Trump’s latest appointments, Elise “Tracy Flick” Stefanik for UN Ambassador, Little Marco Rubio as SoS, Lee Zeldin at EPA, Rep. Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor and Kristi Noem as head dog killer and Homeland Security Secretary, all show that supine sycophancy is a great strategy for being part of Trump’s second term.
That said, all I really care about is the wake of special elections that Trump’s flotilla is leaving behind. The only one that could possibly be close is probably Stefanik’s, who is in R+9 NY-21. We have flipped red districts in specials in New York as recently as Kathy Hochul’s short-lived tenure in NY-26 starting after a special election in 2011. But 2011 is not 2024 — lines have hardened, and Stefanik’s north country district has gone hard for Trump in the last two cycles.
I don’t know anything about Waltz. Noem is term limited out as SD Governor, so she’s making the best political move that she can. Lee Zeldin is a perennial losing candidate in NY, so it’s a good move for him. It’s Stefanik and, especially, Rubio, who are making a career-ending move here. Rubio is 53, and Stefanik is 40. I’ll guess that her shelf life as UN Ambassador is probably the whole of Trump’s term, because he doesn’t really give a shit about the UN. But I’d be surprised if Rubio lasts more than a year or two, because he’ll piss Trump off and get fired. Then, he’s off to some kind of wingnut welfare, a well-deserved end to a completely lackluster career.
lowtechcyclist
L’il Marco will avoid taking any stands contrary to Dear Leader. But he might still piss Trump off, just by being Marco.
lowtechcyclist
Filling vacancies in the U.S. Senate – Ballotpedia
Figured that might be relevant here. The answer for both Florida (Rubio) and Ohio (Vance) is that the governor gets to appoint someone to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy until the next statewide general election, IOW 2026.
Eural Joiner
My God, historians in the future are going to have a massive amount of material to work with…this period of American history is just insane (and I’m calling the period from circa 1992-2030 as a massive global shift from the earlier Cold War era).
Chris Johnson
Careful not to post too many pictures of Nazis or flood us with their shit, OK? :)
If it gets out of hand I shall complain to Baud about it :D
comrade scotts agenda of rage
None of his picks will last long, it’s simply a question of how many Scaramucci’s are involved until people resign.
That got me thinking about turnover the first time around. Brookings of all places did a really deep dive on this:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/
Scroll down about 3/4s to get to the Cabinet-level turnover. Only Chao and DeVos lasted the entire first term. I knew that about Chao since I was at DOT.
Like you, why Little Marco is taking this given he’ll be in the majority caucus in the Senate, is puzzling. And scary because he’s no deep thinker. Oh wait, most of them are no deep thinkers.
clay
When I first saw that Noem had been selected for something, I assumed it was Interior. That makes a certain type of sense.
But Homeland Security? She is woefully unqualified for anything to do with this. I’m sure that Trump is just thinking about border security: Noem will happily kick out all the dirty immigrants. But this includes FBI, CIA, NSA, etc etc… This department is probably bigger than her state!
I have the general opinion that incompetence is probably better for us than evil competence, so I think this is probably a “could be worse” situation, in that Noem won’t know how to eff up things the way Trump wants her to.
Betty Cracker
Jesus Fucking Christ. We knew the appointments would be bad. Still, this news is barf inducing.
I think DeSantis gets to appoint Rubio’s replacement. Maybe he’ll appoint his stupid fucking wife. He holds a grudge, so unless Trump has him by the balls, he won’t appoint someone like Byron Donalds, who picked Trump over DeSantis, as did most of the fed delegation.
I’m not sure what the process is after that. Does the appointee serve out the term, or is there a specified time to hold an election? I have no idea. Too disgusted to look it up. Fuck!
Booger
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Well, I read that as chaos lasted his whole term, and I stand by it.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Betty Cracker:
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/ron-desantis-decides-rubio-senate-replacement-presidential-cabinet/
Appoints a replacement who runs in 2026 to fill a term that expires in 2028. Article explores who DuhSantis might pick.
Betty Cracker
Another thought: Rubio might go the distance. He sees a president every time he looks in a mirror, and SOS is a stepping stone and reset. He had to suck a lot of Trump dick to put himself in this position, so he’s unlikely to defy his patron, even if ordered to dig up Fidel Castro and suck his dick too.
Belafon
@Betty Cracker: I’m pretty sure Trump picked Rubio because it’s pretty obvious Marco is dumber than Trump.
JML
Rubio…I have to think that he dislikes being in the Senate (he’s not well-liked there, has little influence, and an unimpressive future), knows that his failures on the national stage (bombing as a presidential candidate (he did better when people thought they were voting for Ricky Rubio) and the awful State of the Union response) limited any future he had in the status quo. Being Secretary of State puts him in the history books, and will endear him to the remnants of the internationalist wing (aka, the use US power to let corporations screw over foreign countries people) who will give him the big corporate board golden parachute if/when he gets dumped. Plus, he’ll get a book deal out of it. But it also will change his standing if he wants to try again for the presidency, because he won’t have any recent senate votes to worry about and the idiot solons in the DC political insider group will be treating him with deference.
Kent
I would be shocked if Trump doesn’t already have a replacement in mind.
Like, for example, Ivanka Trump who is now a Florida resident
And yes, Trump does have DeSantis by the balls. DeSantis wants to run again in 2028 and that won’t be successful without Trump’s tacit endorsement. I don’t think Trump is going to try to stay in office past 2028. But I do think he will try to be kingmaker and will likely be successful at doing so. At least when it comes to the nomination.
KatKapCC
I cannot picture that little pissant Rubio as SoS, though I suppose he wasn’t the worst possible choice. At least I feel mostly confident he won’t just go around the world telling other leaders to suck his dick or something. So nice to have such a low bar!!!!!
Andrew Abshier
Cook Political Report had Stefanik’s CD as R + 4 last I checked. Not likely, but also not a wash either.
TBone
Deputy Chief of Staff For Policy: Stephen Miller
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/politics/stephen-miller-trump-administration/index.html
I expect Melania to decorate for Xmas using swastikas
Or this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sun_(symbol)
Dangerman
I generally would never use a “woof” to reply to a picture like that one, but I think I can get away with it here
ETA: Looking for a good newsfeed. Don’t trust google news. CNN is now flushable (double, just to be sure). Basically, seeing that person (you know who) while I’m on just a wild assortment of pain pills seems self defeating. Basically, I want hard news minus the political stuff. I don’t need commentary. For commentary I’ll come here.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m still at DOT trying to decide if I should jump ship or wait to be schedule F’d out… I’m non-supervisory so maybe not on the block for having civil service protections taken away but there’s also the work environment angle to consider. Will it be toxic? If so may be better off moving on sooner than later.
Anne Laurie
@Betty Cracker: There’s already scuttlebutt on twitter that DeSantis should appoint… himself. Then he’ll be the incumbent, with the magickal (R) behind his name! Permanent sinecure!
Don’t know if it’s legal (as if that question haunts Repubs), or if DeSpicable has the gall required, but There.You.Have.It.
Kent
Which is actually a position that sounds important but isn’t really. He won’t have anyone who directly answers to him except for some secretaries and interns. Unless he is given free rein like Kushner was in sort of a similar position. Trump doesn’t tend to do that for people who aren’t family.
TBone
@Kent: I’m not going to underestimate pure evil.
Sherparick1
I think Elise will be their for the full term shouting out “delenda est Gaza,” unless she starts being to much of a headline hog. Trump does not like being crowded out from the headlines. Rubio, who cares, as Trump will be doing foreign policy on the basis of “if you are nice to Trump, Trump will be nice to you, and if you are not nice to Trump, then it will be the back of the hand. https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/11/economic-anxiety-for-real-this-time
Chris Johnson
@Anne Laurie: Gall futures are up!
Colleeniem
@clay: Those agencies are not in DHS. It’s still big: 50B in budget, includes TSA, CBP, ICE, USCG, HSI, etc. Still a ship that needs to be steered correctly. Gulp.
Gin & Tonic
A view from Kyiv on Mike Waltz:
Steve LaBonne
@JML: He said years ago in public that he was tired of being in the Senate, and idiot voters re-elected him anyway. He wants to be a big shot without doing anything resembling work, so this undoubtedly looks to him like a golden opportunity. Followed by a cushy life on wingnut welfare.
Gin & Tonic
Speaking of Micro Rubio, when’s the last time somebody successfully used SoS as a “stepping stone” to the Presidency?
wenchacha
@Belafon: How do you look your kids in the face when they ask why you got into a dick-measuring contest with the president and lost? And then went on to work for him?
OId Man Shadow
I mean, at the very least, it’ll be interesting to see who Florida chooses to replace Rubio. I mean, we all know it won’t be a nice, boring centrist Democrat… I’m curious to see how far down the hole of degeneracy they go… They’ve already gotten a guy who stole from old people… Will the new Senator do bath salts? Will they fuck alligators? Will they run naked with AK-47s firing through the Senate chamber? All of the above?
See? Exciting.
Kent
Trump wants someone at the UN to go shout at countries that are dissing Trump. Elise will be as good at that as anyone.
prn
I don’t know if this will be of value, but Seven Stories Press has been offering free ebooks this week, one a day. Today’s book looks very interesting, written by an imprisoned Egyptian dissident who studied anti-apartheid movements. Forward by Naomi Kline (not Wolff, the goofy one)
https://sevenstories.com/books/4410-you-have-not-yet-been-defeated
catclub
Mike Pompeo springs to mind.
Sherparick1
The lesson of not just the last election, but really of the last 40 years is that we have long surrendered the media & information world that most people pick up the RW and Republicans. Democrats, taking their cues from donors and consultants/lobbyists paid by those donors went along with the abandonment of “Fairness Doctrine” (which released Rush Limbaugh & the whole viper nest of RW talk radio on the population) and media conglomeration (including the ownership limitation for networks to no more than 5 stations, the abandonment of which led directly to Sinclair and Clear Channel practical monopoly on local TV & radio across the country. This propaganda network will be saying that the bad things that will happen over the next 4 years are not Trump’s or the Republicans fault, but Bidens, or the Democratic Governors, or the “vermin in our country.” And do not expect the MSM to ride to the rescue as they will transmit Republican charges as stenographers and say “both sides.”
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/11/economic-anxiety-for-real-this-time
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/11/vibe-elections-in-a-post-truth-society
Kent
I’m not one of the conspiracy theorists who think Trump is going to try to stay in office or run again past 2028. But I do think he will be a fetid godfather type trying to anoint his successor in the 2028 primary. And with his cult following he could very will be successful in doing so.
Which means all the usual suspects like Rubio, Noem, DeSantis, Vance etc. will be licking his balls. And Trump will make it into a servile sucking up contest.
@mistermix.bsky.social
@Andrew Abshier: Latest PVI for Stefanik’s district is R+9. That’s post redistricting.
Anonymous At Work
@lowtechcyclist: Secretary of State goes places outside of The Convicted Felon’s orbit and has to hobnob and say things without relaying them home first. TCF’s also without morals or principles and conducts everything in entirely transactional terms. How long can you be a traveling agent for such a person before you get crosswise of him? Especially since he conducts most/all of his transactional conversations outside of formal channels?
catclub
the ole twisted cross.
Belafon
@wenchacha: I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out how wanting to take care of the poor, the sick, the elderly, and your neighbor makes you anti-Christian.
montanareddog
@prn:
Reminder of the mnemonic – “if it’s Klein, you’ll be fine. If it’s Wolf, oof!”
Bill Arnold
Was looking forward to watching Lee Zeldin lose a few more times. Sigh (at the whole list).
Ohio Mom
I am trying to imagine Rubio doing what Blinken has been trying desperately to do, work out some sort of agreement in the Middle East. My mind draws blank. All I can think is that all the players will try to play him while stifling their laughs.
Steve LaBonne
@Belafon: Jesus said “suffer the little children”, so we’re obliged to make them suffer.
Belafon
@Sherparick1: I think, since the VRA and the CRA, Democrats have been in a defensive position, trying to maintain both the economic policies that helped a lot of white males, and the laws that should make those available to the rest of America. And the Right has used the resentment of the second of these to weaken both.
CliosFanBoy
@Gin & Tonic: John Quincy Adams?
TBone
@prn: 💜
Suzanne
@Ohio Mom:
It’s such a loss to us all that Jared isn’t coming back. He could have made a yuge deal. The greatest ever.
Belafon
@Ohio Mom: The only arrangement that will be made in the Middle East is that, as one of the members of Netanyahu’s government said, is that Israel will annex the West Bank.
Trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: Giving up a safe-as-milk senate seat for the Trump cabinet is super risky and agree li’l Marco sees it as a last gasp shot at the Oval Office.
But he has no idea what working for Donny is like; can he take four years of being a middle school wimp?
Butch
@Kent: I still don’t think he’s going to make it to 2028, for a lot of reasons. In fact, I’m betting we’ll have President Vance by June 2025.
Trollhattan
@Ohio Mom:
Trump admin: Here Bibi, here’s all the bombs you want. Now finish the job so I can declare I “ended the war.”
“The job” in this case comprises scraping Gaza into the sea and giving West Bank settlers unfettered access to Palestinian lands.
Trollhattan
@Suzanne: Have Princess and Princeling said, one way or another? I’m on pins and needles here.
Betty Cracker
Deleted
Gin & Tonic
@CliosFanBoy: Thanks. That was a while ago, IIRC.
Betty Cracker
@Trollhattan: He’s been a middle school wimp for 53 years, so yeah! ;-)
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
The last time I read something on this, people like us wouldn’t have been on the proverbial block vis a vis civil service protections.
Work environment? I’m guessing it’s what mode you’re in. When I was in a field office, it didn’t really matter. When I finagled a transfer here, I directly supported 3(!) SES, had an office next to one of them. And that really didn’t make a difference either, probably because Chao was such a non-entity and insider-DC person, they all knew how the game was played.
My position was on the chopping block for, I kid you not, decades, started with Gore’s “Reinventing Government” (read: what can we contract out?), went into hyperdrive with the Bushies and remained a constant threat thereafter even under Obama.
I’m sure you know as well as I do that playing the waiting game in Club Fed is always Plan A. It worked for me for a loooong time and I was eventually able to go out on my own terms.
Good luck and keep us posted.
clay
@Gin & Tonic: It’s hard to square that with “I’m going to end the war on Day One”.
Kent
@Butch: I’m not that hopeful. His fetid father Fred Trump lived to the age of 93.
Steve LaBonne
@Kent: But his brain quit years before that.
tam1MI
Wonder if DeSantis will appoint himself…
Downpuppy
I’m reading Tom Perrotta’s sequel, Tracy Flick Can’t Win, in which she appears to have aged into a decent person.
tam1MI
I read somewhere once that a study showed that the best sources for unbiased straight news were the half hour network nightly news shows.
jonas
These appointments all signal what will be the hallmark of Trump 2 Electric Boogaloo: massive, comprehension-defying corruption at every turn. We all know sycophantic loyalty is the only thing Trump values. Not voters. Not the Constitution. Not laws or norms. It’s his ass and your lips. Full stop. So look for an FBI and DOJ that basically stop investigating whatever white collar criminals or crooked corporations (or foreign spies) bribe him or kiss his ass. We’re already seeing crypto going hog wild with no oversight to be found. He’ll round up and deport undocumented workers — but only those from states or working for companies who haven’t adequately kissed the ring. I’m sure the CEOs of Tyson Foods and ConAgra will be in the Oval Office with a fresh pair of knee pads the morning of Jan. 21st if not before. Tariffs? Same deal. He’ll impose all kinds of tariffs — but there will be a million carve-outs and exemptions for whoever bribes him and/or strokes his ego the most.
All of this will simply create an economy of instability and uncertainty because it won’t be based on any coherent policies predictable positions, just whatever mood Trump is in — like last time, only worse.
montanareddog
@Downpuppy: Interesting. I haven’t ready any of the books but I have seen the movie of “Election” and my takeaway is that Tracy Flick is not a villain. At least, not a black and white one. She is an underprivileged girl with drive who trying to get ahead, who cracks a bit under pressure. Mr McAllister, and the teacher who has an affair with Tracy and gets fired, and the rich brother and sister who both run for Class President too are as much, if not more, assholes than Tracy.
jonas
But was more or less a vegetable with Alzheimer’s for the last decade or so of his life. Given how little people pay any attention to, or apparently give a shit about, his physical or mental condition, they probably wouldn’t notice, or care, if the same thing happened to Donald.
Suzanne
@Trollhattan: My understanding is that Ivanka and Jared are staying far, far away this time.
Trollhattan
@Suzanne:
If so, that goes into my minuscule Thank God for Little Favours curio box.
West of the Rockies
@clay:
When I was a civilian in law enforcement 30 years ago, the department restructured and named a dispatcher as head of dispatch/records/evidence, a position previously held by an old-school male lieutenant. The new head insisted she now held a lieutenant’s power and started issuing all sorts of protocol changes and such. LE was still very male-centric then. Plus she had zero actual police training. She was not well-received. (She was a genuinely crummy person, too.)
Anyway, to get to the point, I doubt the hyper-masculine FBI and CIA, etc., will be thrilled with a new boss who has less than zero knowledge about what’s going on.
artem1s
Rubio is going to try to turn his SoS appointment into a POTUS run in 2028. He’ll have no chance if all his Dreamer constituents are deported and/or it gets even harder to get a visa or naturalized. Not that he has a chance at the WH anyway. All of these jamokes are going to have their own agendas and if they aren’t greasing TCF’s palm, he’s not gonna be accommodating to those agendas.
How many Scaramucci’s did Jeff Sessions last as AG before he saw the writing on the wall and got the hell out.
artem1s
@clay:
No but she’ll happily ignore all the August 8th memos the Biden administration and the IC give her and we’ll be completely open to terrorist attacks.
Trollhattan
@artem1s: She’ll just shoot her way to the promised land.
ascap_scab
So glad that Noem latched onto a know-nothing, do-nothing, gubmint paycheck.
CaseyL
I saw an article, can’t remember where, that said the shape of the second Trump Admin would depend on who he saw as his most important backers: Putin, or the Billionaires.
So, in view of the names given as Cabinet appointments, I guess the good news is that Trump is going for the Total Corruption plan given him by the oligarchs and kleptocrats, and not the Destroy the US Entirely plan Putin wants.
Juju
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Civil Service laws are federal laws. The most recent, and I had to look this up, was the Civil Service Act of 1978. There are a total of six acts. Three in the 1800s and three in the 1900s. These are federal law. They are not like executive orders, Trump cannot just toss the Civil Service Acts. I do wonder if he tried, whether the Supreme Court would let him. I think there is a good possibility they might, but it would take time.
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: Marco Rubio is more likely to find this Cabinet job to be a trap door than a stepping stone.
Mustang Bobby
@lowtechcyclist: I wouldn’t put it past DeSantis to resign as FL governor and get his successor to appoint him to the Senate. It’s happened before: Gov. Wendell Anderson of Minnesota did that when Walter Mondale was elected vice president in 1976. It didn’t go over well; he lost the next election.
Anonymous At Work
@Juju: SCOTUS will rule, eventually, on merits that the reclassification of the jobs was lawfully done, don’t need Senate confirmation, and allow the President to waive (en masse) background checks and/or security clearance requirements.
When a Democratic President tries it, such action fails because it is a Major Question. Subpoenas by a Democrat-controlled Chamber of Congress fail due to Separation of Powers issues as well.
randy khan
Haley, who was pretty sycophantic, lasted about 23 months as UN ambassador. She apparently left of her own accord, with rumors that she clashed with the less sane members of the foreign policy team.
I think Stefanik probably does have a better chance of lasting longer, but all it takes is one misstep.
Quaker in a Basement
@Dangerman: I rely on BBC America.
catclub
Oh my goodness, I thought all those businessmen just hated uncertainty.
Quaker in a Basement
@Mustang Bobby: Yeah, well, many things that were outrageous in 1976 don’t even raise an eyebrow today. Ask Gary Hart.
Quaker in a Basement
@Juju: I see it the other way around, juju. It takes no time at all for him to ignore the law and years to challenge him on it.
Geminid
@Bill Arnold: I think there is still a possibility that Lee Zeldin will get caught up in the George Santos affair. Santos may have dirt to dish on Zeldin, who is a powerful figure in Long Island Republican politics. I bet Zeldin knew at least second hand that Santos was dirty.
Santos’s 2022 campaign resembled a money laundromat, and that could be why Long Island Republicans ran him twice, that year and the cycle before. They just didn’t expect Santos to win the last time.
I think Santos’s sentencing is scheduled for February. My best case fantasy is that he can incriminate Zeldin and Stefanik, and they both get indicted January 20th.
apocalipstick
I think it’s entirely possible that on 17 January, Trump will yell “Psych!” and scrub Marco. That would really be on-brand.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m an economist and mostly support regulatory development. In theory that may mean supporting rolling back regulations which is essentially the same process as promulgating them. So they need us to write supporting documents for any regulatory rollbacks. And given that I work for the agency that regulates pipelines and hazardous materials transportation and they’re promising to boost the fossil fuel industry they may decide they need us to facilitate that agenda.
Madeleine
@Suzanne: Saudi Arabia?
@Suzanne:
Madeleine
Deleted
Splitting Image
@clay:
It’s fairly easy to square with “con artist will say anything to get what he wants and abandon the suckers who had faith in him the second he feels like it”.
Geminid
@Ohio Mom: It’s hard to figure what will happen now in the Middle East. But I would point out that Anthony Blinken has not been directly involved in the ceasefire negotiations conducted on and off since February. CIA Director William Burns has been Biden’s point man in this process. This is not so strange in that critical problems in the region are often worked out by intelligence chiefs.
Throughout these negotiations, Burns has been meeting with Israel’s* and Egypt’s intelligence chiefs as well as Qatar’s Prime Minister, who has in effect served as Hamas’s attorney in this matter.
Secretary Blinken has spent a lot of time talking to other foreign minister about the larger problems, but they can only lay the groundwork for further progress that depends on the ceasefire process succeeding.
* Israel’s team usually includes Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and an IDF general.
lowtechcyclist
@Butch:
He’d need to muster a 2/3 majority of supporters in each house of Congress. Unlikely, to say the least.
Timill
@lowtechcyclist: Not if Trump falls out of a tenth-floor window at the White House… ;-)
Citizen Alan
Is it? There’s the Hillary Clinton precedent, but other than her, I can’t recall any SOS in my lifetime running for President, let alone going on to win.
Barney
Almost inevitably, the sycophants want Lara Trump to get Rubio’s Senate seat: MAGA Republicans get behind Trump family member for U.S. Senate seat – nj.com
I suppose that means they recognise that the spawn of Trump themselves are just too stupid even for a Republican senator.
RaflW
@Barney: Sliding Laura Trump into the US Senate has an H. L. Mencken appeal to it that I think makes me a slightly bad human.
OTOH, I’d rather she stay at the RNC where she can be a lousy manager and money siphon in one.
Geminid
@RaflW: I remember when l Lara Trump’s name was put out as a possible candidate for North Carolina Senator Richard Burr’s seat. Nothing came of it and Ted Budd got the job when he beat Democrat Laurie(?) Beasley.
That Senate seat provides a good object lesson in the pitfalls of serving Trump. Budd was a pretty ordinary Congressman, and he wouldn’t have had much of a chance against veteran Representative Mark Meadows in a primary. But by then Meadows had given up his safe seat to be Trump’s Chief of Staff, and then he became the subject of multiple criminal investigations. What Meadows thought would be a stepping stone turned out to be a trap door into the shit.
RaflW
@Citizen Alan: John Kerry says ouch.
K-Mo
@montanareddog: When I went to rewatch the movie a couple years ago I was surprised at how misogynistic it was. The predation of the teacher is played for laughs, as is everything that happens to Tracy. But as you note, when you look at what’s actually happening, Tracy despite her flaws is a sympathetic character surrounded by assholes and worse. Still, what most people have taken away from the film is, don’t be a try-hard like her.