Hidden strategy behind Trump's shocking picks for top government jobs
Trumpʼs latest cabinet choices follow a well-known pattern from past conservative administrations. His picks for energy and environmental posts mirror Reagan-era tactics to reshape federal agencies
Donald Trump is picking people for his next cabinet who dont like the agencies theyʼll lead (a move thats causing quite a stir in Washington). His choices for energy and environment posts – including Chris White‚ Lee Zeldin‚ and Doug Burgum – are known for being anti-climate action and pro-drilling
The Heritage Foundationʼs Project 2025 – a huge 900-page plan – shows how they want to clear-out workers who wont follow the presidentʼs orders; this is actually an old trick that goes way-back to the 70s when conservatives first started doing this
The best example happened about 40 years ago with James Watt‚ who ran the Interior Department under Ronald Reagan. Watt was a Wyoming-born lawyer who really didnt like environmental rules:
- He opened up seas for oil drilling
- He let companies mine on federal lands
- He tried to give away public lands
- He made it easier to build in national parks
Some of you will be excited about the changes‚ others wont find it comfortable
Back then Reagan also put Anne Gorsuch (mother of todays Supreme Court justice) in charge of the EPA even though she was against environmental rules. The whole thing worked kind-of like this: if you cant kill a program just make it really weak from inside
When Bush was president he did the same thing – putting Dick Cheney in charge of energy policy and picking Gale Norton (who didnt like environmental rules) to run Interior. Now Trump looks ready to use this same old playbook but this time he might have fewer roadblocks in his way
