Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) reasoned, “In Trump’s first administration, his entire national security Cabinet stood up for the country and for the Constitution over his diktats. He fired them, and they then disavowed him as commander in chief, and all endorsed Kamala Harris because they thought he was unfit to lead.

“He does not want to make that mistake again. He wants yes-men around him, so I’m actually not that interested in the character of Hegseth because he’s not going to actually have control over the levers of power there. This is clearly going to be run by the White House.”

TRUMP CABINET PICKS: WHO’S BEEN TAPPED TO SERVE IN THE PRESIDENT-ELECT’S ADMINISTRATION

As Washington, D.C., catches its breath following Trump’s rapid-fire announcements of who will be in his team, dismissing his picks as a bunch of yes-men is inaccurate and a disservice to the names he has assembled.

“There is more ideological diversity here than I expected,” Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, told the New York Times. “And if you look at this group in the context of history, there is some potential here for arguments and debates. If those debates are allowed to unfold in a civilized and open manner, history shows that such conflict has sometimes led to policies that worked.”

It’s no secret that Trump wants loyalty from his lieutenants and wants them to carry out his MAGA mandate, not thwart it as some senior officeholders have in the past. His first term, he believes, was stymied by those who had their own agenda, either dragging their feet on initiatives he wished carried out, or simply ignoring him. He was routinely undermined, for better or worse, by infighting and leaks from those lamenting the fact that he wouldn’t listen to the “grown-ups” in the room.

“When he was elected the first time [Trump] didn’t have that kind of wealth of experience in D.C. or the relationships with people in Washington,” Marc Lotter, a former aide who now works at America First Policy Institute, told the Associated Press, “so many people he turned to were trying to take advantage of that to get him to their view, rather than fulfilling what was his view and what he was elected to do.”

Now, with an Electoral College and popular vote combo under his belt, “if he makes a decision, he wants them to execute on it,” Lotter added.

While some of Trump’s picks could be perceived as archloyalists, others reflect the electoral reality that the MAGA coalition has broadened and grown.

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary, told the Washington Examiner, “The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail — and his Cabinet picks reflect his priority to put America First. President Trump will continue to appoint highly qualified men and women who have the talent, experience, and necessary skill sets to Make America Great Again.”

WHAT TRUMP HAS PROMISED TO DO ON DAY 1 IN THE OVAL OFFICE

Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, is seen by some as likely to be a “moderating force” on the president-elect’s tariffs policy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a supporter of abortion rights, and the two have displayed a marked difference of opinion when it comes to eating habits. The pick of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), who is earmarked for Labor, has set off alarm bells in conservative circles because of her support of the PRO Act, a bill designed to strengthen the influence of unions. 

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House, believes that difference of opinion within the Cabinet is a good thing. “A strong Cabinet, by definition, means you’re going to have people with different opinions and different skills,” he said. 

On Chavez-DeRemer and the PRO-Act, Gingrich added, “He might not agree with her on union issues, but he might not stop her from pushing it herself.” Of the PRO-Act and Trump’s willingness to support it, Gingrich added. “He will listen to anybody. If you convince him, he absolutely will spend presidential capital.”

Bessent, a 62-year-old hedge fund billionaire and onetime protege of liberal megadonor George Soros, is a nominee who has reportedly sparked relief on Wall Street.

“The biggest risk is that you have ideologues pursuing policy regardless of consequence,” Unlimited Funds CEO Bob Elliott told Politico. “The thing about a person who has run money for several decades is that they — almost by definition — have to be agile and responsive to market conditions. It’s in their blood.”

Bessent has generally endorsed Trump’s tariffs, the president-elect’s flagship proposal during the campaign, but it’s expected he will approach it with more nuance than his new boss.

His first big test appeared to arrive on Monday when Trump announced his plan for punitive tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada because those nations, he says, facilitate drug trafficking into the U.S.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” the president-elect said.

On China, he added, “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”

Will McBride, vice president of Federal Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation, told the Washington Examiner that he assumes Bessent will be a “moderating force” in the administration.

“Trump’s latest tariff threat is conditional, so it would only go into effect if Mexico, Canada, and China do not pursue certain policy changes (relating to immigration and drug movements across the U.S. border),” McBride said. “That is consistent with Bessent’s stated perspective on tariffs, that they are primarily to be used as a negotiating tactic and seldom would they actually go into effect. That said, there will be a diversity of opinions within the Cabinet about the pace, degree, and specific triggers for tariff actions, and based on his public statements I assume Bessent will be a moderating force.”

McBride praised Bessent as an “independent thinker,” who would likely “bring more nuance to that whole discussion of tariffs and put them into a large perspective of possibly other tools that might be used in different scenarios and in different ways.”

“On the issue of how to engage with China, in the context of maintaining the value of the dollar, and assuring financial markets, on fiscal as well as monetary policy and trade policy, I think he just brings a lot of credentials,” he said. “So I think it gives him a lot of support in his arguments within the cabinet and with President Trump. I don’t see any of the other nominees being able to compete with his resume on many of these fronts, so I would think he would, he would really have a lot of sway.”

Furthermore, McBride believes the Bessent pick indicates “a real concern about deficits, and the public debt, and the trajectory of the public debt, that wasn’t apparent in the campaign trail. That whole issue was really just not acknowledged. But Scott Bessent brings a lot of gravitas to the issue.”

David McIntosh, President of Club for Growth, told the Washington Examiner: “The American people are pleased with President-Elect Trump’s appointments and appreciate he is moving quickly to build a government. We are optimistic that Bessent will be a voice of reason on limiting tariffs to national security issues, and we look forward to working with him on extending the tax cuts as well as deregulating digital assets.”

Kennedy, whose confirmation by the Senate could be difficult, hasn’t always seen eye to eye with Trump. Each hurled insults at each other in the early stages of the campaign, with Kennedy comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler, and labeling MAGA supporters “belligerent idiots.” But his eventual endorsement of Trump saw new fealty rewarded with a role in the transition team and eventually the HHS nomination.

Trump appears to be skirting Kennedy’s views on abortion, as well as vaccines, and is focusing instead on nutrition and a mission to Make America Healthy Again. But he clearly accept that the two of them don’t agree on everything.

Shortly before the election, Trump raised the prospect of Kennedy leading America’s health efforts during the Al Smith dinner. 

“We’re gonna let him go wild for a little while, then I’m gonna have to maybe rein him back, because he’s got some pretty wild ideas, but most of them are really good,” Trump said at the dinner. 

While Trump may welcome Kennedy’s views on McDonald’s, even though he doesn’t want him to take his Big Macs away, he has already made clear there is one item off the menu for the former environmental lawyer.

“He also has a big thing on the environment,” Trump said in the closing stages of the campaign shortly after the dinner. “I’ll tell you what, I said: ‘That’s OK, but you can’t touch our liquid gold’. He’s very strong on, you know, the pesticides and all of the different things.”

In a sign of things to come, and perhaps a warning to Kennedy, Trump added: “He says, ‘We’re going to make it a healthy country.’ I said, ‘Good, Bobby, but do me one favor: Don’t touch the oil and gas. Let me handle that. I’ll handle the oil and gas.’ We’re not going to let him get involved.”

Trump lost patience with members of his first Cabinet who he felt undercut him. Given he only has one term left, and possibly only as little as 18 months to complete his MAGA agenda, those who get in his way may find patience is only a virtue with those who have time.