Yeah but what's going to happen if all the A-listers get p***ed off and leave before it even starts?

The Washington Post - Trump ignores transition rules - It’s a ‘hostile takeover'  [free unlocked link]

19 Nov 2024

Since his victory, Trump has ignored many of the rules and practices intended to guide a seamless transfer of power and handover of the oversight of 2.2 million federal employees. 

 

Instead, the president-elect, who has pledged to fire thousands of civil servants and slash billions of dollars in spending, has so far almost fully cut out the government agencies his predecessors have relied on to take charge of the federal government.

 

Trump has yet to collaborate with the General Services Administration, which is tasked with the complex work of handing over control of hundreds of agencies, because he has not turned in required pledges to follow ethics rules. 

 

His transition teams have yet to set foot inside a single federal office.

 

In calls with foreign heads of state, Trump has cut out the State Department, its secure lines and its official interpreters.

 

As his team considers hundreds of potential appointees for key jobs, he’s so far declined to let the Federal Bureau of Investigation check for potential red flags and security threats to guard against espionage - instead relying on private campaign lawyers for some appointees and doing no vetting at all for others. 

 

Trump’s transition team is considering moving on his first day in office to give those appointees blanket security clearances ...

 

Rules are for other people  😟 

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

kingdragonfly: Trump A-listers is a misnomer.

Trump could always assign septuagenarian WWE wrestlers to his cabinet.

Seems to be the plan

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rl8knmg8eo

Hypocrisy, thy name is the Republican Party.

Also:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/20/politics/donald-trump-cabinet-fox-what-matters/index.html >> a (sober) look at Trump's cabinet picks, and

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/rfk-jr-entering-our-crank-era >> a (humorous) look at his cabinet picks:

The TV-guy administration grows: Yesterday, Donald Trump tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz as his administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake,” Trump said in a statement.

We can only assume the next tranche of nominees will include Pat Sajak, Maury Povich, and Stephen A. Smith.

The NY Times - Trump Transition Live Updates: Gaetz Withdraws as Attorney General Pick  

breaking

Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s contentious choice for attorney general who had faced a torrent of scrutiny, said on Thursday that he was withdrawing from consideration for the role.

 

“It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Mr. Gaetz wrote on X. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.” ...

 

The controversy surrounding Gaetz has already served a purpose for Trump - whether intended or not.

 

It has made other Trump choices for cabinet picks, who would have been facially unacceptable, appear more reasonable by comparison. 

 

There has been very little attention, for example, given to the fact that Trump intends to nominate his personal lawyer Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general. Blanche is among the potential substitutes for Gaetz. ...

 

Wow that's quite a development. So now Gaetz has no job anymore? Unless he withdraws his resignation - although I thought it was effective immediately?

At least that Todd guy is an actual lawyer, I suppose.

Gaetz isn't worried. Trump's put him in charge of a new department - College Cheerleader Selection Approval.

Sideface:

 

 facially unacceptable, 

 

look, the guy does have a fivehead, but that shouldn't disqualify you from holding office

Good-for-Trump legislation:

The Guardian - US House passes bill to punish non-profits deemed to support ‘terrorism’

22 Nov 2024

The Republican-controlled US House on Thursday passed a bill that would give the government broad powers to punish non-profit organizations it deems support “terrorism”. ...

 

The bill *, which gives the treasury the power to strip non-profits it claims support “terrorism” of their tax-exempt status, does not require the treasury to adhere to any evidentiary standard in releasing its findings. 

 

Although groups targeted could appeal to the IRS or the courts for review, simply being identified as a supporter of terrorism could have a chilling effect on advocacy groups, critics warn. ...

 

“Americans want checks and balances, not a blank check for any president to label anyone as a terrorist without evidence,” said the Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat.
“With this bill, the only guardrail against authoritarian abuse to any voice of dissent to his agenda will be Trump’s imagination.”

 

*  H.R. 9495 - also known as the "Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act"

Sideface: *  H.R. 9495 - also known as the "Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act"

Why don't they call it what it is, the Outlaw All Islamic Charities Act?  Or more generally the Victimise all Muslims Act, since one of the pillars of Islam is giving... 5%? of your income to charity.

Edited to add: Just checked, zakat is 1/40th so 2.5%, and is considered a religious obligation.

Sideface:

 

The NY Times - Trump Transition Live Updates: Gaetz Withdraws as Attorney General Pick  

 

Replacement announced: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-announces-pam-bondi-new-attorney-general-pick/story?id=116115173

Is she good or bad?

quickymart: Replacement announced: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-announces-pam-bondi-new-attorney-general-pick/story?id=116115173

 

Is she good or bad?

Trump picked her, what do you think?