CNN
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Donald Trump’s increasingly provocative Cabinet choices have baffled some Republican senators and left Washington in shock.

But they really shouldn’t do that. Because the outrage is the point.

The president-elect reached a new level Wednesday by announcing Florida Republican Matt Gaetz — one of his most zealous agents of disruption, who, like him, was once investigated by the Justice Department — as his pick for attorney general .

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic presidential candidate who now shares Trump’s belief that the intelligence community is armed against him, will become America’s next top spy if confirmed as director of national intelligence.

The latest selections for Trump’s MAGA dream team caused such a stir that they nearly overshadowed the choice of Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary Tuesday night.

But they are perfectly in line with Trump’s campaign promises and political project. The consternation that engulfed establishment elites contrasted with the euphoria that soared among Trump fans through conservative networks and social media. The president-elect draws political strength from his position as a scourge of establishment outsiders, and if his picks are confirmed by the Senate – a huge one as in Gaetz’s case – they will be charged with his mission to defend the government and to expel land. whom Trump considers enemies.

Trump won the election and has a mandate for change. And these and other choices are evidence of an increasingly powerful president-elect who cares little about critics who warn that his second term threatens the rule of law.

Trump’s short-lived former first-term communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the newly elected president’s personnel selection was deliberately designed to “own the liberals.” Paraphrasing Trump’s intentions, he added: “‘Let’s pick some trigger people.’ And those are the triggering people.”

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania agreed, telling CNN’s Manu Raju about the Gaetz selection, “It’s just kind of god-tier, kind of trolling, just to cause a meltdown.”

Gaetz — who was under a House Ethics Committee investigation — resigned from Congress on Wednesday in the wake of Trump’s announcement. The committee, which had investigated allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, granted special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct” – would meet this week to vote on releasing a report, possibly as early as Friday, CNN reported. But now that Gaetz is leaving, it’s unclear if the information will ever become public. The Florida Republican has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including ever having sex with a minor or paying for sex. The Justice Department, which had been conducting a years-long investigation into him for sex crimes, ultimately decided last year not to pursue criminal charges against Gaetz.

Millions of the president-elect’s voters agree that his own legal troubles are not the result of criminal misconduct but of years of victimization by the Justice Department. They believe the Russia investigation was hatched by the intelligence services during his first term to destroy him. Trump voters want entire layers of government bureaucrats fired, think regulations contribute to their own economic problems, worry about millions of border crossings by undocumented migrants and oppose Pentagon diversity programs. Trump is their agent of change. And his lightning picks for top government jobs are his lieutenants in that effort.

Hegseth, Gaetz and Gabbard raise questions about Trump’s motivations and the direction of his second administration that begins on January 20, not least because of their professional, ethical or experiential qualities, or lack thereof.

Is Trump looking for an attorney general to ensure fair justice? If so, would he have chosen Gaetz, who was under investigation? But the president-elect’s intentions were clear in his announcement of his intention to nominate him: “Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan weaponization of our justice system.” Trump’s statement appears to play into his long-term aspiration to find an attorney general who will defend him and attack his enemies.

Gaetz has been a leading supporter of Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election and has called for the abolition of the FBI, DOJ and other agencies unless they “get into trouble.” In this light, Gaetz’s choice most closely resembles a gesture of contempt for the Justice Department, the prosecutors who work there, and the rule of law.

“This is a shameful choice. There is no way around it,” CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former assistant US attorney, told CNN International.

News that Hegseth had been picked to lead the Pentagon rocked Washington the night before Gaetz’s election and led to similar questions about Trump’s motives. The Fox News star has a military record marked by courage after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he has little of the depth of experience in high-level strategy, international diplomacy and national security normally required of those in charge of the world’s most powerful military. He therefore risks being outdone in a telephone conversation with a grizzled Russian or Chinese defense minister if he is asked to defuse a sudden crisis. But Hegseth’s years at Fox show he is well qualified to lead a culture war within the Defense Department, given his condemnation of diversity programs, women serving in combat and advocacy for Trump to jail military personnel accused of war crimes free.

Gabbard also has a distinguished military record. But she appears to have been picked to lead the DNI because of her distrust of the secret community as Trump tries to clean up what he calls “corrupt actors” he sees as disloyal. Among the former Hawaiian congresswoman’s many clashes with the U.S. intelligence community are her doubts that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was guilty of war crimes following a chemical weapons attack. And she was accused by none other than Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah of “reenacting” false propaganda from America’s top spy adversary, Russia.

Not all of Trump’s choices are controversial. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, his nominee for secretary of state, has drawn skepticism about his conversion to Trump’s America Firstism, but many of his fellow senators view him as a serious thinker on foreign affairs, especially on China. And the president-elect has earned the right to choose who he wants to help fulfill his mandate.

But like most of Trump’s other picks, Gabbard, Hegseth and Gaetz have some things in common. They are unfailingly loyal to the president-elect. They are all fervent supporters of the stunt politics he pioneered as a provocateur on social media. And if the 45th and 47th presidents want, as he says, a second term of “retribution,” it appears they are willing to respect his orders.

There was a growing sense in Washington on Wednesday night that with Gaetz’s choice, Trump might have overshot his mark as president-elect for the first time, even with normally supportive Republicans.

One of his few Republican critics, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, called the Florida Republican an “unserious candidate” when CNN asked him about his chances for confirmation. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, another rare Republican Trump critic, said she was “shocked” when she heard the news and noted that there would be an extensive background check by the FBI on the upcoming nomination. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said Gaetz “will have a lot of work to do.”

The Gaetz selection created an immediate crisis for Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, hours after he won leadership of the incoming Republican majority. Thune will certainly come under heavy pressure from the newly elected president to ensure Gaetz gets a seat at the Justice Department.

The former and future president’s allies were already rallying around Gaetz, warning of the consequences if he were blocked by the Senate fulfilling its constitutional role of advice and consent. “I love Matt Gaetz,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, warning that it would be risky for senators to vote against him.” He added: “We have all 53 Republicans – are you going to tell me that one Republican is going to vote against someone on Trump’s team? If that happens, it should blow us all up. It’s crazy,” Tuberville said. (CNN has not yet predicted the Pennsylvania Senate race, which is headed to a recount, leaving the Republican Party at 52 seats.)

A president-elect who feels freed from all restrictions after his election victory may not be done shaking up yet-to-be-announced positions, including the secretaries of the Treasury and Health and Human Services. It’s no wonder that Trump this week began demanding that Republican senators agree to his demands for recess appointments for nominees if they can’t get quick confirmation.

Trump has set up the first test to determine whether there will be any pushback from a new Republican majority in the Senate against a president who believes he will reign supreme once he is sworn in.