# 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:** 42
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/821 "2025-02-20T22:11:11Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Again, I’m surprised I seem to be the first mentioning this I think fatigue is setting in. So much to be outraged and dismayed about. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/822 "2025-02-20T22:14:38Z")
I also think that a couple of the nominees – at least to a degree – had a plausible veneer of reasonableness to them, y’know: if one were being _really_ generous. Patel is just an evil lickspittle MAGA shitbag. Maybe to **Dinsdale’s** point, I couldn’t even muster the outrage for him. I blew it all on Gaetz, I think. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/823 "2025-02-20T22:22:16Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > y’know: if one were being _really_ generous. I’ll never be that wealthy. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/824 "2025-02-20T22:26:06Z")
He’s an insane conspiracy theorist who hates the FBI and thinks they orchestrated the January 6th insurrection. I can think of no better choice to lead the FBI who, as I mentioned, he hates. I’d hate to be one of the agents who investigated January 6 right now. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/825 "2025-02-21T01:12:43Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I think fatigue is setting in. So much to be outraged and dismayed about. Yep. It’s a constant firehose of shit that it’s hard to even keep up, let alone post about. We’ll all get carpal tunnel in the wrists if we try to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/826 "2025-02-21T03:24:12Z")
Please explain RYFKM ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/827 "2025-02-21T03:32:43Z")
RKF (Jr.) smashed into RYFM (read your f’n manual)? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/828 "2025-02-21T09:06:25Z")
I think it’s RFK (, Jr.) smashed into RYFKM (“R You F\*\*\*ing Kidding Me??”). ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/829 "2025-02-21T18:09:29Z")
My need to answer is now redundant as two people have already explained it, heh. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/830 "2025-02-21T22:02:34Z")
The face-eating leopards are having a little appetizer, it seems. > **[Acting head of ICE reassigned amid frustrations over deportation efforts](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/acting-head-immigration-customs-enforcement-reassigned-frustrations-deportation-efforts-trump/)** > > Caleb Vitello was installed by President Trump to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an acting capacity at the start of his second administration in January. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/831 "2025-02-21T23:34:46Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I also think that a couple of the nominees – at least to a degree – had a plausible veneer of reasonableness to them, y’know: if one were being _really_ generous. > > Patel is just an evil lickspittle MAGA shitbag. Maybe to **Dinsdale’s** point, I couldn’t even muster the outrage for him. I blew it all on Gaetz, I think. I feel that way, too. Patel is so grotesquely unfit for FBI head that the vote became Trump’s ‘DO YOU REALLY LOVE ME?’ test for Republicans. As ghastly as Patel is I felt there was no way they’d fail to vote for him. So I couldn’t get emotional about it. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/832 "2025-02-22T00:24:43Z")
Dumb question; are _any_ of Trump’s Cabinet-level appointees fairly uncontroversial qualified individuals? Marco Rubio, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/833 "2025-02-22T00:55:53Z")
It depends what you mean qualified. I think that as cabinet members they work more as an administrator of a large bureaucracy so someone like Kristi Noem is qualified (despite her idiocy) as a former governor. If the President asks her, “How can we improve TSA finding weapons in luggage?” she would not need to know that off of the top of her head but would say, “I’ll find out and get that to you in a week.” then go ask the experts in DHS. Or if the President said, “Speed up wait times by 10%.” she would direct her bureau to do so and make sure it got done. But I’m assuming you mean experience in their respective portfolios. Most people when they mean “qualified”. Sec’y of Energy Wright worked in the energy industry. Attorney General Bondi is a criminal attorney. Cabinet Equivalent: Administrator of the SBA Loeffler has worked quite a bit with small businesses. Chief of Staff Wiles is a political player veteran. Director of the CIA Ratcliffe worked in national security under George W. Bush Director of the OMB Vought was deputy director in Trump’s first term. But if you contend that DOGE & Musk have annexed the OMB & Vought, I would not argue with you. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/834 "2025-02-22T04:09:17Z")
I’ve pretty much lost the ability to get worked up over Trump’s Cabinet picks. So Kash Patel hates the FBI and thinks they are criminals. That’s Trump’s methodology to a T. Think the EPA is unnecessary - director of EPA. Want to get rid of the Energy Department? Congrats, you’re in charge. Think public schools are a waste? Department of Education is yours. Pedophile sex trafficker who uses recreational drugs and is creepy with women? Let’s make you ~~President~~ Attorney General. Russian sympathizer and security leak? National Security Director. It’s not even a joke or irony - it’s the plan. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/835 "2025-02-22T22:04:35Z")
Deleted – wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/836 "2025-02-23T14:58:18Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > As ghastly as Patel is I felt there was no way they’d fail to vote for him. So I couldn’t get emotional about it. Yep. As I mentioned above, Hegseth was the canary in the coal mine for me. He was so manifestly unqualified, and the position is so important, that it seemed to me that, if he were to be confirmed, it would be the signal that all of Trump’s appointees will be confirmed. So far, so good on that prediction. No point to outrage now, just resigned sighs. We just have to go through the process of them fucking shit up badly enough for even the MAGAs to start noticing the problems. Hunker down, protect yourself and those you care about as well as you can, and let the MAGAs take every hit coming their way, because that’s the only hope we have now of them learning anything. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/837 "2025-02-23T15:27:15Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Attorney General Bondi is a criminal attorney. We know that. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/838 "2025-02-23T15:40:36Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > We know that. An attorney at criminal law (for clarification) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/839 "2025-02-23T16:13:32Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > An attorney at criminal law (for clarification) A DA that dismissed the case against the fraud that was Trump ‘University’ after receiving a 25k donation to her re-election makes her a criminal attorney. Looks like Trump did some tax cheating on that as well, but that’s just SOP. And so, since she proved her loyalty, and proved she could be bought, she became the US Attorney General. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799/840 "2025-02-23T16:17:47Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > A DA that dismissed the case against the fraud that was Trump ‘University’ after receiving a 25k donation to her re-election makes her a criminal attorney. That is NOT the question I was addressing with my post. It was: did any of Trump’s cabinet members have experience in their portfolio. She does. The real focus should be that in the Cabinet proper, there are only two that meet this criterium. I’m not sure why my post on that factual answer is being used as the springboard for her criminal activity like I misspoke or are defending her or am a MAGA or where ever you are going with this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-new-cabinet/1009799.md?page=43)