Its hard to imagine that the day would come where we would be relieved to see Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in a presidential Cabinet. But as Donald Trumps choice for secretary of state, Rubio is one of the few conventional nominees for Trumps second term. Most of the names that Trump has announced are an assortment of unqualified, flame-throwing crackpots whose chief qualification is that they will do whatever Trump tells them to do. Of course, that was the plan all along. Trump made it abundantly clear that he would not make the same mistake he did in this first term, when establishment Republicans restrained him from carrying out his worst impulses. Last month, he told podcaster Joe Rogan that hiring disloyal people back then was his biggest mistake. Related Elise Stefanik, Donald Trumps new pick for UN envoy, supports his attacks on trans people She has previously referred to Democrats as pedo grifters. The result is that we are seeing people like Pete Hegseth, a Fox News talking head, being named secretary of defense. Hegseth, a veteran with little leadership experience and none in running a large organization, is best known for complaining that the military is too woke. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today Or theres Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard is an erstwhile Democrat who pretended to be a liberal in her failed 2020 presidential bid but quickly reverted to her anti-LGBTQ+ past. (The fruit doesnt fall far from the tree; her father was the leading opponent of marriage equality in Hawaii.) Gabbard, who parrots Russian talking points, is proposed as director of national intelligence. Or theres Matt Gaetz, who resembles a frat boy gone to seed, and who apparently behaves exactly that way. Gaetz gleefully ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker mostly because he could. He is also under investigation for sex trafficking underaged girls, which clearly makes him the obvious choice for attorney general, the nations top law enforcement job. Or Robert Kennedy Jr., an anti-vax, anti-trans, AIDS denialist, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Most of the attention has been on just how exquisitely unqualified these candidates have been. They are charlatans and crackpots, but in that sense, they are a reflection of their would-be boss. But the bigger issue is what Trump is doing by nominating them. Remember when Trump said he would be a dictator on Day One? It turns out, hes not waiting that long. The nominations are power moves meant to make it clear that Trump, and Trump alone, will be calling the shots this time. He is daring the Republican-controlled Senate to refuse to confirm his choices. Even the spineless majority there is having a hard time swallowing this buffet of incompetence. Moreover, its not just that Trump is picking inept toadies, just like a dictator would. He also wants to upend the process that applies to his nominees as well, circumventing the rules. For one, Trump is pressuring the Senate to allow him to make recess appointments. Recess appointments allow the president to appoint someone to a position for a year if the Senate is not in session, even though the position normally requires Senate approval. In the past, presidents have used recess appointments sparingly for lower-level positions, generally after a nominee has been in limbo due to partisan concerns. Trump wants to make wholesale use of this loophole. Hes asking Senate Republicans to let him use recess appointments for anyone he wants. This would spare people like Gaetz the humiliation of having details of his extracurricular activities made the focus of a public hearing. Spineless Republicans may well let Trump have his way. In doing so, they will be abrogating their responsibility to confirm key officials. Moreover, give Trump an inch, and he will take a mile. Does anyone rightly believe that he would let his appointees go after a year simply because thats the way its supposed to work? Just as bad, Trump is looking to outsource background checks on his sleazy appointees and have them forgo security clearances altogether. That would mean that, like Trump, his acolytes could have all kinds of inappropriate, perhaps dangerous relationships with foreign governments, like Russia, and still have access to the nations top secrets. The policy changes that will come with the Trump administration will be horrendous. The Cabinet choices confirm that. But what we are seeing with how Trump is pushing his nominees through is even more dangerous. He is already chipping away at the safeguards that underlie democracy. He is concentrating power in his hands, and he is testing limits, knowing that he will test them even further. Trump isnt even in office yet, but hes already well on his way to damaging our democracy. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.