The second Trump administration has many individuals who would be disqualified from leadership positions in a normal administration. These individuals were likely selected because of their slavish devotion to Trump or as quid pro quo for their past support of the president. With them, Trump has individuals who would be more loyal to him than the US Constitution or the American people.

There were strong objections to many of Trump’s Cabinet appointments in their confirmation hearings, and the Signalgate security breach just validates those concerns. At least six members of Trump’s Cabinet or Cabinet-level officials were involved in the security breach, along with probably twelve other senior leaders and advisers. It should be worrying to everyone in the country that Trump’s leadership team would commit such a rookie mistake and such a dangerous one. This type of breach could cost the lives of members of the US military and gravely weaken intelligence relationships with allies. The American people should not fall for the Administration’s gaslighting and denials that this was not a major security failure.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was one of the Cabinet members involved in Signalgate. He has stated that leadership in the military should be based “purely on performance, readiness, and merit.” If he really believed this, he would resign. As others have noted:

Hegseth’s lack of experience is a stark contrast to former secretaries of defense such as Robert Gates or Leon Panetta, who previously managed complex government agencies such as the CIA (both Gates and Panetta) or the Office of Management and Budget (Panetta). Hegseth also lacks the depth and variety of past leadership positions that previous secretaries, including Mark Esper and Ashton Carter, gained through a long career in and out of government.

The analysts add that the Department of Defense has over 3 million civilian and military personnel and a $850 billion budget. They state, “Hegseth has no record of managing a body even a fraction of this scale or import.” This just points to the thinness of Hegseth’s management resume. Hegseth also has multiple character issues which would have disqualified him in a normal administration.

Elon Musk appears to be second only to Trump in terms of power in the administration. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been a poster child for government waste, fraud, and abuse — things it is supposed to be eliminating — because of Musk’s incompetence. CEPR has already documented some of his mismanagement. Dean Baker writes:

Musk appears to have completely ignored all the work done by the Government Accountability Office and the various agency Inspector Generals (most of whom he fired) in identifying fraud and waste. Even if Musk had felt their work was inadequate, it’s hard to believe that it would not have provided a useful jumping off point for Musk’s efforts.

DOGE has made several mistakes in its tally of savings that it has achieved. NPR found that DOGE’s revised claim of saving $65 billion is actually $2.3 billion, or about 0.03 percent of the federal budget. DOGE has caused unnecessary pain and suffering in the lives of thousands, perhaps millions, for a miniscule savings.

But even that amount is grossly overestimated because it does not take into account all of the costs DOGE is accumulating. The major cost not factored in is the loss of revenue from cuts to the IRS. The Washington Post reports that Treasury Department and IRS officials are expecting a reduction of more than $500 billion in revenue, dwarfing any savings DOGE has achieved. DOGE is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars. Baker observes that apparently Musk’s “performance is not a factor in his job security.”

Former Baltimore Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen stated the following about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Senate confirmation hearing:

Two days of contentious Senate confirmation hearings did nothing to assuage doubts about the suitability of prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. If anything, his responses were even worse than expected and illustrate that he is a uniquely dangerous choice for the position.

Dr. Wen’s concerns seem to be validated. In response to a measles outbreak, rather than strongly advocating for vaccination — the most successful preventive measure — Kennedy has touted the benefits of cod liver oil and vitamin A, which do not prevent measles. Now, doctors in Texas are finding that some unvaccinated children are suffering from liver damage because they have been given too high a dose of vitamin A.

This is far from a full accounting of the unqualified leaders in the Trump administration. The United States will face serious challenges in the next few years because Trump has chosen his leaders based on MAGA loyalty over merit.