If you were casting the roles of America’s next great reality TV show, President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet and staff picks would guarantee multiple seasons of drama and intrigue. When you consider Trump is a former reality TV star, his dream team makes perfect sense. 

But when that reality TV show cast leads the U.S. government, the prospects of a juicy storyline become less appealing and more terrifying. 

Since the election, Trump has been assembling his cabinet and staff for his second term, including the notable nominations of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Elon Musk, who was tasked with increasing government efficiency. 

Absent from this list is Trump’s original pick for attorney general former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) who withdrew his bid for the position due to his ongoing sexual misconduct allegations. The House Ethics Committee had been investigating claims of Gaetz’s sexual misconduct, including sex with a minor in 2017. 

Hegseth, Kennedy and Gabbard, three of Trump’s most controversial nominees, are likely to face difficult confirmation processes. 

Hegseth is facing allegations of sexual misconduct, and Kennedy has spread false and misleading information about vaccines. Meanwhile, representatives have criticized Gabbard for meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and making pro-Russian comments, raising concerns about her qualifications to lead U.S. intelligence efforts.

Hegseth, a former member of the Army National Guard, was also reported to be a potential threat to President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 because of a tattoo he has that is associated with extremist groups. 

Trump nominated Chris Wright, CEO of the fracking company Liberty Energy, to be his energy secretary. One should be able to see the conflict of interest presented with this pick from a mile away. 

These picks should not surprise anyone who has followed Trump’s actions over the past nine years. The question now is whether the Senate will use its role of providing advice and consent to investigate these controversial nominations and block confirmations if they find these people unfit for their assigned positions. 

Timothy Collins, a political science lecturer at the University of Minnesota, said the pushback exhibited by some representatives so far is encouraging for the health of American institutions and checks and balances. The level of pushback on Trump’s more controversial nominations depends on how many Republican senators care about upholding their integrity and power. 

“It’s nice that some of them have asserted their power to say ‘No, we need to actually have hearings,’ or ‘No, we need to see the House Ethics committee report on Matt Gaetz,’” Collins said. “It’s whether the Senate is really jealous of the power they have.” 

Sarah Beck, a political science PhD student at the University, said Republican representatives may want to avoid confirming some of Trump’s controversial nominees, notably those with sexual misconduct allegations. 

“You don’t like to start off a president’s term with a bunch of really public hearings about sexual harassment,” Beck said. “Some Republican lawmakers may be wary of some of those and might be hoping that some of those candidates will also drop out the way that Matt Gaetz did.” 

Beck said the concerns many people have regarding Trump’s new team are understandable, particularly regarding nominations such as Kennedy’s appointment. 

“If R.F.K. is head of Health and Human Services, he’s said a lot of things that he wants to do that are really concerning from a public health standpoint, and there are a lot of public health experts who have come out and said these are all really bad ideas,” Beck said.  “There’s some concern that these nominees don’t necessarily have a lot of experience or typical credentials could really do a lot, and not necessarily in a positive way.” 

Trump’s tariff proposals would significantly increase the prices of basic goods, such as gas, that would primarily affect people in the bottom 90% of incomes, according to Collins.  

“If the goal is to really jumpstart American manufacturing and make sure that we make things in America, that’s good, that’s a good thing because that can better our economy,” Collins said. “But I don’t know that this is the right way to go about that and I don’t know that the president-elect is surrounding himself with the people who would know how to do that.” 

Beck said the slim majority Republicans have in Congress will make it more difficult for them to pass legislation, but it remains to be seen how much power or pushback GOP representatives will give to Trump in his second term. Following confirmations, only time will tell whether Trump will fire people early on as he did in his first term. 

“It’s also possible if he feels like he has a bunch of people who are pretty loyal to the Republican party and also to him as president, we might see less turnover (of staff),” Beck said.

There is also a looming question of how much support Trump will even need from his cabinet and Congress to deliver on his campaign agenda. 

The Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States on July 1 gave the president immunity for anything constituting an official act, giving the president increased freedom to act independently without fear of consequences.

“The perils of a Trump presidency without guardrails were made legal with the Trump immunity case from last summer,” Collins said. “The Supreme Court said if a president says that something is an official act, they can do anything they want, and what constitutes an official act is probably whatever a president says, so there’s really nothing stopping a president from doing almost anything.” 

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her dissent of the decision, “In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.” 

All of this may seem daunting, but I hope it does not discourage you from participating in civic engagement. If anything, this could act as further motivation to get involved and make your voice heard. 

Minnesota representatives have notable records of being responsive to constituents, according to Collins. Reaching out to them is one of the best ways people can make their voices heard. 

The next four years will be chaotic and difficult for many of us and Trump’s team will likely not help. 

If these nominations bother you, it is your responsibility to make your representatives understand you are counting on them to protect the interests of their constituents and prevent more unqualified individuals from running the government.