Update on the Trump Transition

Now that we have gotten through the “wailing and gnashing of teeth” otherwise known as the election, we can turn to Donald Trump’s choices for his cabinet (even though there are active recounts in three states).

Since he controversially won the election, Donald Trump has busied himself appointing cabinet members, meeting with the movers and shakers of politics, and causing traffic headaches during rush hour on Rte. 78. He has appointed many top-level advisers and cabinet members, including Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (former head of the RNC) and Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Another such appointment, though not without controversy, is Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who has called civil rights groups such as the NAACP “un-American”. That’s not the worst, though; he had also called an African-American prosecutor under his charge “boy”.

Other important appointees include Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) as National Security Adviser and Steve Bannon of Breitbart News as the chief strategist (according to Trump, he will be working in a similar fashion as Priebus). Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson (R-MD) is also expected to be named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Wilbur Ross and Elizabeth DeVos have been named secretaries of Commerce and Education, respectively. Both hold significant experience in their fields, Ross as an investor and DeVos as one of the leading proponents of school choice and charter schools.

Now that we have seen the direction Trump wishes to go with his cabinet, one must ask whom his next appointees will be. Speculation amongst the public is that Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), former New York Mayor, will be named as the secretary of State; others, however, say that the position might be given to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney (R-MA). Early reports speculated that Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), congresswoman from “country” Hawaii (i.e. anything but Honolulu) and former Vice-Chair of the DNC who resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders (I-VT) might be named Secretary of Defense due to her views on Syria (she supports keeping Assad in power) and refugees (she supports more in-depth background checks on refugees). However, considering Trump’s recent appointments, this is extremely unlikely.

We must wait and see to find out what direction our country will go in for the next four years. Will we continue to go along the path of innovation and improvement forged by Presidents past? Or will we divulge into uncharted political territory?

Photo Credit: C-Span Classroom