Trump's cabinet of horror starts to take shape

November 14, 2016

Issue

Sarah Palin.

As President-elect Donald Trump began his transition to power on Thursday, early reporting has opened a window into what the nation can expect as his "cabinet of horrors," as AFP put it, takes shape.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Ben Carson, Newt Gingrich, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin are among the more high-profile individuals named on a shortlist of potential appointees leaked to several news outlets.

On Wednesday, BuzzFeed News published a list of 41 names suggested for 13 positions, including attorney general, secretary of state, White House chief of staff, and White House counsel.

And while some, like Christie, were unsurprising, as Salon's Brendan Gauthier wrote, "The people whose names you don't recognize are as bad or worse as those whose names you're sick of hearing."

For example, Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is being considered to head the Department of Defense, "was fired from his post as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, which he attributed to his hawkishness," Gauthier reports.

Oil executive Forrest Lucas is favored to take over the Department of the Interior, multiple outlets have reported. "That's a position that oversees land management, national parks and wildlife reserves, and Lucas at the helm would represent a nightmare scenario for environmentalists," AFP reported.

Also being considered for that position is Palin, the former vice presidential candidate made famous for her love of hunting and frequent chants of "drill, baby, drill."

It has previously been revealed that top climate skeptic Myron Ebell, who serves as director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, is spearheading transition plans for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—a department Trump repeatedly vowed to dismantle during his run-up to the election.

"In some cases," BuzzFeed reports, "it appears the transition team is looking to find a home for a particularly loyal ally—Ben Carson, for instance, is listed as a potential candidate to be the secretary of education and secretary of health and human services, while Sen. Jeff Sessions is listed as a possible attorney general, head of the Office of Management and Budget, or secretary of defense."

As for the heavy-hitters, former Republican House speaker Gingrich is being floated for the position of secretary of state, which AFP notes, "would have major implications for U.S. foreign policy and Washington’s role in the international community."

Gingrich, who has lauded Trump's approach to foreign policy, has had his own international views described as "unpredictable," "hawkish," and "shameless."

Meanwhile, Christie and Giuliani—each with their own questionable interpretations of the law—are reportedly in competition for the role of attorney general. This particular appointment, Maurice Chammah wrote at the criminal justice-focused Marshall Project on Wednesday, is "poised to upend...[o]ne of the Obama administration's most aggressive civil rights tactics—the investigation and forced reform of local police departments."

"Under a new attorney general," Chammah wrote, "priorities could shift practically overnight. New investigations could grind to a halt, and court-ordered consent decrees could stall as career [Department of Justice] lawyers are ordered to abandon their efforts"—which would be a serious blow to the criminal justice reform movement.

The list provided to BuzzFeed is included below, but these 41 names only scratch the surface of a Trump administration. As the recently-launched transition website Greatagain.govnotes, the incoming administration is responsible for selecting candidates for "approximately 4,100 presidential appointments."

List of Potential Trump Cabinet Nominees:

Attorney General: