Trump's Cabinet - Michael Schroeder & Kathryn Campbell

Scott Pruitt: Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

1. Scott Pruitt has never had any experience working in anything related to the environment. He has probably been outside before, which would give him some experience with the environment. He has also most likely seen photos of nature at some point in his life. That is his extent of seeing and dealing with the environment. He has had a history of political offices, from the Oklahoma Attorney General to a Senator. He has sued the EPA before, trying to loosen their restrictions that were put in place to stop the US being the number one greenhouse gas emitter. He has sued California for them passing a law that made egg-laying chickens like in humane environments.
2. It is most likely that Scott Pruitt will be confirmed in the current congressional makeup. He is very republican, and there are more republicans in the House and Senate. There is also a strong possibility that congress will not approve him. That is because he does not believe in global warming, and he believes in many practices that have been proven the detrimentally harm the environment. If a fair number of republicans band together and don’t vote for him, it is very possible that he will not be voted into office.
3. Scott Pruitt will bring unprecedented changes to the Environmental Protection Agency. He will loosen the restrictions that have been placed on industries across America. He will give favor to big businesses and their interest, and not give as much protection to the environment. He will hurt the progress that the EPA has been making. They have been finally reaching deals that help our environment, and slow our impact on climate change. He vows to undo almost all of this.

Ben Carson

1. Ben Carson in a neurosurgeon and the former director of pediatric neuroscience at Johns Hopkins in Maryland. He attended Yale undergraduate and majored in psychology then went to University of Michigan medical school. His experience is solely in the field of neuroscience. He does not have any experience in urban planning or development, let alone any experience holding a position in political office. Former Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development have studied and had experience in many applicable fields such as political science. Ben Carson is not only unexperienced, but has experience in a vastly different field with arguably no relation to Housing and Urban Development.
2. Looking at the numbers, Ben Carson is likely to be approved by The Senate, but because Republicans only hold ten more seats than the Democrats, it is not inevitable. I think that it is actually quite likely for some republicans not to vote to approve Carson, due to his lack of experience. Just because the Senate is controlled by the Republicans, does not not mean that they are all Trump supporters who will approve anyone he nominates. In fact, I think enough of them are able to apply simple logic to determine that a neurosurgeon is not fit to be Secretary of HUD.
3. At least for the first year or two I don’t think there will be any new policies invented or proposed by Carson. Other members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development could direct Carson and tell him which policies to officially propose, but I do not think he has the experience or knowledge to confidently propose policies. Assuming that the other members of the Department of HUD are qualified for and knowledgeable on their job, the possible policies could help the country progress in this field. If Carson were to come up with policies based on his own knowledge, I do not think they would help the country make progress simply because he doesn’t know enough about housing and/or urban development.

Betsy DeVos

1. Betsy DeVos has never actually worked within education, but she has been an education activist, meaning she fights for her views on education. She and her husband founded the Windquest group which deals with technology and clean energy. She has also worked for her non-profit family foundation which partially deals with education. DeVos has a bachelor's degree in political science and business. Her credentials do not directly correlate to education or the job of the Secretary of Education, but they are not far enough from the field to say that she is completely unqualified. She has minimal experience.
2. I think it is very likely that she will be approved by the Senate. Because of the Republican majority and the fact that her experience and degrees don’t put her completely out of the ball park, it is very possible she will be confirmed. In addition, she is very christian and since many republicans also identify with the Christian religion, she might appeal more to religious people in the Senate.
3. DeVos is a large advocate for public vouchers for private schools including Christian-affiliated schools. Because of her extreme support of this idea, and the role of the Secretary of Education, it is more than likely that she will propose such a policy. I think that this will hurt the progress made by the administration because it will cause conflict and regression in the area of the separation of church and state. Because states are responsible for public education, and are forbidden from identifying with or supporting a religion. Vouchers for Christian schools paid for with public federal funds would violate this separation, and cause regression.

“With the president-elect flouting a 40-year bipartisan tradition of disclosure and transparency, we think it’s more important than ever to ensure that senior officials across government aren’t operating under a different tax code than everyone else”

Because President-Elect Trump is nominating many unqualified people for cabinet positions, there must be another reason as to why he is appointing them -- probably his bias nature. If the people he is appointing are more like him, they might not want to release their tax returns which is necessary for potential cabinet members.