Donald Trump, the soon-to-be inaugurated President, made several controversial appointments on Tuesday that raised eyebrows across the nation. In an unusual move, he designated Linda McMahon, a billionaire and spouse of Vince McMahon, the disgraced ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, as the secretary of the Education Department. Her task? To unravel an agency that Trump himself has pledged to dismantle. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former TV talk show host and heart surgeon with a shady reputation was selected to manage the agency that manages health insurance for millions of disadvantaged Americans.
Furthermore, the President-elect called upon Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street veteran, to head the Commerce Department. Linda McMahon’s credentials are questionable at best, with her only visible contribution to education being her time on the Connecticut Board of Education and the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University. Her mantra revolves around promoting charter schools and school choice, which are seen by many as a guise for undermining public education.
In a statement, Donald Trump lauded McMahon’s leadership and business acumen saying, ‘Linda will harness her decades of business experience to propel American students forward and propel America to be the world number one in education.’ This commendation could easily be interpreted as Trump’s myopic vision of education as a business rather than a public service, which no doubt resonates with McMahon’s pro-Trump SuperPAC, the ‘America First Action’.
It should also be noted that Linda McMahon’s spouse, Vince McMahon, who was implicated in both a sexual battery and trafficking scandal, resigned from his executive leadership role at TKO Group Holdings this year, though he denounces all allegations towards him. Should the Republican-dominated Senate confirm Linda McMahon, the task given is to align the nation’s schools and universities with Trump’s interpretation of education.
Trump’s bizarre vision of education centers around eliminating what he describes as ‘left-wing indoctrination’ and withdrawing federal support for schools that promote critical race theory and transgender rights, drawing wide criticism from educators and minority groups. He has gone so far as to suggest that universities implementing diversity initiatives should be heavily fined. It seems that Trump intends to promote division rather than diversity in educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the President-elect’s Health and Human Services nominee is Dr. Mehmet Oz, a controversial figure who failed to secure a Senate position for Pennsylvania. Despite his questionable track record, Oz enjoys Trump’s unwavering support. Trump even praised Oz’s commitment to disease prevention and his resolve to eradicate fraud within the country’s healthcare sector, a third of our healthcare budget and a quarter of our national budget fittingly.
While not typically linked to political office, it is worth noting that Dr. Oz would be accountable to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the controversial head of Health and Human Services, should his nomination be confirmed by the Senate. Dr. Oz’s proposed responsibilities are daunting; managing Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, the three programs upon which over half the country relies for health insurance.
In this context, Medicaid offers nearly cost-free health coverage to the country’s poorest demographics, while Medicare provides insurance for older Americans and the disabled. The Affordable Care Act supplies health insurance to those who can’t qualify for government aid yet don’t receive insurance from employers. It should be noted that during his first term, President Trump sought to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, an attempt that thankfully collapsed due to popular outrage.
Despite his vague plans to ‘rework’ the Affordable Care Act, President Trump so far only offers ‘concepts of a plan’. He has succeeded, however, in committing House Speaker Mike Johnson to ensuring that healthcare reform ranks high in Trump’s final-term agenda. This comes after Oz’s failed campaign promises to expand the Medicare Advantage, a private sector variant of Medicare whose popularity is matched only by the widespread fraud it has come to symbolize.
As for Howard Lutnick, the newly appointed head of Commerce, he will be chiefly responsible for imposing and managing assessment tariffs. Fans of cryptocurrency, Lutnick is a key player at the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald. Trump proudly proclaimed on social media that Lutnick will ‘lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional responsibilities concerning the office of the United States Trade Representative.’
If Lutnick manages to secure the nomination, he will take charge of an extensive Cabinet sector involved in a plethora of activities, ranging from financing chip factories to imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data to weather monitoring. A key requirement in holding this position is the need for strong and far-reaching connections with CEOs and the broader business community.
One might say that Lutnick is a cheerleader for imposing broad tariffs. In an interview with CNBC, he stated, ‘tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use – we need to protect the American worker.’ How this aligns with Trump’s proposed absurd 60% tariff on goods from China and up to 20% on all other imports to the U.S. remain to be seen.
Mainstream economists, for their part, harbour considerable scepticism about the efficacy of tariffs, viewing them mainly as inefficient revenue generators that harm prosperity. However, based on his track record and bold proclamations, one can expect Lutnick to soldier on with impunity in applying Trump’s ‘America First’ strategy across any and all international trade interactions.
Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and swiftly climbed the company ladder, eventually being appointed president and CEO in 1991. He also takes on the added responsibility of chairing the financial technology company BGC Group Inc. and the commercial real estate firm Newmark Group Inc. All in all, Trump’s nominations reflect a sustained insistence on promoting divisive and controversial figures in key roles, a trend that shows no sign of abating.