Here's all you need to know about President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
Tom Price: Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services, which was formed in 1980, is meant to protect the health and wellness of all Americans, and its secretary is responsible for overseeing 11 federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, Administration for Children and Families and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Trump’s pick for this job is Tom Price, a Georgian U.S. Representative whose conflicts of interest and controversies rival those of many others on this list. Price has traded stocks worth $300,000 with two companies which he voted for on legislation that benefited them. This is the textbook definition of conflict of interest.
Price’s views on Obamacare are also controversial because he has been a vocal critic of it and all other affordable health care proposals. And his track record with the LGBTQA+ community is nothing short of embarrassment if you consider that he voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Protection Act, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and he referred to the notion that transgender people should have equal access to public facilities as "abuse and overreach of power."
Scott Pruitt: Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created 46 years ago to alert citizens of the effects humans had on the environment and natural resources. Today, Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, not only actively denies human activity’s effect on the environment, but he has voted against measures to fix this.
He has stated, "We don't know the trajectory, if it is on an unsustainable course. Nor do we know the extent by which the burning of fossil fuels, man's contribution to that, is making this far worse than it is,” showing that he essentially rejects the resolution of most his future colleagues.
Rick Perry: Secretary of Energy
The Energy Department of the U.S. Government is meant to deal with the handling of the country’s nuclear materials, which is news to Rick Perry. Perry originally believed the Secretary of Energy’s job dealt with oil transactions with foreign nations, and he was not corrected until he accepted the position.
The list of Perry’s many missteps does not stop there, because one thing he shares in common with many of the other people on this list is his history of oppressing LGBTQA+ citizens. Perry has criticized the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” compared alcoholism to homosexuality in that they are both “choices,” and he called for the exclusion of gay men in the boy scouts community. Perry was also one of the few politicians still openly supporting “anti-sodomy laws” in 2002.
Linda McMahon: Administrator of Small Business Administration
McMahon was not included for any particular reason in this list, but it is particularly funny that the former CEO of the World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. is now the head of an agency meant to "maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters."
Jeff Sessions: Attorney General
Looking down this man’s voting history and record often prompts one to wonder where we went wrong as a society. The Attorney General heads “U.S. Department of Justice, which is tasked with the fair and impartial administration of justice,” despite the fact that Sessions track record combats all of this.
He was one of nine other senators who voted against an amendment that prohibited cruel and unusual punishment of prisoners. Sessions also has a rating of zero from the Human Rights Campaign due to many of his decisions ,such as voting against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Protection Act, supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment (an amendment with the primary goal to define marriage as the partnership between a man and a woman) and also voting against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Sessions was a cosponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, which allowed businesses to refuse service to queer people on the basis of “religious freedom.” His track record in the race department is not squeaky clean either, considering his nomination for federal judgeship in 1980s, Alabama was denied by a Republican-led senate Judiciary Community due to racially charged comment and actions. He was one of the two people who were halted by this committee in 50 years.
Rex Tillerson: Secretary of State
The Secretary of State, whose main job is to work with foreign affairs and to find solutions to world conflicts, has gone to Rex Tillerson — a man who has gone on record to state that he has “a very close relationship with Putin.” Tillerson is also a modern day oil oligarch who essentially benefits from climate change, which will be more relevant when discussing issues similar to this with foreign nations.
Betsy Devos: Secretary of Education
Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education is so uninformed on the task at hand, one would wonder how she even became a contender for this position. DeVos supports getting rid of public schools, though neither she nor her children have even been enrolled in one. She has never filed for a student loan in her life and has no conclusive plan to help the millions who have to.
DeVos is also not knowledgeable about many basic issues a Secretary of Education should know. She did not know about the American With Disabilities Act of 1990, which she proved by stating that dealing with disabled students should be up to the states. She was also not well-versed on the debate between proficiency and growth, which is currently raging in the education field — a field DeVos has never been a part of.
Ben Carson: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Carson is another one that was just added for the hysterics because Carson originally turned down a Cabinet post, citing that he was “not qualified to be in a federal agency.”
Steve Bannon: Chief Strategist
Last (and certainly not least problematic) is Trump’s pick for Chief Strategist: Steve Bannon. He is an outspoken supporter of the alt-right, a group which boosts white nationalism, white supremacy and anti-Semitism. David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, referred to him as an excellent choice and said Bannon is "basically creating the ideological aspects of where we’re going."
Bannon was editor of Breitbart News, a publication which under him published pieces such as: “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?” and “Political Correctness Protects Muslim Rape Culture.” Under him, the website also featured an article that stated Matthew Shepard’s death not a hate crime, but a conspiracy.
The Cabinet members Donald Trump has nominated confirm many of his opposition's biggest fears, and future prospects seem grim. The best thing those who oppose can do is educate themselves, so that when the time comes, they will be able to resist the status quo set by this new regime.