#presidential cabinet

[davidaugust]

It sounds like Thune is open to recess appointments but not set on them yet. https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/13/south-dakota-senator-john-thune-says-recess-appointments-still-an-option-for-trump-cabinet/76265376007/

We can, by contacting our Senators and Representatives demand the full advising and consenting of appointments (and yes, Representatives can add pressure to the Senate to not do recess appointments).

Find yours: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bernard M. Baruch, prominent New York financier, exchange a joke during their stay at Warm Springs, Ga. Mr. Baruch is being mentioned prominently as a possible member of Mr. Roosevelt's Cablnet-to-be. Mr. Baruch and the president-elect are surveying together a wide range of economic problems, railroad rehabilitation in particular.”

- from the Kingston Whig-Standard. February 3, 1933. Page 9.

[halloweenorangesoda]

HE HAS MY VOTE❗️❗️❗️❗️

[deadpresidents]

"Somehow disruption doesn't begin to cover it. Upheaval might be closer. Revolution maybe. In less than two weeks since being elected again, Donald J. Trump has embarked on a new campaign to shatter the institutions of Washington as no incoming President has in his lifetime.

He has rolled a giant grenade into the middle of the nation's capital and watched with mischievous glee to see who runs away and who throws themselves on it. Suffice it to say, so far there have been more of the former than the latter. Mr. Trump has said that 'real power' is the ability to engender fear, and he seems to have achieved that.

Mr. Trump's early transition moves amount to a generational stress test for the system. If Republicans bow to his demand to recess the Senate so that he can install appointees without confirmation, it would rewrite the balance of power established by the Founders more than two centuries ago. And if he gets his way on selections for some of the most important posts in government, he would put in place loyalists intent on blowing up the very departments they would lead.

He has chosen a bomb-throwing backbench congressman who has spent his career attacking fellow Republicans and fending off sex-and-drugs allegations to run the same Justice Department that investigated him, though it did not charge him, on suspicion of trafficking underage girls. He has chosen a conspiracy theorist with no medical training who disparages the foundations of conventional health care to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

He has chosen a weekend morning television host with a history of defending convicted war criminals while sporting a Christian Crusader tattoo that has been adopted as a symbol by the far right to run the most powerful armed forces in the history of the world. He has chosen a former congresswoman who has defended Middle East dictators and echoed positions favored by Russia to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies.

Nine years after Mr. Trump began upsetting political norms, it may be easy to underestimate just how extraordinary all of this is. In the past, none of those selections would have passed muster in Washington, where a failure to pay employment taxes for a nanny used to be enough to disqualify a cabinet nominee. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has bulled past the old red lines, opting for nominees who are so provocative that even fellow Republicans wondered whether he is trolling them.

The message to Washington is simple, according to Roger Stone, the longtime Trump friend who relishes his own reputation as a political dirty trickster. 'Things are going to be different,' he said by text."

-- Peter Baker, "Trump Signals a 'Seismic Shift,' Shocking the Washington Establishment,' The New York Times, November 17, 2024.

Here's another incisive article about President-elect Donald Trump's transition and his frightening Cabinet nominees, who are abnormal even for Trump and the personality cult that has been built around him since 2015. For the past quarter-century, Peter Baker has been one of the very best, most level-headed analysts of the contemporary American Presidency, and he seems be stunned by the direction the incoming Trump Administration is already heading. Once again, all of these links are gift links to bypass the New York Times paywall so that you may read and share these important pieces and remain alert to the very real consequences of the 2024 election which are already taking shape.

[fictionadventurer]

The more I learn about Civil War politics, the more I'm convinced that Lincoln's most impressive and useful leadership trait was that he never let his pride get in the way of doing his job.

Other people in Lincoln's position would have come to Washington with something to prove. They'd have resented the insults and tried to disprove them. They'd have tried to seize power and credit, rejected help, spent a lot of time trying to reach a certain level of respect.

Lincoln's response to, "You're just a backwoods lawyer with no executive experience who makes too many dumb jokes," was pretty much always, "Yeah. And?" He had no interest in petty personal power plays. He had a country to run. There was a war on. It didn't matter what people thought of him so long as the job got done.

He was aware of his personal shortcomings and was always willing to accept advice and help from people who had more knowledge and experience in certain areas. He presided over a chaotic Cabinet full of abrasive personalities who thought they were better and smarter than him, but he kept working with them because they could get the job done. For example: Stanton was absolutely horrible to him when they were both working as lawyers. Just incredibly mean on a personal level. But when Lincoln needed someone to replace Cameron, he swallowed his pride and appointed Stanton as Secretary of War, where Stanton proceeded to be mean to everyone in the world, but he whipped that department into shape and kept it running efficiently through a very chaotic war. Pretty much no one except Lincoln would have been able to put up with that. He could put up with people who were personally difficult if they could do the job he needed them to do--which he was only able to do because his own ego didn't get in the way.

Lincoln's example is a prime demonstration of how humility isn't underrating yourself--it's being so secure in your own abilities and identity that you don't need to attack anyone or defend yourself to prove your worth. He knew his shortcomings, but he also knew his strengths. He was willing to give other people credit for successes and take blame upon himself for failures if it kept things running smoothly. He was secure enough in his own power that he could deal generously--but firmly--with people who tried to undermine him. In a city full of huge egos, in a profession that rewards puffed-up pride, that levelheaded humility is an extremely rare trait--which is what made it so impressive and effective.

[onceuponatimeinerebor]

You know I think a lot of it is that Gen X just doesn't understand how the government works. Like....at all.

They don't understand that the president doesn't (...shouldn't) have unlimited power and can do whatever they want; that's literally just a dictator. They don't understand that any changes that are made in those four years often take at least that long to be noticable in our everyday lives. They can't just wave a wand and lower gas prices, or cut your medicare. Things take time to be approved then put into effect, then for that effect to be noticable. Like my mom blaming Biden for losing her Medicare during his term when it was Trump who rolled back Obamacare. Since Biden was the president when it happened, it's automaticly his fault.

They're an entire generation where the majority just never cared that much about politics, and then never bothered to learn how the system works once they did start paying attention.

There's certainly something to be said about their blind trust in media and for many the isolation factor; but I genuinely think that they just don't know anything about how this shit works.

[sotomato06]

trump's cabinet entering Washington January 20th 💀

[totally-correct-shenanigans]

Max: Permission to speak freely?

Superball: You are always speaking freely, sir. Nobody can stop you from speaking freely.

[presidenttyler]

I have not been active as of late but would just like to congratulate you on your victory, Mister President

#SwampTheSteal

[nitewrighter]

Okay SO as you know, I'm writing a fic where President Luthor gets assassinated, and like--I'm honestly fascinated by the whole President Luthor worldbuilding element in the DC universe, ESPECIALLY his cabinet with Pete Ross as his vice President, Sam Lane as Secretary of Defense, and fucking BLACK LIGHTNING as secretary of education. Love it. Lots to bite into. BUT another thing about the President Luthor arc is that during his campaign Lex just... straight up stealth-bombed the hidden estate of his estranged wife, Contessa Portenza, basically because she was a loose end who was too connected to his supervillain career to risk being part of his Presidential bid. And like, they play it off as this really fucked up, "AND he's single, ladies!" bit in his campaign thing in the comics BUT THE THING IS, even if a President isn't married, there is still a role of "White House Host" that is, a First Lady or First Gentleman, and like, if they're not the President's spouse, then traditionally they're a relative of the president--and there are also "acting" First Ladies, who assume the hostessing role if the spouse of the President dies or otherwise declines the hostessing role (like Margaret Taylor who hated that her husband was president SO SO MUCH). SO ANYWAY, this is a very roundabout way of saying President Luthor *would* have a White House Host who's an acting First Lady/First Gentleman and I have no idea who that would be.

And no, it's not Mercy because he handed the reigns of LexCorp over to her.

[donaldtrumpscrimes]

Trump selects Florida Governor Ron Densantia for Secretary of the Interior

decide for yourself

[thashining]

[deadpresidents]

Is there a chance that many of these cabinet picks don't get confirmed?

Don't forget that this country not only gave the Republicans control of the White House, but they also gave them a Senate majority and most likely will end up keeping them in charge of the House of Representatives, so they don't need a single Democrat to confirm ANY of these awful Cabinet appointments. The best possible hope is for some of the handful of Senate Republicans who are moderate-ish or still have a few ounces of integrity to oppose some of the crazier appointees. And there are going to be even less of those Senators left after January 3rd.

But this country, in its infinite fucking wisdom, gave Trump and the GOP a mandate, so they can pretty much do what they are planning on doing. That's why we spent the past couple of years reminding people how important the 2024 election was going to be for the rest of our lives. It's not like we can turn to the courts for help; Trump has locked down the judiciary for decades, as well, especially the Supreme Court.

And, here's the thing: I'm sure Trump realizes that it's pretty unlikely that Gaetz can get confirmed as Attorney General because he's enormously unpopular with his own colleagues in the GOP. A lot of Congressional Republicans despise him, and it's not even like with how most people in Congress hate Ted Cruz but grudgingly point out that he's effective at his job and actually a pretty smart dude. With Gaetz, they just think he's a clown and are happy to be rid of him. You can bet that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is going to put all of his efforts into defeating a possible confirmation of Gaetz as AG, and McCarthy still has significant influence in Congress because of his record as a major fundraiser for candidates in both chambers.

I bet Trump is throwing a couple of nominees out there that he knows can't get confirmed -- like Gaetz -- to make it easier to get potentially hesitant Republicans to confirm other controversial nominees, like Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary (!). It's like when Pablo Escobar would import a bunch of cocaine into the United States that he knew was going to get seized in order to sneak tons of it through sneakier means. They are decoy douchebags to distract from the other douchebags he's also putting into the Cabinet.

[fictionadventurer]

All the tour groups in Springfield should be very proud of me for how well I refrained from sharing all my fascinating Lincoln facts.

[carcinized]

feeling hopeful for the first time in a little while about politics 💖