By Mary Alice Miller
When Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. dropped out of the Presidential race and fought several states to be removed from the ballot, many speculated that he would be nominated to lead Health and Human Services. The fears of fact-based healthcare providers have been realized.
RFK is a known vaccine denialist and led Children’s Health Defense since 2015, which spread anti-vaccine propaganda. In 2019, RFK and CHD visited anti-vaccine advocates in Polynesian Samoa. Four months later, a measles outbreak devastated the island nation, causing the unnecessary deaths of 83 children.
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been nominated administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Healthcare.gov ObamaCare exchange. Oz gained national prominence as a regular guest on the Oprah Winfrey talk show and created his show in 2009. In 2020, Oz promoted the discredited anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. He had no experience running a large bureaucracy.
Matt Gaetz was nominated for attorney general. Gaetz has been investigated for sex trafficking allegations by the Justice dept. The House Ethics Committee had been looking at allegations that Gaetz sexually assaulted a 17-year-old in front of witnesses. The House committee stopped the investigation when Gaetz stepped down from his House seat when he was nominated for AG. The Senate has expressed interest in seeing the House Ethics report on Gaetz.
Attorney Will Scharf will become the president’s assistant and White House staff secretary. Scharf was Trump’s personal attorney in the January 6 federal criminal case against Trump.
Oil industry executive Chris Wright was nominated Energy Secretary. Wright has denied that manmade greenhouse gas emissions are causing the climate change crisis.
Doug Burgum has been named Interior Secretary and will coordinate federal policy regarding interior territories.
Howard Lutnick has been tapped to serve as Commerce Secretary. Lutnick is CEO and chair of mega-law firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
He supports Trump’s tariff plans, which would raise prices or eliminate the importation of common produce like lemons, limes, and bananas.
Former Republican Rep. Doug Collins has been nominated to lead Veterans Affairs. Collins served in the Iraq War in 2008 and is a chaplain of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.
Dan Scavino has been named White House Chief of Staff, and Taylor Budowich will become Deputy Chief of Staff. John Sauer is set to become Solicitor General.
Jay Clayton was named U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of New York. During Trump’s first term, Clayton served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Todd Blanche was picked to become Deputy attorney general. Blanche defended Trump during the porn star hush money case and in two federal cases.
Steve Cheung is to become the White House Communications Director. Cheung previously served as rapid response director for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and accused Trump detractors of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Karoline Leavitt was named White House Press Secretary, the youngest person to serve in that role.
Former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon is likely to be picked to lead the Dept. Of Education. McMahon served as director of the Small Business Administration in the first Trump term but has little experience in education. That may not matter since Trump has vowed to eliminate the Dept. Of Ed. and send the funding and regulation of education to the states.
Yet to be named are Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Transportation.
South Dakota Republican John Thune has been voted Senate Majority Leader. Thune rejected Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, prompting him to float the idea of supporting a primary challenge against him. Thune won his 2022 Republican primary with 72% of the vote and then won that state’s general election with a 43-point margin.
The Trump transition team has floated the idea of replacing FBI background checks with private investigators. It is unlikely that Thune will give up the Senate’s role as a check on the executive branch.