Trump’s cabinet picks have generated discussion across the nation and among Hillsdale professors. Courtesy | Trump, Facebook

As President-elect Donald Trump continues to roll out picks for his presidential administration, sentiments surrounding the cabinet picks vary among Hillsdale College faculty. 

A common reaction, however, is that Trump is focused on loyalty this time around. 

“Trump is definitely sticking more to people who support the MAGA side of the Republican party compared to his first term,” Professor of Chemistry Christopher Hamilton said. “He mostly picked people he thought would be loyal to him.” 

Many professors noticed the shift from first-term Trump that Hamilton mentioned. 

Christopher Martin, associate professor of economics, also acknowledged the importance of loyalty, as long as it is directed toward the right entity. 

“We really do need radical reform in many areas (regulation, deficit spending, healthcare, the housing crisis) and that’s going to require both loyalty and competence,” Martin said. “But we shouldn’t elevate loyalty to individual leaders over loyalty to the Constitution and nation.”

But some professors criticized certain nominations. 

Associate Professor of Leadership Studies Peter L. Jennings said he is critical of “Fox and Friends” co-host Pete Hegseth as director of homeland security, calling him a “bad choice.” 

“Hegseth is a patriot, no doubt, but he’s a lightweight — a sheep amongst wolves — and the shrewd operators in the military bureaucracy will devour him,” Jennings said. 

Director of American Studies Kevin Portteus, however, said he supports Hegseth and any nominee that upsets “the establishment.” 

“At this point, I tend to evaluate the quality of a pick by the outrage and consternation said pick generates in the Washington establishment,” Portteus said. “On the other hand, if a pick is well-received by the same establishment, I start getting nervous.” 

Portteus qualifies Hegseth, as well as Tulsi Gabbard, nominee for director of national intelligence, and Matt Gaetz, former nominee for United States attorney general, as a sign of Trump’s lack of trust in Washington. 

“Many of his more controversial picks, such as Gabbard, Gaetz, and Hegseth, reveal that Trump simply doesn’t trust anyone in the Washington establishment,” Portteus said. “Based on his experience in his first term and four years of the Biden administration, that mistrust is well-founded.” 

Professors also expressed mixed reviews on Trump’s nominee for director of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Kennedy, who recently coined “Make America Healthy Again,” is potentially one of the most consequential cabinet picks, according to New York Magazine. 

Oliver Serang, assistant professor of computer science, said he is looking forward to Kennedy’s potential confirmation. 

“I have a Mason jar filled with homemade granola that I keep in my Subaru, so I can mark the occasion if Kennedy gets confirmed,” Serang said. “Hopefully the hearings will be quick so the raw milk in the other mason jar doesn’t turn.” 

Hamilton said Kennedy is his least favorite Trump nomination. 

“He’s a conspiracy theory nut, with ideas that aren’t just wrong, but could be dangerous,” Hamilton said. 

Hamilton said his concerns rest partially in Kennedy’s criticism of vaccines. 

“If his anti-vaccine beliefs lead to policy changes, it will undoubtedly lead to an increase in childhood disease and death,” Hamilton said. “There is no evidence that the MMR vaccine or any vaccine causes autism. A single fraudulent paper started that whole belief, yet Kennedy has repeatedly said — including at a Hillsdale CCA — that vaccines cause autism.” 

Hamilton said he hopes Kennedy will not be able to make drastic changes. 

“I hope he’ll be restrained by others in the administration and that the existing non-appointed leadership in the various organizations will prevent anything too radical from happening,” Hamilton said. 

Serang also said he is optimistic about the potential for government reform under a Trump presidency. 

“My gut reaction is that the new administration might actually try to deliver on the campaign’s promise to reform the administrative state,” Serang said. “I’m curious how it will go.” 

Portteus echoed a similar sentiment, noting that while some nominees lack formal experience, the current in the federal government runs too deep for self-correction. 

“In terms of long service in the institutions they would be running, some are less experienced,” Portteus said. “On the other hand, they were selected because those institutions are often wholly corrupt, and no one at the highest levels of those institutions can be trusted to reform them and root out the corruption.”

Assistant Professor of Education Catherine Kuiper noted Trump’s desire to break down established Washington elites, but questions the president-elect’s method. 

“I’m entertained, certainly. Trump continues to make good TV, as promised,” Kuiper said. “But more seriously, if Trump and company want to shake the foundations of elite power, why choose people who came with reputations for abuse and addiction and reckless behavior? If he really wants to transform something like the Department of Justice or the Pentagon, it will take discipline — not erratic nonconformity.”

If the administrative state is reformed, however, it will not go unnoticed, Serang said. 

“Big changes to the Wilsonian framework would be felt by the average American, via the regulatory regime, interpretations of Title IX, federal spending, interest rates, the enforcement of immigration law, military adventurism, and the balance between gas prices and conservation,” Serang said. 

Hamilton said both Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, prospective co-heads of the new Department of Government Efficiency, will address said issues. 

“While not part of the ‘official’ cabinet, I think the DOGE run by Musk and Ramaswamy will be interesting to watch,” Hamilton said. “There is too much bureaucracy and wasted spending, so maybe they’ll come up with some good ideas. Even if they don’t, there will likely be some fun and wacky ideas.” 

Overall, cabinet appointees need to focus on the job at hand, Jennings said. 

“Aside from character and competence, they have to have the maturity and experience for the job,” Jennings said. “A cabinet appointee needs to check their ego and put the country first. They are there to serve, not be served.”