President Trump's nominee to be America's ambassador to Iceland had never been to the country. His pick for Slovenia shared fake far-right posts on Facebook. And his choice for the Bahamas didn't even know the islands weren't part of the U.S.
So how did these seemingly random people get tapped for such major government positions? It could be because they — along with 11 other questionable nominees — all gave an average of $350,000 each to President Trump's inaugural committee, NBC News reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rakolta isn't alone. Five other donors turned nominees have spent months waiting for Senate confirmation votes, NBC News recounts. And of the approximately 250 ambassadorships the U.S. has altogether, 52 of them are sitting empty. For comparison, former President Barack Obama had 11 empty spots at this point in his presidency, while former President George W. Bush had 15.
It's "not unusual for a president to offer plum posts to wealthy donors," NBC News concedes. But "since the 1950s," political appointees have only made up about a third of all confirmed ambassadors, NBC News says. They make up about half of Trump's crew. Read more at NBC News.
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutionalSpeed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for riflesSpeed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBISpeed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
