Its mid-November 2024, and Trumps Cabinet is incoming. Yes, our President Elect, soon to be Commander-in-Chief is announcing his team picks, in a bold attempt to restructure / intentionally trainwreck the federal government, essentially re-forming it in his own image. I am truly not passing judgement on it… yet. Like many, I am simply bearing witness. In the past 10 years, with iPhones, AI, J6 and now Trump 2.0, the term “unprecedented” has been batted around a lot. In this moment, it bears repeating.

Trump’s (?unconventional? that sounds far too light of a term) picks for Cabinet, most especially for Defense (SecDef, DHS), Law Enforcement (Attorney General) and Intelligence (DNI) leave me speechless.

But lets get to the real heart of it… what power will those four individuals wield? Well…

Between those 4 individuals, they control just about the entire security and intelligence apparatus of the nation.

• The Secretary of Defense (SecDef) obviously heads up the Pentagon, which controls all four branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines), and >30% of the federal budget (close to $2 trillion dollars annually); more than 1.3 million active duty soldiers, plus 800,000 civilians, plus another 800,000 reserves. I wonder what a Fox News anchor will think about Killer Robots & AI Soldiers?
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• The Attorney General (AG) controls the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, and the US Marshalls… basically, all federal law enforcement personnel.
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• The Head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) controls DHS, the TSA, ICE, CBP (Customs & Border Patrol), and the Secret Service.
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• The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has perhaps the broadest mandate, overseeing and coordinating the work of no less than eighteen federal agencies, including the FBI,the NSA, and the CIA. (yes, she has overlap with both the AG and head of DHS). Her empire is such an alphabet soup that I had to ask ChatGPT to break it down for me.

So lets look at who Trump has picked to fill those four appointments:

Current nominees for Trumps Cabinet are:

• SecDef: Pete Hegseth (Fox News commentator… no, seriously!)
• DNI : Tulsi Gabbard (US Congress: Hawaii, Iraq Army vet)
• DHS : Kristi Noem (Governor, South Dakota)
• AG : Matt Gaetz (US Congress: Florida)

So, who are these people?

I mean, I guess those picks are all right. @petehegseth has almost 500k followers on Insta, so he can’t be all that bad…

…and if the Senate refuses to confirm any, Trump can just sub in Lauren Boebert, Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Greene or Steve Bannon. At this point, all bets are off.

(Hmmmm… how about instead of a sentence, I offer you a MadLib…)

“Trumps cabinet picks for incoming DoD
and directors amount to total _______”

[insanity] [buffoonery] [amateur-hour] [comedy]
[tragedy] [alternate reality] [sycophancy] [thugs]
[maga mafia] [shitshow] [bomb throwers]
[homewreckers] [satire] [divine comedy]

PS : Here’s the summary of those 18 agencies under DNI:

Acronym	Full Name	Description	Staff Size
FBI	Federal Bureau of Investigation – Intelligence Branch	Focuses on domestic intelligence, including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cybersecurity.	~35,000 (total FBI)
NSA	National Security Agency	Specializes in signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cybersecurity operations to protect U.S. communication systems.	~32,000
CIA	Central Intelligence Agency	Conducts overseas intelligence operations and gathers foreign intelligence critical to national security.	~21,575
DIA	Defense Intelligence Agency	Provides military intelligence, focusing on defense-related intelligence and support to military operations.	~16,500
NGA	National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency	Provides geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) through satellite and aerial imagery analysis.	~14,500
INSCOM	U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command	Provides the Army with intelligence, electronic warfare, and information operations support.	~10,000
DEA	Drug Enforcement Administration – Office of National Security Intelligence	Provides drug-related intelligence, especially on trafficking that funds terrorism and organized crime.	~10,000 (total DEA)
AF ISR	U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance	Supports Air Force operations with intelligence, including aerial and space-based surveillance.	~5,000
NRO	National Reconnaissance Office	Designs, builds, and operates reconnaissance satellites to gather imagery and signals intelligence.	~3,000
ONI	U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence	Focuses on maritime intelligence to support Navy operations and protect U.S. naval assets.	~3,000
ODNI	Office of the Director of National Intelligence	Manages the overall intelligence community and coordinates intelligence activities.	~1,750
DOE-IN	Department of Energy – Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence	Focuses on energy security, nuclear intelligence, and countering nuclear threats.	~500
DHS I&A	Department of Homeland Security – Office of Intelligence and Analysis	Provides intelligence for homeland security, focusing on border security, counterterrorism, and cybersecurity.	~1,000
MCIA	U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence Activity	Provides the Marine Corps with intelligence for planning and operational support.	~1,000
SpOC	U.S. Space Force – Space Operations Command	Focuses on space-based intelligence and protecting U.S. space assets.	~1,000
CGI	Coast Guard Intelligence	Supports maritime security and law enforcement intelligence, focusing on threats to U.S. waters and ports.	~1,000
INR	Department of State – Bureau of Intelligence and Research	Analyzes foreign policy intelligence, focusing on diplomatic and international security issues.	~300
OIA	Department of the Treasury – Office of Intelligence and Analysis	Focuses on financial intelligence, including tracking funding sources for terrorism and organized crime.	~100

So that’s Trumps Cabinet. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Silver Linings?