I believe that a president deserves to get the cabinet officials he wants, provided that the nominee is qualified, scandal-free, and not some sort of ideological extremist or a proven incompetent manager. Youth doesn’t strike me as sufficient reason to confirm someone. Perhaps not even puppy-killing.

There’s another reason that the Senate ought to confirm Trump’s nominees, even if they’re unorthodox, provided that the background check doesn’t show any scandals or serious reasons for concern. In Trump’s first term, Trump had two Secretaries of State, two Secretaries of Defense, two attorneys general, two Secretaries of the Interior, two Secretaries of Labor, two Secretaries of Health and Human Services, two Secretaries of Energy, two Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, three Secretaries of Homeland Security, two administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, two directors of the Office of Management and Budget, two directors of National Intelligence, two directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, two ambassadors to the United Nations, and two administrators of the Small Business Administration.

History suggests that Trump’s cabinet appointees are a bit like the weather in Chicago; if you don’t like them, just wait, they will change. Probably around the midterms.

A difference between Trump and other presidents is that if Biden made a bad cabinet pick — COUGHmayorkas–cardona–khanCOUGH — the country was stuck with them for the duration. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin literally disappeared without telling the president and Biden said he had no problem with it. Biden was never going to ask for any resignations, nor did the administration or Democratic-controlled Senate have any energy or interest in confirmation hearings for replacement.

With Trump, there’s a good chance that any given cabinet official will burn out within two years or so, and/or Trump will grow disgruntled with the official’s performance. While these short tenures are less than ideal — considering how federal agencies love to drag their feet and slow down reforms — the consequences of any bad pick are at least somewhat mitigated. So if Kristi Noem can’t get the job done at DHS and border enforcement is lacking, she’ll probably be sent packing. If Pete Hegseth is in over his head at the Pentagon, he won’t last long.