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President-elect Donald Trump’s latest nominations were sure to set corporate media heads spinning as he included names for Secretary of the Navy and director of the National Institutes of Health.

Be it selective outrage over “qualifications,” allegations of scandal, or a mere distaste for how they were expected to fulfill the duties of their roles, the GOP leader’s staffing selections have kept the post-election meltdowns triggering.

As Trump announced six more positions late Tuesday, two standouts sure to face similar scrutiny were businessman and donor John Phelan for Secretary of the Navy and Stanford University Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the NIH.

“John has excelled in every endeavor, from founding and leading Rugger Management LLC, to co-founding MSD Capital, LP, the Private Investment Firm for Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies. His Record of Success speaks for itself — A true Champion of American Enterprise and Ingenuity!” said Trump in part as he announced the former with a noticeable absence of military experience.

What Phelan was known for, in addition to his “unmatched” intelligence and leadership that the president-elect expected would “elevate the lives of the brave Americans who serve our Nation,” was an art collection that boasted works by Andreas Gursky, Jenny Holzer, Willem de Kooning, Marilyn Minter, and Pablo Picasso, according to The Art Newspaper.

Trump’s pick of the donor who’d hosted a fundraising event for the campaign in August was not without precedent as former President George W. Bush’s administration had appointed Donald C. Winter to serve as Secretary of the Navy from 2006 to 2009 with a background in business and aerospace technology.

FEC filings indicated that Phelan had given at least $834,600 to Trump’s joint fundraising committee in April with additional contributions made through to the election.

Meanwhile, on the “Make America Healthy Again” front, as with his nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, the president-elect’s pick of Bhattacharya to run NIH renewed confidence after concerns over mask-advocate Dr. Janette Nesheiwat being nominated for Surgeon General.

Touting his various roles, Trump noted, “His Research focuses on the Health and Well-Being of vulnerable populations, emphasizing the role of Government programs, Biomedical Innovation, and Economics.”

Specific note was made of Bhattacharya’s opposition to draconian responses to COVID-19 as the announcement stated, “Jay is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an alternative to lockdowns proposed in October 2020.”

“Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America’s biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease,” said Trump. “Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!”

In his own response to the nomination, Bhattacharya said on social media, “I am honored and humbled by President @realDonald Trump’s nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!”

The pick that would undoubtedly continue to frustrate proponents of The Science™ was widely celebrated by those who hoped for a reckoning on the response to COVID and to never see something similar from the government again.

Additional nominations made Tuesday included: former trade official Jamieson Greer for United States Trade Representative; campaign Director of Policy and Speechwriting Vince Haley for director of the Domestic Policy Council; former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Dr. Kevin A. Hassett for director of the White House National Economic Council; and former Principal Associate Deputy Secretary of HHS Jim O’Neill for Deputy Secretary of HHS.

Kevin Haggerty
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