The good, the bad, the scandalous: Donald Trump’s White House picks
The withdrawal from contention of Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for US attorney-general, is a welcome sign that contrary to his critics’ claims, the incoming president is mindful of the constraints and conventions of US constitutional order. Allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and bribery surrounding Mr Gaetz made him a terrible choice to be the top law officer, and reflected badly on Mr Trump’s judgment. But it reflects well on US political processes that, faced with at least four Republican senators prepared to vote down the nomination, Mr Trump did not persist with it, and Mr Gaetz fell on his sword. Even without holding formal hearings, Republican senators had caucused and reaffirmed their constitutional duty to reject or endorse key presidential appointments. That is an important sign of checks and balances, even after the huge victory Mr Trump won on November 5.
It also saved the new administration from what was likely to be serious embarrassment had the appointment gone ahead. Mr Trump would now be wise to encourage scrutiny of some other appointments – notably those of defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, who denies sexually assaulting a woman in 2017 but paid her to sign a non-disclosure agreement; Robert Kennedy, the conspiracy theorist as head of the Department of Health and Human Services; and Tulsi Gabbard, whose allegedly “pro-Russian” views have raised serious questions about her suitability to be director of national intelligence. Mr Gaetz’s replacement, former Florida attorney-general Pam Bondi, has also become the target of speculation – including alleged donations from the Church of Scientology – that also need to be cleared up.
Mr Trump has everything to gain and nothing to lose by encouraging appropriate scrutiny of all his nominees. Some have been excellent, including Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Mike Waltz as national security adviser. Mr Trump appears to have made another strong choice when he announced billionaire Wall Street investor Scott Bessent for the Treasury post. A strong advocate of Mr Trump’s America First agenda, Mr Bessent reportedly impressed the president-elect with a “3-3-3’’ policy formula – cut the ballooning budget deficit to 3 per cent of GDP within four years, spur 3 per cent GDP growth through deregulation, and produce an extra three million barrels of oil a day. Mr Bessent’s handling of the economy will do much to decide the success or failure of Mr Trump’s second term. So will his ability to get competent people into the right posts, unencumbered by controversy and scandal.