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It was a night of MAGA shock and awe that not even Donald Trump’s most devoted fans could have imagined possible.

But the newly elected president’s blizzard of Cabinet and staff picks on Tuesday, each more unorthodox than the last, further fueled his critics’ fears that his chaotic team was about to lead the country on a perilous journey.

Trump appointed his new super friend Elon Musk, the pioneer of Tesla and SpaceX, to this position. taking over a new department Undermining government institutions and budgets. Musk is a true genius and visionary. But in his new job, the world’s richest man can do away with management and regulation while enjoying the bounty of huge federal contracts for his businesses. It’s a situation that makes the ethical alarms and conflicts of interest of Trump’s first term seem trivial by comparison.

Musk will join what Trump calls the “Department of Government Efficiency” from rabble-rousing GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who leaves little doubt that the plan is to gut the government. “SHUT UP,” he posted on platform X, which is owned by Musk and is currently flooded with pro-Trump propaganda. It’s unclear how this new department, which Trump said will “provide advice and guidance from outside the government,” will actually operate.

Reporter details challenges Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will face in possible new roles

Perhaps the most unorthodox White House and Cabinet staffing in decades is the product of Trump’s massive election victory a week ago. Many of his supporters despise Washington’s government and seek revenge on the elites. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat has plunged her voters into pessimism and a palpable sense of fear that the nation is about to enter a volatile and dangerous new era.

But for a while on Monday, it was almost possible to think that Trump might not be as disruptive as expected and that the influential new White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was running a tight ship as Cabinet picks were put in order. CNN and other media outlets have reported that Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a world-renowned statesman, is likely to be elected secretary of state.

But on Tuesday night, the buzz in the busy atmosphere of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, where Musk is said to be involved in the campaign, suggested that the coming Washington storm would be as fierce as expected. (And to the relief of many allies abroad who feared an alliance with Washington, Rubio’s selection was not formalized amid suggestions that Trump’s base was unsettled by the rise of a former critic who once leaned neoconservatively.)

The growing sense of chaos was exacerbated by a report in the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s transition team was working on an executive order that would create a “warrior board” with the authority to recommend the removal of three- and four-star officers. The story has fueled new fears that Trump, who threatened to fire generals wholesale during the campaign, will purge top brass and politicize the military after considering the way he could direct his power against his political enemies while in office.

Four things are true about Trump’s shocking picks for top staffers on Tuesday.

The president-elect has the right to choose whoever he wants for his cabinet and team after the democratic legitimacy of his presidential election victory.

The selection of names like Musk, Noem and Hegseth is designed in part to honor the wishes of Trump voters and to exemplify the president-elect’s own outsider brand as well as his deeply developed desire for loyalty.

Trump’s selection of ultra-loyalists stems from Trump’s frustration with how entrenched military officers, officials and traditional Washington operatives reined in their most extreme impulses during his first term.

Many of his candidacies are also consistent with the ideological overtones of his political movement. Former White House official Steve Bannon, who was released from federal prison a week before Election Day after being convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress, declared early in the first term that Trump was all about “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” ” This looks like it will be sent to warp speed.

But Trump is also taking risks. While it makes sense to choose outside revolutionaries to overthrow the administration, many of those they choose lack in-depth experience and knowledge of the departments they will lead. They may be agitated by the agencies they want to transform.

Trump’s new relationship with Musk, who has emerged as a powerful force in his bid to win a second term, is a fascinating development, even if it is unclear whether the new department he will supposedly head is a real government agency.

The president-elect and the tech pioneer are an odd match in some ways. Musk is widely read, and his biographers say he spends significant time pondering the mysteries of the universe, the future of humanity, and the puzzle of consciousness. Trump does not claim the existence of such an intellectual hinterland. And throughout a business and political career filled with scandals and drama, the president-elect has often appeared to struggle to make it to the end of the day in one piece.

But both Musk and Trump thrive on the chaos they create. Both are iconoclasts who have shown that they are not hindered by the rules that apply to others. Both used wealth to access power and overthrow established businesses and political interests.

In Musk’s case, a tradition-challenging personality has led to astonishing advances in the electric vehicle industry that few have been able to profit from. In the SpaceX rocket series that saved the US’s orbital research, Musk aims to send people to Mars.

With this background and a track record of turning around bureaucracy-bound industries with innovation, Musk could be the ideal figure to reform the insular US government and federal system that often hinders rapid change.

But Musk’s increasing political radicalism and the specter of huge potential conflicts of interest raise the possibility of an American oligarchy that could corrupt government rather than revitalize it. And Musk is making a habit of disruptive reinvention; It’s a factor that could have huge consequences for his new position on Trump’s team.

Musk caused consternation before the election by suggesting he could cut $2 trillion in federal spending. The entire budget comes in at roughly $6.5 trillion. Spending cuts along these lines would almost certainly lead to cuts to programs like Social Security, the military budget and other popular items, which could cause a political firestorm and lead to significant hardship for the millions of Americans who are deprived of his and Trump’s fortunes. If that pain becomes clear, Trump can avoid paying a personal political price for an overhaul of his government.

It is also unclear how realistic the Musk-Ramaswamy project will be. It is up to Congress to approve government budgets. Trump and Musk can’t just decide what will happen. Even with the GOP’s likely monopoly on Capitol Hill, the idea that lawmakers would agree to such harsh fiscal intervention seems fanciful.

Hegseth’s case at the defense department begins with his successful military career, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. If confirmed, one of his main tasks will be to try to significantly increase the defense budget in line with Trump campaign promises to improve readiness, especially given the growing threat from new superpower China.

But his relative lack of political and international experience has left some of Trump’s critics stunned by his choice.

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York told CNN’s Erin Burnett: “I’m shocked. That’s exactly what we’re worried about, and what we warned about Donald Trump; that is, he will appoint unqualified loyalists to make the government his personal fiefdom.” Goldman added: “I appreciate Mr. Hegseth’s service in our armed forces, but being a soldier does not qualify you to lead the Department of Defense and have access to our nuclear weapons.”

‘We’re in a new place’: Bernstein reacts to Hegseth’s comments about women in combat roles

Meanwhile, Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Hegseth’s biggest challenge will be if the president-elect puts him in a position to obey or refuse a potentially illegal or unconstitutional command. he said. “What will Pete Hegseth do when Trump first tells him to lead the 82nd Airborne into the streets of Portland, Oregon?” Bolton said.

Hegseth’s selection also surprised Capitol Hill, but there was no sign yet that she would have trouble gaining approval.

“Wow,” said Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had one thing to say: “Interesting.”

Several Republicans said they were confident in Trump’s pick and predicted Hegseth would be surrounded by talented people.

But Trump’s former White House attorney, Ty Cobb, made an analogy with the NBA when talking more generally about the quality of presidential candidates. “I think we’re seeing a lot of Bronny James, we’re not seeing a lot of Steph Curry,” he told CNN’s Burnett.

In Hegseth’s case, there was a particular trait that appealed to the president-elect, who reportedly vetted candidates by watching their appearances on television.

“Trump thinks he has that look, too,” a source told CNN’s Alayna Treene.