As President-elect Donald Trump began his transition to power on Thursday, early reporting has opened a window into what the nation can expect as his “cabinet of horrors,” as AFP put it, takes shape.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Ben Carson, Newt Gingrich, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin are among the more high-profile individuals named on a shortlist of potential appointees leaked to several news outlets.
On Wednesday, BuzzFeed News published a list of 41 names suggested for 13 positions, including attorney general, secretary of state, White House chief of staff, and White House counsel.
And while some, like Christie, were unsurprising, as Salon‘s Brendan Gauthier wrote, “The people whose names you don’t recognize are as bad or worse as those whose names you’re sick of hearing.”
For example, Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is being considered to head the Department of Defense, “was fired from his post as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, which he attributed to his hawkishness,” Gauthier reports.