Do you know what Trump's administration needs more of? Actual conservatives. | Opinion
President-elect Donald Trump announced this week that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be nominated for the director of the Health and Human Services Department in the new administration.
Trump’s Cabinet choices have been nothing less than horrible, but conservatives should be alarmed at the number of former Democrats filling the ranks of a second Trump administration.
Between RFK Jr., who just last year sought the Democratic nomination for president, and Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman Trump nominated for director of national intelligence, we're seeing the construction of an administration that is not being filled with conservatives.
Many of Trump’s nominees are devoid of conservative principles, underqualified or simply ridiculous. The only quality that seems to matter for a place in this administration is a love of Trump – even a newfound one.
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Donald Trump doesn't value conservatives
People have dismissed me for saying that Trump has not been conservative for years, but the more he builds his 2024 transition team, the more I feel vindicated.
Sure, Trump’s viewpoints align more with conservative voters, but his policies and Cabinet nominations are anything but. Historically, Republican Cabinet members aligned with the values of hawkish foreign policy, protection of individual liberty and limited government. Those values are no longer priorities in the Trump administration, which seems more concerned with governmental control than anything else.
The picks of RFK Jr. and Gabbard to the administration do one thing: They add people who have made a political resurgence out of their loyalty to Trump. What they don’t do is add competent people with conservative principles to head valuable departments that have the potential to show voters why conservatives should lead.
Gabbard is a former Democratic presidential candidate who has turned to Trump's favorability in pursuit of the spotlight. Her isolationist-minded foreign policy makes her not exactly someone previous Republican presidents would have selected to head national intelligence.
She, like others in the prospective administration, has quickly flipped from criticizing Trump to praising him in a matter of years, revealing her lack of coherent principles.
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RFK Jr. comes from a long line of Kennedys, all Democrats. Even though his influence is likely to be limited to HHS, his previous policy points and quick flip on criticisms from Trump worry me.
Aside from the fact that his conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 and vaccines, in general, ought to be worrying enough to disqualify him from such a position on health care, that he isn’t even truly a conservative means he does not belong in a Republican administration while masquerading as such.
Trump is willing to forgive anyone – except actual conservatives
People so willing to flip on Trump under the prospect of gaining power are not to be trusted with power, but Trump is evidently a forgiving man when it comes to feeding his ego, more so than he is with actual Republicans who have disagreed with him.
Trump has held long-term grudges with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and many other Republicans who have supposedly crossed him by simply standing by conservative principles of governance.
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The reason is that he holds grudges against those who try to restrain his power, which is all the man truly wants. Critiques from RFK Jr., Vice President-elect JD Vance or Gabbard can all be forgiven because they don't have an impact on his power grab and ultimately embrace his ego.
The biggest grudges that Trump holds are with those who have stood strongly by conservatism, which runs against everything Trump stands for. Trump is likely to make many more enemies for this reason in a second administration, as the only bulwark against his ridiculous slate of nominees is the Senate GOP.
It's up to conservatives to keep Trump within our system's checks and balances. It's too bad he doesn't have more of them in his new administration.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump picks RFK Jr. and Gabbard. You know them as Democrats | Opinion