Next US government: Competence? An insignificant factor

SZ.de Next US government: Competence? An insignificant factor Boris Herrmann, New York • 1 hour • 5 minutes reading time Just a few weeks after his election victory, Donald Trump has already filled the most important positions in his cabinet. This speed could make an impression - if only the decisions seemed a little more considered. Competence? An insignificant factor You have to give Donald Trump credit for one thing: He put together his cabinet at record speed. Less than three weeks have passed since the presidential election in the USA and Trump has already made and announced all the relevant personnel decisions. This could indicate that he prepared very meticulously and highly professionally for his second term. It is more likely that it went so quickly because he was neither meticulous nor professional in selecting this cabinet. It seems more like a chain of gut decisions, like someone at the checkout at McDonald's deciding whether to have a Big Mac or a Fish Mac. Donald Trump, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner once revealed, prefers a Big Mac and a Fish Mac. In an ideal world, important government positions are awarded primarily on the basis of competence. The world is not always ideal in this sense outside of America either; for example, ministers are often selected based on regional proportions or because someone in the capital city owes someone else a favor. But competence seems to be a marginal factor in Trump's personnel policy. In some cases, it seems as if he has chosen exactly the person who is least suited to the position: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccination activist as Health Minister. Tulsi Gabbard, a supporter of Kremlin propaganda at the head of the US secret services. Or Lee Zeldin, a former congressman who regularly voted against clean water and clean air laws in Congress and is set to head the Environmental Protection Agency in the future. This naturally also includes the idea of ​​making TV presenter Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defense, even though he had called US soldiers accused of war crimes "heroes". In at least one case, this type of personnel policy has already backfired on Trump. Matt Gaetz, who was to become Attorney General and thus head of an agency that had recently investigated him, withdrew his candidacy when he realized that he would not get the necessary majority in the Senate - which is now again dominated by Republicans. There are at least two theories about how Trump comes up with such - by human standards - quite absurd ideas for his cabinet of horrors. One is that there was a certain indifference involved, that Trump often made spontaneous decisions without really looking into the biographies of his future cabinet members. The Gaetz appointment was said to have been first discussed during a two-hour flight from West Palm Beach to Washington and then decided on the return flight that same day. Another theory is that Trump wanted to shift the boundaries of power in his favor with such nominations. The hasty assembly of his team was therefore also a test of how far he could go with the Senate, which is responsible for approving the appointment of cabinet members. According to this theory, Trump wanted to decide the power struggle with the senators right now, before it had really begun. He demonstrated to them that he is willing to do pretty much anything and that he expects absolute loyalty. In the case of Gaetz, he reached his limits. But it is probably not a stretch to predict that this will not be repeated too often with the other positions. Loyalty is the key word in this selection process. If there is one leitmotif among all the cabinet members and agency heads that Trump has chosen in the past two and a half weeks, it is their devotion to the boss. They are women and men, some with completely different characters, beliefs and biographies, but they have all managed to flatter Donald Trump in one way or another. This now almost necessarily includes a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, which is not only the Trumps' main residence, but also the headquarters of the MAGA movement. A cabinet with a lot of showbiz experience What obviously didn't hurt to get a job in this cabinet was the regular use of the word "landslide". Trump especially likes it when someone emphasizes his undoubted election victory.