Meet (Some of) the Trump Cabinet
On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump appointed three new members of his cabinet, bringing the total to five as of the weekend. Retired General Mike Flynn has been appointed to the post of National Security Advisor. For Attorney General, Trump has selected Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. And for the Director of the CIA, Trump has appointed Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo. These are in addition to Trump’s earlier picks: Reince Priebus for Chief of Staff, and Stephen Bannon for Chief Strategist and Senior Counsel. While they come from different careers and backgrounds, the five appointees share several things in common: all are men; all showed great loyalty to Trump throughout his campaign; and all have already received strong criticism from Democrats.
Retired General Mike Flynn (National Security Advisor)
General Flynn was Trump’s top military adviser during the campaign. The only Democrat among the nominees so far, he nevertheless has voiced strong criticism of both Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. Like many of President-elect Trump’s picks, the selection of General Flynn has been controversial. He was dismissed from the Pentagon in 2014 after many took issue with his combative leadership style. Recently, he has made several inflammatory comments about Islam, even going so far as to compare the religion to a disease and to say that a fear of Muslims is understandable.
Senator Jeff Sessions (Attorney General)
His bid for a federal judgeship in 1986 was rejected by a bipartisan Senate over allegations of racist comments, which Sessions has since denied. However, as an Alabama senator, top member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and former Alabama governor, Jeff Sessions has a good deal of government experience. He was the first senator to endorse Trump during his presidential campaign, and is known for taking a hard stance on immigration.
Representative Mike Pompeo (CIA Director)
As a representative from Kansas, Mike Pompeo is a staunch Republican and Tea Party member, and currently serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Originally, Pompeo backed Marco Rubio during the Republican primaries, but later supported Trump. His sharp criticism of Hillary Clinton and his leadership role in the Benghazi inquiry have caused many Democrats to express concern about Pompeo’s appointment to the head of the CIA, which is supposed to operate above politics and remain politically neutral.
Reince Priebus (Chief of Staff)
As Chairman of the Republican National Committee since 2011, Priebus was instrumental in helping organize Trump’s ground campaign. Though he was initially critical of Trump during the primaries–being publicly critical of candidate Trump’s comments about a military Gold Star family, and against Trump’s sexist comments about women–Priebus later emphasized unity within the Republican Party and gave his full support to Trump’s campaign.
Stephen Bannon (Chief Strategist and Senior Counsel)
A businessman and media executive, Bannon was the chief executive of the politically conservative Web site Breitbart News, until he took a leave of absence to be Trump’s campaign chief. Perhaps more than any other of Trump’s picks so far, Bannon has received criticism from civil rights groups for his divisive and often racially offensive comments and opinions.
What Do You Think? In his acceptance speech on election night, Donald Trump vowed to be a president “for all Americans.” Do you think his cabinet choices so far have reflected this commitment to unity? Why or why not?
