Inexperience matters: The logic of Trump’s controversial nominations

Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are dominating the news in a way that no president’s choices ever have, not even Trump’s own 2016 selections.

The focus has been on what’s troubling in his nominees’ backgrounds — but we should focus even more on what’s not there: management experience.

Take Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Defense. Hegseth has been a talking head on Fox News for a few years. He served with distinction as a military officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay, rising to the level of major before leaving in 2020.

He has also briefly worked as a financial analyst and at two small political action committees.