Ken White: “If this is a sincere appointment—in other words, if it isn’t a head-fake to get the Senate to accept another candidate later, or a ruse to let Gaetz resign from Congress and avoid a damaging ethics report—it’s an example of self-indulgence thwarting malign intent. Gaetz is a buffoon. He has absolutely no qualifications to run the Department of Justice. Can he wander around firing everyone? Yes. Does he understand how the Department of Justice works in a way that would allow him to maximize its potential for abuse? No. Is he smart enough to figure it out? Also no. Is he charismatic enough to persuade insiders to help him use it effectively? Very much no.”

“Gaetz as attorney general will do petty, flamboyant, stupid things in clumsy ways. Some of those things will be very bad. But clown shoes are preferable to jackboots. We’d be in much more trouble if someone evil in a smart and competent way who understands how the machine works—say, Jeff Clark or Ken Paxton—took over.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial board slammed Donald Trump’s nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as Attorney General:

“He’s a performer and provocateur, and his view is that the more explosions he can cause, the more attention he can get… He’s a nominee for those who want the law used for political revenge, and it won’t end well.”

Liberty Media chairman John Malone was interviewed by his colleague Mike Fries, Deadline reports:

FRIES: Is there anything you want to learn more about next year, something you want to dig deeper into, understand better?

MALONE: How Elon Musk’s brain works.

FRIES: That could take some time.

Marina Koren: “Musk’s role is a glaring conflict of interest; SpaceX has been an aerospace contractor for years and could stand to profit nicely from the creation of DOGE, which could shift government functions to private companies in the name of cost cutting. But it also raises a question with real stakes for Americans. How might Musk—the centibillionaire, innovator, right-wing activist, and relentless troll—actually steer this new effort? His leadership of his businesses, especially SpaceX, suggests that he’ll throw himself into the job with zeal, casting government efficiency as an existential effort, just like the quest to make life multiplanetary.”

“SpaceX is the most successful rocket company in America, and it became successful by not behaving like a government organization. It ascended under Musk, who adopted Silicon Valley’s ‘Move fast and break things’ philosophy and displayed a willingness to blow up rockets until he got the recipe just right. The approach suggests that, in a SpaceX-inspired government, Musk would not just cut through red tape, but annihilate it with a flamethrower.”

David Graham: “Consider where all three were nine years ago. Hegseth was an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran serving in the Army Reserve, backing Marco Rubio for president from his relatively new perch as a Fox News commentator. Gabbard was a Democratic representative from Hawaii and the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee; she’d resign the next year to back Senator Bernie Sanders’s run for president. Gaetz was a little-known representative in the Florida state House, with plans to run for his dad’s state Senate seat in 2016. Even today, none of them share an ideology: Hegseth is a culture warrior, Gaetz a libertine with an unusual mix of political views, and Gabbard an ostensible dove with her own strange commitments.”

“What brings them together is not just fidelity to Trump, but a shared sense of having been persecuted by the departments they’ve been nominated to lead. It’s what they share with Trump as well as one another, and it’s their main credential to serve under him.”

Stephen Collinson: “Donald Trump’s increasingly provocative Cabinet picks have left some Republican senators aghast and Washington in shock.”

“But they really shouldn’t. Because the outrage is the point…”

“The dismay engulfing establishment elites contrasted with the euphoria rocketing through conservative networks and social media among Trump fans. The president-elect draws political strength from his position as an outsider scourge of the establishment, and if his picks are confirmed by the Senate — a huge if in the case of Gaetz — they will be tasked with his mission of defenestrating government and driving out those Trump sees as enemies.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has railed against women in combat, voiced support for troops accused and in some instances, convicted of war crimes, and advocated for the firing of the military’s most senior officers accused of supporting so-called woke policies,” CNN reports.

“Though he has pushed his positions primarily from a Fox News sofa and in best-selling books, Trump’s decision to catapult Hegseth into the top Pentagon job means he is set to put his ideas into action and clash directly with current Pentagon leadership.”

“Among the generals that Hegseth has suggested should be fired: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. CQ Brown.”

Financial Times: Trump’s Pentagon pick sparks alarm — and scorn.

“As Donald Trump conducts a free-wheeling transition from his Mar-a-Lago estate, drawing flocks of business moguls, contractors, foreign dignitaries and anyone looking for jobs in the new administration, the federal agencies charged with protecting the president-elect and his communications face a daunting task,” CNN reports.

“Security at Mar-a-Lago has already ramped up since the election. The Secret Service has increased its footprint around the residence and private club, and now deploys robot dogs capable of surveillance and detecting explosive material. Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard patrols the nearby waterways.”

“But with no restrictions on who Mar-a-Lago club members can bring as guests, the chaotic scene presents a unique counterintelligence and security challenge that sources told CNN is almost impossible to fully prepare for.”