Trump has assembled an uber-wealthy Cabinet, raising risks of ethics conflicts
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 60 Replies
A month after securing the White House with populist promises to working class voters, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen at least half a dozen billionaires and several other ultra-wealthy business leaders to serve in top administration roles.
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Trump’s Cabinet is on track to be one of the richest in modern history, on par only with the team of millionaires and billionaires he assembled during his first term. He’s picked billionaires to serve as commerce secretary and education secretary, and he has tapped other ultra-wealthy leaders for treasury and interior. He’s also offered noncabinet positions, including NASA director and deputy defense secretary, to billionaires.
Throughout the transition, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been by Trump’s side, serving as “first buddy” and establishing the nongovernmental “Department of Government Efficiency.” On Thursday night, Trump tapped tech investor David Sacks — who made his fortune in part through the $1.2 billion sale of the software company Yammer to Microsoft — to serve as his artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar.
Trump’s team of rivals stands in stark contrast to Biden’s Cabinet, which had a combined net worth of $118 million in the first year of his presidency, according to Forbes. Trump’s picks have not yet released their financial disclosures, but his 2025 Cabinet is likely to be even richer than the first Trump Cabinet, which had a combined net worth of $6.2 billion.
Linda McMahon, whom Trump says he will nominate for education secretary, shares a net worth of $3 billion with her husband Vincent McMahon, according to Forbes. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, has a net worth of at least $2.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Trump’s treasury choice, Scott Bessent, managed billion-dollar hedge funds, but his exact net worth has not yet been reported. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for interior, is worth at least $100 million, Forbes said.
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The median net worth of an American family is $192,900, according to a 2023 Federal Reserve report.
Wealthy Americans who have had successful careers in business have long served in government, but watchdog groups say the high concentration of ultra-wealthy picks for roles in Trump’s Cabinet presents distinct conflict of interest risks and could work against promises Trump — a billionaire himself — made on the campaign trail. As he crisscrossed the country to host rallies, Trump repeatedly promised to fight for the rights of working and middle class Americans by bringing back manufacturing jobs and limiting inflation.
Trump’s selections may be more inclined to look out for the interests of their own businesses and their fellow billionaires than for working-class voters, said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“It is hard to see how a Cabinet made up largely of the very, very wealthiest of Americans is going to have an understanding of what the needs of regular Americans are,” he said.
Trump, who has an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion, has long aligned himself with other wealthy business leaders, delighting in attention and praise from those he regards as successful executives.
Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that Trump has made “brilliant decisions” on picks for his second administration and cabinet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech..._magnet-trump-presidency_inline_collection_13
“Many of these individuals have experienced the American Dream and want to keep that dream alive for future generations,” she said.
But the Cabinet selections are an early test of Trump’s ability to unite a transformed Republican Party, where the goals of populists who say they are focused on elevating the working class can clash with those of the business leaders and wealthy donors who have long shaped the party’s policies. Even some Republicans have expressed worries about the composition of Trump’s Cabinet.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) expressed concern about the business backgrounds of some of Trump’s picks in an interview with Politico on Tuesday.
“All these Treasury secretaries, my point is, always end up being sort of Wall Street guys. Do I think that’s a great trend? Not really,” Hawley said.
After making several industry-friendly picks, Trump made a nod to the growing populist wing of the Republican Party by picking the union-friendly Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) to lead the Labor Department.
Oren Cass, the founder and chief economist at the conservative think tank American Compass, said he is optimistic that the new Trump administration will be more oriented toward populist goals than the first. He said the best example is Trump’s selection of JD Vance for vice president, who stands in stark contrast to former vice president Mike Pence, who has warned rising populism undermines the “traditional conservative agenda.”
“Some of them offer a lot of cause for optimism,” Cass said. “It’s the sort of thing where [the] rubber meets road when the administration actually starts.”
Democrats have roundly criticized Trump’s choices. The Democratic Party on Tuesday put out a news release that said Trump was “stacking his Cabinet with out of touch billionaires.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) told The Washington Post that the choices suggest Trump’s presidency will “be one giveaway after another for the wealthy and well-connected.”
“He’s nominating his ‘rich-as-hell’ buddies to run every facet of our economy, corrupting our government at the expense of ordinary Americans,” she said.
Watchdog groups are concerned about the new conflicts of interests that Trump’s nominees could present. Trump’s first-term commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, violated an ethics agreement by improperly reporting his stock holdings and faced scrutiny for his financial dealings while in office.
Many business leaders who enter government roles put their assets in blind trusts to preempt concerns that they could abuse their political power to benefit their personal portfolios. But watchdog groups are skeptical that even those vehicles provide an adequate shield against ethics risks.
“People who spend their entire lives getting rich do not automatically forget their economic stakes when they enter government,” said Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project.
Trump himself has not promised to divest from any of his businesses, which have now soared and include a cryptocurrency business and a stake in a social media company. And with Trump’s own party controlling both chambers of Congress and a Cabinet packed with his allies and loyalists, he can expect little oversight over his finances, Bookbinder said.
“People in government take a cue from the top,” he said. “This time around, Donald Trump, is not — at least as of now — even making a show of addressing his own conflicts of interest.”
Get the latest election news and resultsTrump’s Cabinet is on track to be one of the richest in modern history, on par only with the team of millionaires and billionaires he assembled during his first term. He’s picked billionaires to serve as commerce secretary and education secretary, and he has tapped other ultra-wealthy leaders for treasury and interior. He’s also offered noncabinet positions, including NASA director and deputy defense secretary, to billionaires.
Throughout the transition, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been by Trump’s side, serving as “first buddy” and establishing the nongovernmental “Department of Government Efficiency.” On Thursday night, Trump tapped tech investor David Sacks — who made his fortune in part through the $1.2 billion sale of the software company Yammer to Microsoft — to serve as his artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar.
Trump’s team of rivals stands in stark contrast to Biden’s Cabinet, which had a combined net worth of $118 million in the first year of his presidency, according to Forbes. Trump’s picks have not yet released their financial disclosures, but his 2025 Cabinet is likely to be even richer than the first Trump Cabinet, which had a combined net worth of $6.2 billion.
Linda McMahon, whom Trump says he will nominate for education secretary, shares a net worth of $3 billion with her husband Vincent McMahon, according to Forbes. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, has a net worth of at least $2.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Trump’s treasury choice, Scott Bessent, managed billion-dollar hedge funds, but his exact net worth has not yet been reported. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for interior, is worth at least $100 million, Forbes said.
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The median net worth of an American family is $192,900, according to a 2023 Federal Reserve report.
Wealthy Americans who have had successful careers in business have long served in government, but watchdog groups say the high concentration of ultra-wealthy picks for roles in Trump’s Cabinet presents distinct conflict of interest risks and could work against promises Trump — a billionaire himself — made on the campaign trail. As he crisscrossed the country to host rallies, Trump repeatedly promised to fight for the rights of working and middle class Americans by bringing back manufacturing jobs and limiting inflation.
Trump’s selections may be more inclined to look out for the interests of their own businesses and their fellow billionaires than for working-class voters, said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“It is hard to see how a Cabinet made up largely of the very, very wealthiest of Americans is going to have an understanding of what the needs of regular Americans are,” he said.
Trump, who has an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion, has long aligned himself with other wealthy business leaders, delighting in attention and praise from those he regards as successful executives.
Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that Trump has made “brilliant decisions” on picks for his second administration and cabinet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech..._magnet-trump-presidency_inline_collection_13
“Many of these individuals have experienced the American Dream and want to keep that dream alive for future generations,” she said.
But the Cabinet selections are an early test of Trump’s ability to unite a transformed Republican Party, where the goals of populists who say they are focused on elevating the working class can clash with those of the business leaders and wealthy donors who have long shaped the party’s policies. Even some Republicans have expressed worries about the composition of Trump’s Cabinet.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) expressed concern about the business backgrounds of some of Trump’s picks in an interview with Politico on Tuesday.
“All these Treasury secretaries, my point is, always end up being sort of Wall Street guys. Do I think that’s a great trend? Not really,” Hawley said.
After making several industry-friendly picks, Trump made a nod to the growing populist wing of the Republican Party by picking the union-friendly Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) to lead the Labor Department.
Oren Cass, the founder and chief economist at the conservative think tank American Compass, said he is optimistic that the new Trump administration will be more oriented toward populist goals than the first. He said the best example is Trump’s selection of JD Vance for vice president, who stands in stark contrast to former vice president Mike Pence, who has warned rising populism undermines the “traditional conservative agenda.”
“Some of them offer a lot of cause for optimism,” Cass said. “It’s the sort of thing where [the] rubber meets road when the administration actually starts.”
Democrats have roundly criticized Trump’s choices. The Democratic Party on Tuesday put out a news release that said Trump was “stacking his Cabinet with out of touch billionaires.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) told The Washington Post that the choices suggest Trump’s presidency will “be one giveaway after another for the wealthy and well-connected.”
“He’s nominating his ‘rich-as-hell’ buddies to run every facet of our economy, corrupting our government at the expense of ordinary Americans,” she said.
Watchdog groups are concerned about the new conflicts of interests that Trump’s nominees could present. Trump’s first-term commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, violated an ethics agreement by improperly reporting his stock holdings and faced scrutiny for his financial dealings while in office.
Many business leaders who enter government roles put their assets in blind trusts to preempt concerns that they could abuse their political power to benefit their personal portfolios. But watchdog groups are skeptical that even those vehicles provide an adequate shield against ethics risks.
“People who spend their entire lives getting rich do not automatically forget their economic stakes when they enter government,” said Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project.
Trump himself has not promised to divest from any of his businesses, which have now soared and include a cryptocurrency business and a stake in a social media company. And with Trump’s own party controlling both chambers of Congress and a Cabinet packed with his allies and loyalists, he can expect little oversight over his finances, Bookbinder said.
“People in government take a cue from the top,” he said. “This time around, Donald Trump, is not — at least as of now — even making a show of addressing his own conflicts of interest.”
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Ratings show a lack of leadership in Iowa
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 0 Replies
It’s been eight years since Republicans won a trifecta of the House, Senate, and Governor’s Office in Iowa. Their mandate was supposed to usher in a new era of population growth and economic dynamism. Instead of delivering on everyday issues, though, Republicans governed like they owned the place and forced through one wildly unpopular law after another — private school vouchers, defunding Area Education Agencies, and their six-week abortion ban, among others.
This isn’t the Iowa I grew up in. We don’t hear about the bipartisanship of the Bob Ray era or Iowa being the “silicon prairie” of the nation anymore. It's left many Iowans to ask basic questions. Where are all the good-paying jobs? Where are all the people? Unfortunately, poor rankings from nonpartisan sources have provided some answers.
Atlas Van Lines found that we’re the seventh-highest state for people moving away. The National Bureau of Economic Research reported that we have the 10th highest brain drain — college students leaving after graduation — in the country.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that we’re the 45th state for personal income growth and had the 4th slowest growing gross domestic product. Although Republicans like some of the rosier rankings from U.S. News and World Report, they often leave out that they also ranked us as the 14th worst state economy.
Many of us won’t be surprised to know that WalletHub found Iowa has the third highest energy costs. The Federal Highway Administration noted we have the second worst bridges in the nation. And our insurance premiums continue to skyrocket thanks, in part, to 48% of our levees being deemed insufficient by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The pride of Iowa — enough to put a schoolhouse on our state quarter — has been our education system. Unfortunately, the National Institute for Early Educational Research found that we rank 39th for preschool funding. U.S. News reported that we fell from third to eleventh in K-12 education. WalletHub puts us at 20.
For health rankings, we have the second highest cancer rate of all states according to the University of Iowa. Becker’s Hospital Review found we rank as the 43rd state for active physicians. Even before the abortion ban, we were the worst state for OB-GYNs according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging found that we come in 49th for nursing home inspectors.
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Of course, these lousy rankings aren’t a reflection on Iowans. Instead, they’re a failure of the politicians running this state for nearly a decade. Republicans have talked a lot about how their votes — year after year — were meant to turn Iowa into the “Florida of the North.” Unfortunately, their nearly complete control has given us Florida’s feverish culture wars without any of the economic dynamism.
Pointing out where we’re coming up short isn’t enough. As the saying goes, any jackass can kick over a barn, but it takes a carpenter to actually build one. Iowa’s Democratic legislators have proposed bills on all these issues, but most haven’t even received a subcommittee hearing in the hypercharged politics at our statehouse.
As a first-term legislator, that made it clear to me the only way we can start the cleanup is to get more reasonable people elected. Unfortunately, this past election made the road back to common sense even harder as we lost seats in the statehouse. That made a few things clear to me. Many voters probably won’t vote their disapproval over vouchers or the AEAs, unfortunately, until schools are actually closing down and students are losing services. As Republicans changed their minds and learned to love “banking the vote” this year, we need to refocus Democratic attentions on early voting as well. And we need to focus on much more intensive, much earlier candidate recruitment. Amazing people can win elections regardless of party and, sometimes, in the unlikeliest of places.
In Trump’s first midterms in 2018, we held a Democratic seat in the U.S. House, flipped two more, and came a few points away from a total sweep with the 4th District. In the Iowa House, we flipped seven seats that year alone. I have no reason to think that the next Trump administration will be any less destructive or provoke a weaker desire to throw the bums out in 2026. Like 2018, I hope that good people from both parties can be clear-eyed about how we stack up nationally and — together — find people committed to get Iowa growing again.
State Rep. Sean Bagniewski is a Democrat representing House District 35 in central Iowa.
www.thegazette.com
This isn’t the Iowa I grew up in. We don’t hear about the bipartisanship of the Bob Ray era or Iowa being the “silicon prairie” of the nation anymore. It's left many Iowans to ask basic questions. Where are all the good-paying jobs? Where are all the people? Unfortunately, poor rankings from nonpartisan sources have provided some answers.
Atlas Van Lines found that we’re the seventh-highest state for people moving away. The National Bureau of Economic Research reported that we have the 10th highest brain drain — college students leaving after graduation — in the country.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that we’re the 45th state for personal income growth and had the 4th slowest growing gross domestic product. Although Republicans like some of the rosier rankings from U.S. News and World Report, they often leave out that they also ranked us as the 14th worst state economy.
Many of us won’t be surprised to know that WalletHub found Iowa has the third highest energy costs. The Federal Highway Administration noted we have the second worst bridges in the nation. And our insurance premiums continue to skyrocket thanks, in part, to 48% of our levees being deemed insufficient by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The pride of Iowa — enough to put a schoolhouse on our state quarter — has been our education system. Unfortunately, the National Institute for Early Educational Research found that we rank 39th for preschool funding. U.S. News reported that we fell from third to eleventh in K-12 education. WalletHub puts us at 20.
For health rankings, we have the second highest cancer rate of all states according to the University of Iowa. Becker’s Hospital Review found we rank as the 43rd state for active physicians. Even before the abortion ban, we were the worst state for OB-GYNs according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging found that we come in 49th for nursing home inspectors.
ADVERTISING
Of course, these lousy rankings aren’t a reflection on Iowans. Instead, they’re a failure of the politicians running this state for nearly a decade. Republicans have talked a lot about how their votes — year after year — were meant to turn Iowa into the “Florida of the North.” Unfortunately, their nearly complete control has given us Florida’s feverish culture wars without any of the economic dynamism.
Pointing out where we’re coming up short isn’t enough. As the saying goes, any jackass can kick over a barn, but it takes a carpenter to actually build one. Iowa’s Democratic legislators have proposed bills on all these issues, but most haven’t even received a subcommittee hearing in the hypercharged politics at our statehouse.
As a first-term legislator, that made it clear to me the only way we can start the cleanup is to get more reasonable people elected. Unfortunately, this past election made the road back to common sense even harder as we lost seats in the statehouse. That made a few things clear to me. Many voters probably won’t vote their disapproval over vouchers or the AEAs, unfortunately, until schools are actually closing down and students are losing services. As Republicans changed their minds and learned to love “banking the vote” this year, we need to refocus Democratic attentions on early voting as well. And we need to focus on much more intensive, much earlier candidate recruitment. Amazing people can win elections regardless of party and, sometimes, in the unlikeliest of places.
In Trump’s first midterms in 2018, we held a Democratic seat in the U.S. House, flipped two more, and came a few points away from a total sweep with the 4th District. In the Iowa House, we flipped seven seats that year alone. I have no reason to think that the next Trump administration will be any less destructive or provoke a weaker desire to throw the bums out in 2026. Like 2018, I hope that good people from both parties can be clear-eyed about how we stack up nationally and — together — find people committed to get Iowa growing again.
State Rep. Sean Bagniewski is a Democrat representing House District 35 in central Iowa.
Opinion: Ratings show a lack of leadership in Iowa
The Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette) It’s been eight years …
www.thegazette.com
*** Iowa MBB at Michigan Game Thread ***
- By RossWB
- The Press Box
- 148 Replies
WHO: Michigan Wolverines (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten)
WHEN: 1:00 PM CT (Saturday, December 7, 2024)
WHERE: Crisler Center (Ann Arbor, MI)
TV: FS1 (Sloane Martin, LaPhonso Ellis)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bobby Hansen)
MOBILE: foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @HawkeyeBeacon | @IowaHoops | @CBBonFOX | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Michigan -8.5 (total of 158.5)
KENPOM: Michigan -9 (Michigan 77% chance of winning)
This looks like a very tough game for Iowa... Michigan just has SO MUCH size.
FULL PREVIEW:
iowa.rivals.com
WHEN: 1:00 PM CT (Saturday, December 7, 2024)
WHERE: Crisler Center (Ann Arbor, MI)
TV: FS1 (Sloane Martin, LaPhonso Ellis)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Bobby Hansen)
MOBILE: foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @HawkeyeBeacon | @IowaHoops | @CBBonFOX | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Michigan -8.5 (total of 158.5)
KENPOM: Michigan -9 (Michigan 77% chance of winning)
This looks like a very tough game for Iowa... Michigan just has SO MUCH size.
FULL PREVIEW:
PREVIEW: Iowa MBB at Michigan
Previewing Iowa's Big Ten opener against Northwestern.