Donald Trump has made shocking choices for his cabinet: he’s nominated an alleged rapist and sex trafficker for Attorney General, a suspected Russian asset for Director of National Intelligence, a religious extremist and Kremlin supporter for Secretary of Defense, and an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist with questionable health practices for Secretary of Health and Human Services. The lineup includes Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., none of whom are qualified to lead their respective agencies. Gaetz lacks experience in law enforcement, Gabbard has no background in intelligence, Hegseth isn’t a military leader, and Kennedy is far from a public health expert. Their only credentials seem to be their loyalty to Trump and how they look on TV.
Currently, the focus is on Senate Republicans, who will control the chamber come January and are responsible for vetting these nominations. The big question is whether they will push back against Trump or simply rubber-stamp his choices, potentially allowing him to bypass them altogether with recess appointments.
Among liberals, the conversation has centered on the absurdity and dangers of these appointments. MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, for instance, emphasizes that while it’s easy to scoff at these picks, we need to remain vigilant about the risks each of these individuals poses to governance.
However, there’s a larger issue at play here: these nominations hint at a growing trend toward totalitarianism in Washington and across the country. That’s right—this isn’t an exaggeration. The Republican Party, once composed of individuals with diverse views, now appears to have been homogenized, marching in lockstep behind Trump. As one GOP congressman put it, Trump is the leader, and the party must embrace his every whim.
This push for conformity isn’t just about winning; it’s about silencing opposition. Trump’s supporters demand that everyone, including those who voted against him, fall in line. This authoritarian mindset is already influencing Senate Republicans, who are likely to confirm these nominees, however unqualified, to teach dissenters a lesson.
Totalitarian regimes aim to dominate not only people’s actions but their minds, often by waging war on facts, reason, and science. Under normal circumstances, we would expect the Senate to rigorously debate the qualifications of Trump’s nominees. But in today’s climate, “being qualified” has lost its meaning. For instance, Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views are not just controversial; they directly oppose the core principles of public health. Yet, instead of being recognized as dangerous misinformation, his views are seen as proof of a conspiracy against Trump’s presidency.
This conspiratorial mindset, impervious to facts and evidence, allows totalitarians to reshape reality itself, much like the dystopian slogans of George Orwell’s 1984: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Thus, Trump’s picks—an anti-law nominee for law, an anti-intelligence nominee for intelligence, an anti-defense nominee for defense, and an anti-science nominee for science—are seen not as contradictions but as affirmations of loyalty to their leader.
The totalitarian drift extends beyond the GOP, affecting broader culture through a global right-wing media machine that masquerades conformity as rebellious individualism. Figures like Joe Rogan, for instance, paint conservatives as the new rebels, while portraying liberals as the establishment seeking to stifle dissent. This narrative warps reality, making it seem as though the party of billionaires has somehow become the party of the common man.
But the clearest sign of this drift toward totalitarianism is the sheer incompetence of Trump’s cabinet choices. They lack qualifications, experience, and respect within their fields. They haven’t earned their positions through merit or hard work; instead, they’ve been chosen for their loyalty and obedience to Trump.
Hannah Arendt, a philosopher who studied totalitarian regimes, noted that true totalitarians fear individual excellence because it poses a threat to their quest for uniformity. They replace first-rate talents with “crackpots and fools” because mediocrity is the best guarantee of loyalty. This is exactly what we’re seeing: a cabinet filled with individuals chosen not for their expertise but for their willingness to toe the line.
Trump’s new cabinet selections signal a move toward total domination, where any initiative, creativity, or dissent is crushed in favor of blind loyalty to a single leader. This is not just a political shift; it’s a cultural and ideological one, pushing America toward conformity, authoritarianism, and the suppression of individuality.
