Newsletter: A Cabinet of Loyalists and Extremists

Donald Trump’s first announcements of nominations for key administration posts offer a glimpse of his second-term agenda: reward political allies and weaken government institutions to undermine democracy.

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Donald Trump announced several nominees for top positions in his upcoming administration this week, among them staunch allies and loyalists who have vocally supported Trump and his anti-democratic actions, including former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

On Wednesday, Trump announced the nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz for U.S. attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House the same day, just days before the House Ethics Committee was expected to release a report on its investigation into allegations of Gaetz’s sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, prompting bipartisan calls for transparency about the investigation’s findings. Committee Chair Michael Guest has said he does not plan to release the report.

Trump also announced this week that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is his pick for secretary of homeland security. We previously obtained records that show Noem spent about $60,000 between January 2019 and September 2021 on decor and furnishings for her office and residence.

The Argus Leader also found that more than $8,100 was spent on a sauna, which the governor’s office did not include in the documents it released to us.
Earlier this year, we received about 130 more pages of receipts from 2021 through 2023 related to Noem’s office and home renovations.

Also of concern was the news that Trump tapped Stephen Miller for deputy chief of staff of policy. American Oversight previously sued for and obtained records that shed light on Miller’s influence on immigration policy during Trump’s first administration, including emails that show Miller spearheaded Title 42, the administration’s 2020 effort to expel undocumented migrants at the border under the guise of fighting the pandemic.

Other records show that Miller worked with a Justice Department official to push controversial anti-immigrant messaging during Trump’s first administration. He also collaborated with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official to craft and spread narratives that served his hard-line immigration agenda.

American Oversight is prepared to fight the corruption and abuses of power that Trump has promised, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold the incoming administration accountable to the people.

Democracy 2025: Fighting for People, Freedom, and Democracy

This week, American Oversight joined Democracy 2025, a coalition of leading pro-democracy organizations fighting to ensure swift legal challenges and responses to the harmful and anti-democratic actions expected in the first days of the Trump-Vance administration.

Democracy 2025, resourced by Democracy Forward, includes a growing roster of more than 280 legal, expert, and advocacy organizations and more than 800 individuals representing millions of people and communities across the country.
The coalition has also launched Democracy2025.org, a website that will serve as a central hub for tracking threats to freedom and democracy and responses to those actions.

“Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the rule of law and his contempt for accountability,” said Chioma Chukwu, our interim executive director. “American Oversight knows from his first administration the lengths to which he will go to line his pockets and shore up his own political power at the expense of the American people.”

“Protecting our democracy and the vulnerable groups who will be disproportionately targeted by the Trump administration’s inhumane proposals will require an informed public and a broad coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to fighting those abuses of power,” Chukwu added. “We are proud to stand with our allies in the pro-democracy movement and are prepared to aggressively defend the public’s right to hold its leaders accountable.”

On the Records

Inside the Conservative Takeover of New College of Florida

Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off his massive overhaul of New College of Florida by replacing its board of trustees with conservative allies last year — an idea for which political operative Rober Allen has claimed credit.

Records we obtained show that in April 2023, Allen recommended the school hire far-right political scientist Bruce Gilley. In 2017, Gilley had published a paper titled “The Case for Colonialism” in Third World Quarterly, prompting more than a dozen members of the journal’s board to resign.
This week, the Guardian reported that Gilley is being paid $130,000 for a year-long residency at New College.

We’ve been investigating the right-wing takeover of New College and previously obtained records that shed light on controversial hiring and recruitment practices, including resumes of newly hired visiting professors, some of whom appear to have conservative political connections.

Prompting Reform in Maryland

Last month, the Baltimore Banner reported on records obtained by American Oversight showing that Maryland Board of Elections members Jim Shalleck and Diane Butler exchanged emails with election denial activists who were pursuing litigation against the board. Following the reporting, the board passed a bylaw barring members from communicating with litigants.

The lawsuit, brought by the far-right legal group United Sovereign Americans and Maryland Election Integrity, challenged the accuracy of voter registration lists. Shalleck and Butler had emailed Kate Sullivan, the director of Maryland Election Integrity.
The records we obtained also show that Shalleck forwarded inquiries related to unsubstantiated election fraud charges in other states to Butler.

Newsletter: A Cabinet of Loyalists and Extremists

Democracy 2025: Fighting for People, Freedom, and Democracy

On the Records

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