he chose cabinet members for his 2017-21 presidency.

It is clear he and his advisers are specifically choosing hard-right personal “loyalists” and fascist-minded ideologues, while ignoring many GOP functionaries who joined his last administration.

Trump posted the following message on Nov. 9 on his own social media platform, Truth Social, “I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump administration, which is currently in formation.”

Not all cabinet appointments require Senate confirmation. For example, Trump and his staff have created a few new positions that don’t need it. He is also trying to use a mechanism known as “recess appointments” to get nominees through without review.

Trump justified this tactic, stating: “Any Republican senator seeking the coveted leadership position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. We need positions filled immediately.” (The Guardian, Nov. 15)

One of the first cabinet selections was Republican Party consultant Susie Wiles as Trump’s chief of staff. Wiles worked as Ronald Reagan’s campaign scheduler in 1980, and she has been involved in far-right politics since then.

Wiles has commented, “The clown car can’t come into the White House at will,” and claims Trump “agrees” with her regarding that statement. (The Independent, Nov. 9) Despite Wiles’ message, most Trump appointments so far have been Christian nationalists, “anarcho-capitalists,” warmongers, one accused sex trafficker and several accused sexual harassers. This article will examine some of his earliest picks.

Pro-war picks

While many working-class and oppressed voters — especially within the Arab and Muslim communities — rejected the Democratic Party precisely due to the Biden/Harris administration’s direct involvement in and support for arming Israel to carry out the ongoing genocide in Gaza, several of Trump’s cabinet picks signal a continuation of the same imperialist policies in West Asia as the current administration.

Trump named Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a former presidential hopeful, to head the State Department. Rubio is a staunch defender of Israel and has consistently supported military funding for Ukraine. Trump also selected Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York), as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida) as his national security advisor.

Both Stefanik and Waltz are complicit in the genocide against Palestinians, as well as the attacks on Lebanon. Waltz is also a cold warrior who has made threatening remarks against socialist China.

Trump chose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel. As a Christian Zionist, Huckabee has an apocalyptic “end times” worldview that believes that all non-Christians must go to occupied Palestine and convert to Christianity or face a violent death.

Christian Zionists hold racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic convictions that endanger the lives of innocent people, and they embrace the onslaught against Palestinians as a fulfillment of their religious beliefs. During his 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee commented, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.” (forward.com, Nov. 14)

Bizarre defense secretary

The nominee with the least amount of relevant experience is part-time FOX News host and former Army Captain Pete Hegseth, who has been tapped as the next defense secretary. Hegseth unapologetically served as a platoon leader at the prison in occupied Guantanamo Bay and promotes the use of “torture” against prisoners. In 2019, Hegseth effectively encouraged Trump to pardon three U.S. war criminals who were guilty of deliberately shooting Iraqi civilians.

Also a Christian nationalist, Hegseth wears several white supremacist tattoos that evoke the violently Islamophobic “Christian crusades.” He wrote a book entitled “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free” filled with racist, sexist, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQIA2S+ tropes. He also advocates removing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) training and requirements and said in a racist comment that the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, got his job because of pro-Black favoritism.

Racists with ties to Project 2025

Trump’s former senior advisor Stephen Miller is slated to return to the White House with two different titles, both “deputy chief of staff for policy” and “homeland security advisor.” Miller helped draft much of Trump’s anti-immigration policy during his previous tenure, and he also authored Trump’s new anti-migrant plan of mass deportations known as “Operation Aurora.”

After leaving the first Trump administration, Miller formed the “America First Legal” foundation. This organization focuses most of its energy attacking migrant families and undocumented workers through litigation.

Miller will be working closely with Tom Homan whom Trump selected as “border czar,” a newly created position. Homan will be expected to oversee “border security” operations.

While Trump and Miller have publicly tried to distance themselves from the Heritage Foundation’s 922-page document known as “Project 2025,” Homan is listed as one of its contributors regarding language on “immigration policy.” Homan earlier spearheaded the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the second Obama administration, and is considered the architect of family separations. [He was the acting director of ICE during part of Trump’s administration.]

Homan will be working alongside South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem who has been named “homeland security secretary” and who is notorious for shooting her 14-month-old dog in front of her child.

Matt Gaetz, accused sexual abuser, loses backing

A choice that quickly aroused opposition, even from Republicans, is Matt Gaetz for attorney general. The 42-year-old former Florida Congressional Representative is currently under scrutiny for being the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation. [Gaetz resigned from his seat on Nov. 13.] Gaetz is accused of “sex trafficking” and “illicit drug use.” One witness recently told the House Ethics Committee that they saw Gaetz having sex with a minor at a house party in 2017 when Gaetz was in his thirties.

There was a small possibility Gaetz would not receive the required Senate approval. Gaetz is viewed by other members of Capitol Hill as being among the most arrogant and obnoxious representatives. At the same time, he is regarded as one of Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress. Due to dwindling support in the Senate, Gaetz withdrew his name as the nominee for attorney general on Nov. 21. Trump promptly named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, election denier and loyal supporter,  who represented him in Congress’s impeachment proceedings, as his nominee for attorney general.

‘The Department of Government Efficiency’

Another surprising appointment involved the creation of a two-person committee designed to “restructure government agencies” known as “the Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). Even more startling was the announcement of biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy along with Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk – and the world’s richest person – as the two leaders of the makeshift department.

While its function is still unclear, there is certainly a conflict of interest in allowing two robber barons to oversee government agencies responsible for monitoring and regulating their businesses. Additionally, Ramaswamy and Musk subscribe to anti-socialist, libertarian and “anarcho-capitalist” political ideologies.

Both Musk and Ramaswamy have openly stated they wish to “slash government regulation,” “cut spending” and “downsize the federal workforce.” (NBC, Nov. 15) The latter demand is resemblant to language in Project 2025 that calls for replacing federal workers with MAGA “loyalists.” Ramaswamy wants to remove hundreds of thousands of jobs. And essential government programs are in danger.

Consistent with their pro-“free market” politics, Musk and Ramaswamy are perfectly fine with replacing government agencies with private corporations. The two billionaire bosses are also avowed union-busters who would love to destroy workers’ rights, if given the opportunity. DOGE may be limited in what it can achieve, since it will not be an official government agency.

Unhealthy nomination: RFK Jr.

Trump revealed Nov. 14 that he wanted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to administer the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). An heir of a prominent Democratic Party family, RFK Jr. decided to announce his support for Trump in August after carrying out his own presidential campaign.

A lifelong registered Democrat who spent most of his career as a liberal environmental lawyer, RFK Jr.’s right-wing slide started around 2007. He then became founder and chair of Children’s Health Defense, a group known for spreading anti-vaccine misinformation and pseudoscience. CHD has made false claims about vaccines and the fluoridation of drinking water. RFK Jr. dangerously denies the link between HIV and AIDS.

RFK Jr. became popular among reactionaries and conspiracy theorists during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He decided to run in the 2024 presidential race, initially on the Democratic Party ticket, and as an “independent” in October 2023. RFK Jr. publicly endorsed Trump shortly after the 2024 Republican National Convention.

RFK Jr. is expected to dismiss advice from health care professionals, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some global health experts warn RJK Jr. could potentially cause a lot of harm, and they partially blame him and CHD for spreading disinformation during a 2019 measles outbreak in the Polynesian island nation of Samoa. Health care specialists argue his false rhetoric exacerbated the crisis.

RFK Jr. has indicated he wants to fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, which oversees vaccine research, and replace them with 600 MAGA “loyalists.” He hopes to do this even before Trump is sworn into office.

There is a pattern among many of the cabinet picks calling for mass terminations of people who don’t support Trump, especially among the ranks of government employees. Their verbal posturing dehumanizes workers, reducing us to disposable objects.

What’s next?

The approach to fighting back against the next Trump administration needs to be dialectical. At this point, we don’t know what policies will be proposed. As Workers World Party founder and chair Sam Marcy often said, “We don’t have a crystal ball.” However, the upcoming Trump administration does seem to be hinting towards some of their goals, and we need to take note.

The Democratic Party is responsible for much of its loss in the last election. This was admitted in a letter written by Senator Bernie Sanders in response to Trump’s electoral success.

In another post-election statement, left-wing union United Electrical Workers wrote: “Trump won, because the Democrats have largely failed to clearly take the side of the working class, either while in office or on the campaign trail. While Harris claimed to be fighting for the ‘middle class,’ she offered few concrete policy proposals beyond a vague claim that she would cut taxes.”

The resolution also declares: “This election has demonstrated, once again, that the current two-party system is incapable of uniting working people around a vision for progress.” (ueunion.org, Nov. 6)

The first Trump administration witnessed a large, militant strike wave not seen since the 1970s. Working and oppressed people also rose up in rebellion following the racist lynchings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. While the first Trump administration and its right-wing base spread misinformation during the

COVID-19 pandemic, union nurses were on the front line saving lives and providing accurate information about the epidemic.

Many people are understandably concerned about the next Trump administration. Revolutionary Marxist-Leninists recognize we have nowhere else to go but forward. It is likely the next Trump administration will arouse a genuine fightback as demonstrated before.

An independent, working-class movement is needed to successfully squash the far right, as well as defeat the bipartisan, imperialist war machine and ultimately dismantle the profit-driven system of capitalism.

This article has been updated.