This week, the Republican presidential race had a massive sea change. Thanks to Indiana republican voters, front-runner Donald Trump dealt a knockout punch to both Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich. First Cruz and then Kasich threw in the towel and conceded victory to Trump.
Now Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee and he can turn his full attention into beating Hillary Clinton, who appears to be heading for a victory on the Democratic side. That is, assuming she isn’t indicted following the FBI investigation into her emails.
The general election is a little more than six months away. If Donald Trump ends up in The White House, who could be there with him? At The Examiner, I wrote about possible cabinet positions of attorney general and defense secretary.
Trump has blotted his copybook with a few wild assertions intemperate language, and the left-sided media and other intolerant people have happily repeated those things ad nauseum.
So now Trump needs to boost his credibility and that may help his poll numbers, too. One way of doing that would be to announce some of the possibilities for cabinet positions under a Trump presidency.
The pundits are already talking about who those people might be, and what they would bring to the table. It is expected that his nominees would be conservative, and probably not part of the establishment. Those people might need a track record that proves their credentials. Here are some ideas on possible choices to guide a Trump administration going into 2017:
Treasury Secretary – The Treasury Secretary is an important strategic cabinet post. It is thought that Carl Icahn, a major investor and businessman would be an excellent choice. Icahn has a great reputation, and it could mean a relatively fast confirmation. Donald Trump already suggested Icahn would be a good choice, in June last year.
Icahn isn’t the only possible choice, though, others include existing Trump allies Jack Welch, the former GE head, and Henry Kravis, co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a private equity firm.
We already know that Icahn has said Trump could break the gridlock in Washington. Treasury Secretary is not an easy role, and Icahn has previously said he’s not interested, but now the field is clear, he may be willing to take it on.
Energy Secretary – Energy Secretary is another very important role. More than once on the campaign trail, Trump pounded the podium about the disastrous mess the Obama administration’s energy policies caused. Clearly, the $500 million waste of taxpayer funds handed over to Solyndra was one such total screwup.
Most people, including liberals, know that Solyndra filed for bankruptcy shortly after receiving the funding. What few know is that the company and its technology were thereafter bought by China.
We don’t know exactly what Donald Trump is thinking, but his energy policy has been all over the place. He has been both for and against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. One thing is for sure, Trump did not like Obama’s stance on climate change. He said many things while campaigning, but we don’t yet know what he really thinks. He said he favors using the nation’s reserves of fossil fuels, but he also said he would recapture Iraq’s oil wells from ISIS and keep the oil for U.S. consumption.
Some people think that Sarah Palin would be one choice. She has said she would love the job, but she also said she would dismantle the Energy Department. Palin could be a good one to bring along conservative, blue-collar women.
One other possibility is North Dakota Republican, Rep. Kevin Cramer. Cramer is a Trump supporter who worked extensively on energy policy. Rep. Cramer sits on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. The congressman, like Trump, opposes Obama’s focus on climate change.
Other high-profile positions include Health and Human Services secretary, Homeland Security secretary, and Education secretary. There are many able people to fill these positions, but we will need to be patient to see who the choices are. The Trump Cabinet Picks are likely to talked about, talked up and shouted down over the coming months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7MYHXplKkg
