Trump taps his most trusted officials to do as many as four jobs -- at the same time

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

May 19, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — Jamieson Greer has a big job — three of them, actually. As U.S. trade representative, Greer has been flying around the world at Donald Trump’s behest, negotiating with countries over the tariffs that the president imposed. On top of that, he is the government’s official watchdog. The White House has appointed Greer both acting director of the Office of Government Ethics and acting head of the Office of Special Counsel.

Cutting trade deals to Trump’s liking is one thing. Holding the Trump administration accountable for ethical lapses is something different. The missions would seem incompatible. Yet Greer’s hybrid role isn’t so much an anomaly in Trump’s second term as a norm. Trump has taken some Cabinet members and senior administration officials and layered on additional work that calls for wholly different sets of skills.

Daniel Driscoll is secretary of the Army, but also the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The first job is about keeping soldiers in fighting trim; the second includes cracking down on contraband cigarettes. Marco Rubio is secretary of state, national security adviser and, for good measure, acting head of the National Archives and Records Administration, with its collection of rare documents that include Thomas Edison’s patent application for the light bulb. He is also the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development — or what's left of it, anyway, after the Trump administration effectively dismantled it.

Trump recently named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche the acting head of the Library of Congress. The Justice Department upholds the nation’s laws and advances Trump’s agenda; the library is supposed to give lawmakers independent research they request. The dual postings give rise to a tangle of managerial challenges, constitutional questions and potential conflicts of interest, critics contend.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-taps-trusted-officials-four-jobs-rubio-rcna206500

[Lovie777]

1. Therefore the fuck ups.....

[Attilatheblond]

2. Can think of 2 reasons for his demand they wear several hats

There are very few people he can trust.

He can't find enough people greedy enough and stupid enough to do his bidding in several government agencies.

[Eugene]

4. Alternately, this corps of bootlickers lacks enough competent people, but going outside it risks letting adults back

into the room. So double up, triple up and quadruple up until the Heritage Foundation can vet more people.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. He's doing it so he can get around the Senate confirmation process

since Dems are now (finally) putting "holds" on his nominees.

[LudwigPastorius]

3. This is an easy one:

" (Trump) has appointed Greer both acting director of the Office of Government Ethics and acting head of the Office of Special Counsel."

It's not like this administration will have any ethics violations to investigate, or criminal actions to prosecute.

[Norrrm]

5. Remember Super Jared?

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. It takes real talent to be incompetent in so many areas.

Nothing but the best for Krasnov.

[IcyPeas]

8. Well somebody has to do the presidentin' while he's busy suing celebrities

and news channels and ex-presidents and every other person who has ever dissed him.

He's busy sittin' on the shitter composing messages to his cult.

[riversedge]

9. It is pretty stupid for anyone to do 3 or 4 jobs just because Trumpy asked for you to do them!!

[Skittles]

12. that's what obedient little Trump whores DO

THAT is why they were hired

[riversedge]

10. Democrats have taken note of the appointments and objected to what they describe as an end-run around the Senate's right

Congressional Democrats have taken note of the appointments and objected to what they describe as an end-run around the Senate’s right to confirm people for those roles.

[Skittles]

11. the #1 task is ALWAYS the same: TRUMP WHORE

yes INDEED

[Karasu]

13. Yeah, I've noticed. That is something you only do when you value unconditional loyalty over competence.

As all fascists do.

[Aussie105]

14. What do you get when . . .

You are the person appointing others to jobs you yourself have no understanding of?

The appointed persons have no idea what the job entails.
(It is the old fallacy, that adopting a position title automatically brings with it competence, understanding, and effectiveness.)

You run out of trusted boot lickers, but you have other positions to fill.

Well, you get what we have now - a chaotic clown show circling the whirlpool that will get sucked in and self-destruct with no help from Dems.

. . . Yeah. Nah. Dems can do a bit of a push here and a shove there to hasten the crash of the clown cars.
Cleanup on Aisle MAGA! Bring shovels and a big skip bin!

[Martin68]

15. It is one of the fatal flaws in Trump's obsession with over-dependance on the few loyalists he really trusts.