Clear priorities from day one

Want a preview of just how extreme, divisive, and harmful to the American people Donald Trump's incoming administration will be? Look no further than his cabinet picks.

Here are just a few examples:

• Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hesgeth, is a Fox News commentator. He has faced a series of disturbing allegations involving sexual assault and substance abuse. He opposes letting women serve in combat, has called for a "new crusade," has a history of Islamaphobic comments, and absolutely zero experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the Defense Department.

• After his initial pick of Matt Gaetz was rightly laughed out of the room, Trump nominated Pam Bondi for Attorney General. Bondi spent years trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act through the courts, and she infamously took campaign contributions from Trump while ignoring the many complaints her office received that Trump University was defrauding students.

• Trump's pick to lead the Treasury Department is Scott Bessent — a billionaire hedge fund manager and longtime champion of massive tariffs that are likely to raise prices astronomically on everyday goods.

• Kash Patel, his pick for FBI Director, is a full-blown conspiracy theorist who's spent the last few years urging the prosecution of journalists who've dared to criticize Trump and the GOP.

-And speaking of conspiracy theorists, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. became Trump's pick for Secretary of Health and Human Service by railing against vaccines and pledging to make drinking water less healthy.

Trump's hand-picked cabinet tells us everything we need to know about his priorities on day one: raise costs on families and make it easier for his billionaire buddies and corporations to milk the American people dry by gouging prices and running free of virtually all regulations.

I'm under no illusion that most (if not all) of Trump's nominees will make it through a Republican-controlled Senate. But I pledge to do everything I can to sound the alarm on what these nominees would mean for the American people, to explain what they signal for the four years ahead, and to urge the public to demand accountability from every cabinet official.

More soon,

Ron