The Who’s Who of Trump’s MAGA Cabinet (Part 1)
Trump has begun announcing his list of nominees to fill out his presidential cabinet, and the list of unqualified nominees is getting long. The list of dangerous, horrifying facts about the nominees is even longer. Here’s what you need to know about the people Trump wants to put in some of the most powerful positions in our government.
Note: This list is just part one — we ran out of space to include all of Trump’s nominees and their…disappointing records in one piece.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
From saying he had so many skeletons in his closet, he wished they could vote to making Central Park the unwitting host of a dead bear cub skeleton, there’s a lot to say about this former presidential candidate. But we’ll stick to his policy stances, which are scary enough as is.
He wants to undermine vaccines (he thinks they cause autism, has spouted inaccurate information about the flu vaccine, and his promotion of vaccine skepticism helped lead to the deadly measles outbreak in Samoa). He’s suggested removing fluoride from our nation’s water supply (fluoride is added to the water supply to prevent cavities and promote oral health). RFK Jr. has also questioned whether HIV causes AIDS and suggested antidepressants lead to school shootings.
Finally, like multiple of Trump’s other nominees, RFK Jr. has been accused of sexual assault.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-heads of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency”
It’s not a real government department (because that would require Congressional approval). It’s not even inside the government. The “Department of Government Efficiency” will instead be a private entity that Trump says will provide advice and guidance to his administration on how to reform the government. Trump put Musk and Ramaswamy in charge. The pair just released their plan for slashing government regulations and the federal workforce.
Musk, the owner of X and SpaceX, is anti-trans, anti-union, and anti-worker. He’s also interested in slashing government funding – the same government funding he relied on to keep Tesla and SpaceX afloat in their early days. And as an “outside volunteer,” he’s poised to suggest the Trump administration ax the regulations that currently control the companies he runs, not to mention fire the civil servants charged with enforcing those regulations. Like RFK Jr., Musk is also accused of sexual misconduct.
Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate, is similarly focused on ransacking the government workforce from the inside out. He’s proposed eliminating 75% of all government workers (which he also says can be done by randomly picking employee’s social security numbers — like a horrifying game of bingo). Ramaswamy also wants to dismantle the FBI — which can be an important check on the executive branch, in retributions for its prior investigations of Donald Trump. And he has called for an end to birthright citizenship, to enable deportation of those born in this country.
Linda McMahon, nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education
The nominee to lead the Department of Education, Linda McMahon, has little background in public education. She has never taught at a public school, never served on the board of a public college or university, never received a degree in education (despite saying she did). In fact, her lone stint in public education — serving on the Connecticut State Board of Education for one year — ended prematurely so she could run for a Senate seat (she lost).
This is concerning for a host of reasons — including that the Trump has stated repeatedly he wants to gut public education and dismantle the Department of Education entirely. Despite McMahon’s background founding and running World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), it looks like she will not punch back against attacks on public education that come her way if she’s in charge.
And she certainly won’t be fighting for safe and inclusive schools where every student has equal opportunity to education. As chair of the board of the America First Policy Institute, she’s helped guide an organization that is trying to dismantle inclusive schools, shutter any accountability schools have for ending harassment, and silencing LGBTQ authors and themes.
On that note, McMahon is also a defendant in a case alleging that as an employer, she and others were negligent in their responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse that occurred at WWE. Not a great look for someone who will have a big say in determining how the law (Title IX) requires institutions to protect their students from sexual violence and harassment.
Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz), nominee for Administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS)
CMS runs Medicaid and Medicare, two programs that over 80 million people (about twice the population of California), including millions of seniors, rely on for their health care needs. And yet, nominee Dr. Oz, best known as a TV personality, has no prior experience running a large organization.
He does, however, have ample experience peddling pseudo-scientific or unfounded medical theories. A 2014 study found that half of the claims and recommendations made on The Dr. Oz Show were unfounded or wrong.
During his unsuccessful run for Senate in 2022, Dr. Oz was staunchly anti-abortion. This is especially concerning because CMS investigates violations of EMTALA — the federal law requiring hospitals receiving Medicare funding to provide emergency medical care, including emergency abortion care. The law became particularly important after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which led to states banning abortion across much of the country. Now, someone who has villainized abortion oversees the agency tasked with enforcing access to abortion in emergency situations.
