WASHINGTON, Nov 15 — Donald Trump’s provocative choices for his incoming administration—including a TV news anchor at the Pentagon and an ally embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations for attorney general—left Washington watching nervously yesterday for who comes next.

The Republican’s rapid rollout of picks for top jobs ahead of taking office in January has stirred broad concern as in several cases he appears to be putting preference for personal loyalty above expertise or suitability.

Trump has yet to select treasury and commerce chiefs to enact tax and trade policy, a health secretary to oversee abortion, transgender care and other potential flashpoints, or someone for education—a department Trump wants to abolish.

But the 78-year-old president-elect, who said ahead of last week’s election that the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring “disloyal people,” is already causing ripples.

These include nominations for some of the most sensitive and complex jobs in the country.

The first recruitment decisions—including giving the State Department to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a traditional conservative on foreign policy—drew praise and expressions of relief.

But then Trump dismayed Democrats and even some in the ultra-loyal Republican Party with choices that indicated how far he is ready to go in his stated mission to upend the US government.

Worst nomination

The biggest shock was naming Matt Gaetz—a flamethrower on the Republican far right in Congress who was drawn into a years-long criminal probe into sex trafficking—as future attorney general.

Gaetz denies wrongdoing and has never faced charges but was still being investigated by the House Ethics Committee.

John Bolton, one of Trump’s national security advisors in his first term, told NBC that Gaetz “must be the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history.”

That decision followed Trump’s nomination of former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard—who met Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points—to take charge of the nation’s most sensitive secrets as director of national intelligence.

Trump is known to value telegenic looks in his officials—he recently commented that his new Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was “beautiful”—and many of his picks appear on conservative-leaning Fox News.

These include recruitment of Fox News host Pete Hegseth—who is a combat veteran but has no experience running large organizations—to be defense secretary.

Former Republican White House staffer Bill Kristol, writing for center-right website The Bulwark, described Gabbard as a “leading Assad and Putin apologist,” Gaetz as the “poster child of moral degradation” and Hegseth as the “lightest of lightweights.”

Trump returns to Washington in January after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris comfortably last week and becoming only the second Republican this century to win the popular vote.

Russian propaganda

He and his aides have vowed that much of his second term will be about clearing the deck of federal officials who acted as a restraining influence on his populist, right-wing agenda during his first term.

Gaetz’s appointment would hand Trump, whose election likely means being freed from a string of serious criminal investigations, the advantage of a fierce partisan at the top of the Justice Department. Trump has repeatedly threatened to go after a variety of political opponents.

There will be pushback, however.

Although Republicans expect to have a three-seat majority in the incoming Senate, Gaetz is widely disliked and will struggle to win confirmation.

The naming of Gabbard has also sparked uproar, given her statements favorable to US adversary Russia, including her suggestion that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was the result of “legitimate security concerns.”

She has also been accused by establishment Republican Mitt Romney of “parroting false Russian propaganda” after stating baselessly that Washington was helping Ukraine develop biological weapons.

Committee confirmation hearings typically begin once the new Congress session starts in January, although nominees cannot be confirmed by a vote of the full Senate until after Trump is sworn in on January 20. — AFP