Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on May 8. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/File

President Donald Trump made a clear calculus when he was stocking the highest ranks of his administration after the 2024 election: The premium would be on loyalty and disruption, often at the expense of demonstrated competency.

Many of his picks lacked traditional experience for the roles for which they were picked. He selected a Fox News host with oodles of baggage for Defense secretary , a vaccine skeptic with a long history of false medical claims as Health and Human Services secretary , and a former Democratic congresswoman with little intelligence experience as director of national intelligence .

As the month

See Full Page