Donald Trump made a flurry of moves to fill out his administration Wednesday — and some of his latest choices left many observers scratching their heads.
The president-elect announced an apparent shakeup in the Office of White House Counsel, with his campaign lawyer David Warrington taking over that position, as well as assistant and counsel to the president, and William McGinely moving over from leading that office to serve instead as counsel to the newly created quasi-governmental agency aimed at drastically cutting the federal budget and whose acronym is a nod to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin championed by Elon Musk.
"I have asked William Joseph McGinley to serve as Counsel to the Department of Government Efficiency ('DOGE'), something he is very passionate about," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Bill will work with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and their team of incredible pioneers at DOGE, to rebuild a U.S. Government that truly serves the People."
"Bill will play a crucial role in liberating our Economy from burdensome Regulations, excess spending, and Government waste," Trump added. "He will partner with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to provide advice and guidance to end the bloated Federal Bureaucracy. Bill is a great addition to a stellar team that is focused on making life better for all Americans. He will be at the forefront of my Administration's efforts to make our Government more efficient and more accountable."
Trump also nominated cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to serve as the next chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission, saying that he "recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before," and Fox News contributor Monica Crowley as deputy secretary of state.
"During my First Term, Monica did an incredible job as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs," Trump posted. "For her exceptional service, she received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Department. Monica is a New York Times bestselling author, and has been a popular anchor, and political and foreign affairs analyst, for the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, among others."
Additionally, Trump tapped Gail Slater, an antitrust veteran and economic policy aide to vice president-elect J.D. Vance, to lead the Department of Justice's antitrust division and economist and Michael Faulkender, who oversaw the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program during the first Trump administration, as deputy treasury secretary.
"Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector and, as we all know, using its market power to crack down on the rights of so many Americans, as well as those of Little Tech! I was proud to fight these abuses in my First Term, and our Department of Justice’s antitrust team will continue that work under Gail’s leadership," Trump posted.
The moves puzzled and alarmed many social media users.
"Trump’s pick for the SEC currently works for the crypto industry’s lobbying group," said journalist Judd Legum.
"Trump picks Gail Slater to lead the DOJ Antitrust Division & Paul Atkins to lead the SEC," added Lauren Feiner, tech policy reporter for The Verge. "The choices suggest continued aggressive antitrust enforcement against Big Tech and a likely friendlier approach toward crypto compared to current SEC Chair Gensler."
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"Somewhere, Mark Zuckerberg is dusting off the blueprints for Libra," posted CNN tech reporter Brian Fung, posting screenshots of Trump's announcements for Atkins and Slater.
"Donald Trump tapped Gail Slater, an Irish woman, to head the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice," said X user Art Candee. "She was the senior vice president for policy and strategy at Fox Corp., the parent company for Rupert Murdoch's Fox News. Is bro literally hiring everyone who used to work for that company? What does Rupert have on him?"
"Sounds like Bill McGinley is being pushed out as White House counsel judging by this latest post from Trump," said CNN host Kaitlan Collins. "He says David Warrington will 'serve as the top attorney in the White House.'"
"Another Trump pick is out before the administration begins, with Bill McGinley, who was pushed by Boris Epshteyn, replaced by Dave Warrington for White House counsel," confirmed New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
"3 weeks ago, Trump nominated William McGinley as his WH Counsel," said Ron Filipowski, a former prosecutor and editor in chief of Meidas News. "He just announced that he is dropping McGinley and replacing him with David Warrington. That’s 3 nominees out already with Hegseth on the ropes. What a chaotic sh*t show. Again."
"Trump taps another contributor to Project 2025 with his nomination of Paul Atkins to serve as SEC chairman," pointed out NBC News reporter Allan Smith. "Atkins contributed to Project 2025's chapter on financial regulatory agencies."
"Donald Trump's latest round of nominations includes more people named in the Project 2025 agenda: Peter Navarro wrote a chapter about fair trade," said AFP reporter Bill McCarthy. "Paul Atkins and Monica Crowley are listed contributors. That makes at least eight nominees mentioned in the Project 2025 document."
"Monica Crowley would be the 10th former Fox personality to serve in the second Trump administration," said Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters.
"Trump’s pick to be Assistant Secretary of State, Monica Crowley: 'Obama was born to a Muslim father, which under Islam automatically made him a Muslim...Can he be both loyal to Islam and loyal to the United States?'" added the X account Republican Voters Against Trump.
"Trump aide Monica Crowley plagiarized thousands of words in Ph.D. dissertation," reminded X user Jennifer Tammaro, linking to a report on the matter.
"This is the first thing that always comes to my mind when I hear Monica Crowley’s name," said historian Seth Cotlar, posting a screenshot of Crowley standing before the Berlin Wall in an old tweet captioned "walls work." "Note how early this was in Trump’s GOP primary run, October 2015. Not to mention how brain crushingly ignorant this tweet was."