# Trump's new cabinet **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799 "2024-11-06T16:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/621 "2024-12-11T17:56:55Z")
I think it’s safe to assume that Trump views horses and dogs the same way: fear and loathing. (Trump being one of the view presidents to not own a dog.) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/622 "2024-12-11T18:09:16Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > So far we have everything except the horse. He’s making one part of the horse several members of his cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/623 "2024-12-11T22:18:53Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Since it’s become clear that [Donnie Boy Junior has moved on to a socialite with a more normal face](https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/miami-com-news/article296867084.html), the old man needs to pay her off to go away. Kimberly Guilfoyle probably did witness a lot of things that could cause major inconvenience to Donald Senior, were they to become known. Of course she will have witnessed a lot with respect to Junior, too, but no one cares about that. Poor Greece. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/624 "2024-12-11T22:42:17Z")
> **[Christopher Wray announces he’s stepping down as FBI director](https://nypost.com/2024/12/11/us-news/christopher-wray-announces-hes-stepping-down-as-fbi-director-report/)** > > FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday he was stepping down as head of the bureau, just days after Republicans expressed a loss of confidence in him. Wray, 57, told FBI employees in an a… I thought Wray will stay on and fight. Now road clear for Kash Patel as FBI Director ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/625 "2024-12-11T22:59:50Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > I thought Wray will stay on and fight. Now road clear for Kash Patel as FBI Director I posted earlier about the SSA Commish stepping down early. It is going to be curious to see who chooses to stick it out, and who just figures they don’t need the grief that is coming. Sure looks like Trump is going to be able to surround himself with “the best” folk to help him realize his fabulous agenda! 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/626 "2024-12-11T23:01:13Z")
I really wish more of the rational ones would stay and fight the madness. ---
**Author:** ![ByrdJrHs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@ByrdJrHs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ByrdJrHs)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/627 "2024-12-11T23:17:52Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > I thought Wray will stay on and fight. Now road clear for Kash Patel as FBI Director I thought his soon to be unemployed status was pretty much inevitable. Even before Trump pretty blatantly told everyone. But I do wish Wray would have stuck around to be fired. For no other reason than support the idea than the 10 year term was a Bi-Partisan idea that the FBI should not be politicized. Resigning could set a a dangerous precedent that FBI Director just changes with the Presidential transition, along with all the other political appointees. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/628 "2024-12-11T23:20:35Z")
> [@ByrdJrHs](#): > > But I do wish Wray would have stuck around to be fired. > > For no other reason than support the idea than the 10 year term was a Bi-Partisan idea that the FBI should not be politicized. Wray may not be all that pro-democracy and pro-rule of law. He may be happy to cooperate with Trump’s plans to bring down both–he just doesn’t want to get his own hands dirty. (Patel, on the other hand, takes pride in having filthy hands.) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/629 "2024-12-11T23:38:01Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > I thought Wray will stay on and fight. Now road clear for Kash Patel as FBI Director How could he “fight”? Trump can and absolutely would have fired him his first day back in office. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/630 "2024-12-11T23:44:54Z")
Back in the day, I read Chuck Grassley’s memo, pointing out flaws in the investigation into Carter Page, and I read Nunes/Patel’s own attempt to produce something similar. Nunes and Patel were clearly idiots. Even trying to copy someone else’s work, they couldn’t string things together well enough to make a coherent argument. Grassley, while obviously doing it for political reasons, at least made a piercing and logical argument. He struck me as a smart guy. At the time, I assumed that he was going for some political brownie points by clearing a non-entity like Page, so attention was diverted away from the continued prosecutions of important figures like Manafort and Stone. If Grassley has fully gone in for Team Trump, I’d be curious to know what he’s finding attractive. I’m certainly not seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/631 "2024-12-11T23:50:29Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Back in the day, I read Chuck Grassley’s memo, > … > He struck me as a smart guy. Back in the day, Grassley wasn’t 91 years old. For quite some time, he has impressed me as significantly past his “sell by” date. Hard to tell what - if anything - is going on inside his head these days. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/632 "2024-12-12T00:25:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Grassley, while obviously doing it for political reasons, at least made a piercing and logical argument. He struck me as a smart guy. Or at least, the staffer who produced the memo to go out under Grassley’s signature seemed like a smart guy. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/633 "2024-12-12T01:04:29Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Nunes and Patel were clearly idiots. Even trying to copy someone else’s work, they couldn’t string things together well enough to make a coherent argument. The intent was never to actually put together a case that would hold up in court. The purpose was to score points on Fox News and “own the libs”. A good chunk of Republican politics these days is just WWE-style kayfabe but with fewer shirtless oily men. (Fewer, not none.) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/634 "2024-12-12T02:33:36Z")
That Patel has a weird physique. Is he a tight suit wearing muscle boy, or is he a big fat guy who wears a full length girdle? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/635 "2024-12-13T02:20:15Z")
> [@ByrdJrHs](#): > > But I do wish Wray would have stuck around to be fired. David Frum has a far from fully explained claim that Wray quitting before Trump takes office makes the Trumpist FBI takeover harder: [scroll down to “Did Christopher Wray Just Defy Donald Trump?”](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/04/opinion/thepoint?unlocked_article_code=1.hE4.gIU4.5v5jQ11KjBGE&smid=url-share) If I understand this complex idea correctly, it has to do with the Director position being the only FBI job in the [Plum Book](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-PLUMBOOK-2024/pdf/GPO-PLUMBOOK-2024.pdf), so Trump cannot appoint, or fire, the #2 executive in the FBI who takes over the minute Wray quits. That person has civil service protection. So they cannot, in this theory, be displaced except by a senate confirmed director. Is Frum and/or me correct? The Schedule F thing would let Trump fire any government executive, but won’t that require an end to the senate filibuster? EDIT: I think Schedule F already exists, but maybe putting someone on it takes time. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/636 "2024-12-13T20:32:40Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > David Frum has a far from fully explained claim that Wray quitting before Trump takes office makes the Trumpist FBI takeover harder: David French, I believe. Anyway, I just can’t see any “rule” stopping Trump from getting what he wants. If necessary, the all-GOP Congress will convene to pass a special law making that possible. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/637 "2024-12-13T21:36:12Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > If necessary, the all-GOP Congress will convene to pass a special law making that possible. Not without 60 votes in the Senate they won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/638 "2024-12-13T22:39:44Z")
Right now it looks most of Trump cabinet may get senate approval. I’m surprised tbh. I thought Hegseth and Kash Patel for sure will be tough sells but the tide seems to be turning in their favor for confirmation. And RFK Jr too. I’m not sure but I read somewhere Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (DOGE) don’t require senate approval. I wonder why ? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/639 "2024-12-13T22:46:36Z")
> [@Ash\_trav511](#): > > I’m not sure but I read somewhere Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (DOGE) don’t require senate approval. I wonder why ? Because their “Department of Government Efficiency” is not a department at all, but more of an advisory panel. They’ll have no authority to make changes themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/640 "2024-12-13T22:51:36Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Because their “Department of Government Efficiency” is not a department at all, but more of an advisory panel. They’ll have no authority to make changes themselves Thank you flurb for this clarification. I didn’t know that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799.md?page=33)