Memo
Incoming Trump Officials Need to Convince Us They Will Put Working Families Ahead Of The Interests of Themselves and Their Wealthy and Corporate Benefactors

FROM: Tony Carrk, Executive Director, Accountable.US
SUBJECT: Incoming Trump Officials Need to Convince Us They Will Put Working Families Ahead Of The Interests of Themselves and Their Wealthy and Corporate Benefactors
This week kicks off Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Trump’s nominees for his cabinet. While many questions will be asked about their qualifications and records, there is one question every nominee must answer: Whose side are you on? Will you put the interests of the American people first, or will you put your self-interest, those of wealthy campaign donors and big corporations, and Donald Trump himself before the American people?
Thus far, the answer to this question is apparent. The incoming Trump administration is set to put their own interests, and the interests of their big corporate backers, ahead at everyone else’s expense. President-elect Trump has chosen nominees comprised mostly of the super wealthy (including five billionaires), Wall Street insiders, industry lobbyists, corporate shills, Project 2025 architects, and those with ethical red flags. Several have already come under scrutiny for their significant conflicts of interest that welcome corruption and a system rigged further in favor of billionaires, powerful special interests, and big corporations, while working-class Americans bear the consequences.
Accountable.US has brought to light several of these conflicts that raise alarms about the nominees’ intention of using their power for their own benefit or looking out for their rich friends and former clients. But that was always the goal. President-elect Trump made a deliberate decision to stack his administration with billionaires, loyalists, and industry insiders. The mission is clear: serve wealthy and corporate interests, even when that agenda harms working families.
For all the lip service President-elect Trump has paid to working people, he’s clearly gearing up to play the same old Washington insider game that forgets all about them. It will have the same results: an economy that only works for a select group of wealthy elites, not everyone. Let’s review key concerns senators should address in the coming days:
Self-Enrichment and Conflicts of Interest That Threaten Public Interest
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Pam Bondi, for Attorney General: At least five of the former Florida AG turned lobbyist Pam Bondi’s major lobbying clients have faced DOJ fines, investigations, or related scrutiny that could pose serious conflicts if she is confirmed as AG.
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Sean Duffy, for Transportation Secretary: Duffy has lobbied for the same airlines that are now suing the agency to overturn rulemaking to protect surprise fees.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, for Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services: Dr. Oz has disclosed up to $56M in three companies with direct CMS interests, on top of six-figure stakes in leading private Medicare Advantage insurers while he has advocated for privatizing Medicare at the expense of seniors.
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Howard Lutnick, for Department of Commerce: Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has faced millions of dollars in financial regulator fines.
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Governor Doug Burgum, for Department of the Interior: Burgum has taken as much as $51,000 per year leasing his family land to big oil corporations, a cozy relationship that could lead to special industry treatment on the backs of consumers from the Interior Department.
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Kash Patel, for FBI Director: Revised tax filings for Patel’s non-profit group, which claims to pay legal fees and provide financial assistance to federal whistleblowers, veterans, law enforcement officers, and the families of January 6th defendants, revealed a massive cash grab for Patel’s close associate – payments that went unreported in previous filings.
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Thomas Homan, Trump “border czar”: Homan’s private consulting firm touts Trump’s endorsement while claiming it has secured “tens of millions of dollars of federal contracts” for his homeland security industry firm clients – raising questions whether he’ll exploit his new title to steer more lucrative federal contracts to his clients for his own personal gain.
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Chris Wright, for Energy Secretary: The CEO of Liberty Energy has business interests in the oil, gas, and mining industries that could constitute a substantial conflict of interest should he be confirmed.
Selling Out Working Americans, Seniors
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Russ Vought, for Office of Budget and Management: A key Project 2025 architect who has a nearly 20-year record working on Republican efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare — including overseeing numerous Trump budget proposals to significantly cut Medicare and Social Security over a ten-year period. Vought was also an “architect” of Trump’s proposed Schedule F, an executive order to “gut” the federal workforce he warned could help the administration wield policy “through executive power alone.”
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Scott Bessent, for U.S. Treasury Department: The Wall Street hedge fund manager has been a vocal cheerleader for the Trump plan for a national sales tax that is expected to increase prices and leave the typical U.S. family paying as much as $3,900 more yearly.
Unfit to Serve
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Robert Kennedy Jr., for Department of Health and Human Services: RFK Jr. may have committed felonies under New York’s Election Law by registering for and voting in the November 5th, 2024 general election from a New York residence that courts had ruled he did not legally reside.
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Michael Anton, for Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State: Anton has a disturbing history of authoring inflammatory essays riddled with white nationalism, islamophobia, and conspiracy theories.
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Pete Hegseth, for Secretary of Defense: Several former military and defense officials have criticized Hegseth’s nomination, including Retired Major General William Enyart, who said: “If Hegseth is confirmed, he’ll be the most spectacularly unqualified person ever nominated and ever confirmed to the position.”
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Patel, continued: Even former Trump officials reportedly regarded Patel as “dangerous,” including General Mark Milley, who feared he would break the law for Trump, and former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, who said “Over my dead body” when Trump entertained naming Patel deputy director of the FBI.
All eyes are now on senators to do their jobs and property vet each and every one of these nominees. If senators choose to ignore or make excuses for the historic potential for corruption at the expense of everyday Americans, they will be every bit as responsible for the fallout – no matter how much “concern” and surprise they express later when these nominees act as they always have.
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