Anybody who thinks Donald Trump’s controversial nominations are part of some sophisticated strategy has not been paying attention.
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Both Donald Trump’s supporters and some of his detractors often attribute a level of sophistication to his moves that seems awfully misplaced.
Just as monkeys don’t put a lot of thought into whether or not to fling poop at each other, Trump’s actions are usually impulsive and reactive instead of deliberate. Fortunately for the president-elect, his supporters rather enjoy that impulsiveness, which is why things often work out for him.
In fact, the only time Trump really seems to strategize is when the goal is scamming others. All the other times, he just follows his instincts (which are remarkably good).
Which brings us to some of his nominees for a second term that have left people scratching their heads — apart from the aforementioned folks who enjoy poop-flinging… they are just delighted.
Some of these choices are so absurdly bad that “experts” who are used to dealing with sane politicians felt compelled to assign motives to the nominations of people like Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of health and human services, the “QAnon Shaman” as head of the newly created Election Denialism Administration, and Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief (as you may have noticed, we made one of those up).
As their thinking goes, Trump nominated them to either identify “bad” senators, i.e., those who will not be completely loyal to him, or allow the Senate to vote down a couple of his picks to show that it is “independent.”
Neither seems particularly likely.
First of all, Trump simply appointed people he likes, who have been loyal to him, and who often appear on Fox News.
That’s really the extent of the required qualifications (apart from having some vague connection to the departments these people are to lead, like Kennedy’s position on vaccines, Hegseth’s military service and advocacy on behalf of accused war criminals, and Gaetz being investigated for sex trafficking).
In other words, there is no strategic thinking here.
How would Trump benefit from a messy confirmation process for any of them, especially one that shows how poorly qualified any of the three are?
Furthermore, allowing Senate Republicans to show that they are “independent” by sacrificing someone like Gaetz will backfire because the MAGA base is so enthusiastic about the pick(s).
So, the only thing that would happen if at least four GOP senators vote against the nomination is that they would be harassed by angry Trump supporters and draw primary opponents.
Of course, as is so often the case, the president-elect may once again luck into a situation that allows him to amass more power on his way to becoming the most authoritarian leader the United States has ever had.
If Senate Republicans wanted to try to worm their way out of this conundrum, they could vote to adjourn for at least 10 days, which would allow Trump to make recess appointments and put all of his nominees in place for nearly two years without being vetted at all.
However, for that to happen, virtually all GOP lawmakers in Congress (the House would have to “let” the upper chamber adjourn) would have to agree to such a move, and the Senate would have to just abdicate its role of providing advice and consent to presidential nominations.
That would give Trump the Cabinet he wants, but it would be a really bad look for Republicans if/when Gaetz, Kennedy, Hegseth, etc. start making terrible decisions and screwing up royally.
Then again, even that would make the MAGA poop-flingers happy… and their adulation is one of the key motivations for everything Trump does.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
