Off the Rails Already?

Jonathan Bernstein: “If anyone believed the nonsense about Donald Trump’s second term shifting away from chaos and towards ruthless efficiency his initial personnel rollout is putting that to rest. We’re going to have four more years of chaos and inept presidenting. Keeping in mind that incompetence is at least and probably more dangerous than ruthless efficiency.”

“A few things spark this. One is that he’s rolling out his picks in a totally arbitrary, willy-nilly fashion; presidents-elect who know what they’re doing don’t start with the UN ambassador and the head of the EPA before they get around Secretaries of Treasury and State (which is now to go to Marco Rubio, unless it doesn’t). And also neither of those selections, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, have subject-matter experience. Which isn’t the end of the world for a cabinet-level pick, but it’s not exactly a plus, either.”

“Oh, also, Trump has already selected two sitting Members of the House (Stefanik and National Security Advisor designate Micahel Waltz) for his administration despite the ongoing vote-counting still leaving the size of what appears to be a tiny Republican House majority up for grabs, with the most likely outcome a tiny 220-215 majority and a possibility of a more tiny 219-216 or even 218-217.”