Billionaires, Botox, and bad appointments: the Trump cabinet and the Gaetz chaos

Trump’s Cabinet: A Billionaire Bonanza Seth Meyers has a bone to pick with the state of American politics, and it’s not just about the usual mess. On Late Night Wednesday, he threw a spotlight on how billionaires are running the show—and not just from behind the scenes anymore. "Our political system is dominated by billionaires," Meyers lamented. "Both sides are captive to wealthy interests." Sure, Kamala Harris had her own billionaire backing, but Trump’s cabinet picks? A who’s who of the ultra-rich, handpicked by one of the wealthiest men alive. It’s no surprise that he's stacking his cabinet with billionaires like Howard Lutnick, a billionaire transition adviser tapped for commerce secretary, and Elon Musk, who’s now leading the brand-new “Department of Government Efficiency.” Rounding out the crew? Linda McMahon, former WWE CEO, as secretary of education. “What does a former head of a wrestling league know about education?” Meyers quipped. “Oh no, are teachers gonna open class now making sweaty threats into a microphone?” It’s a situation so rich, it could start its own Goldman Sachs branch in the White House. “Billionaires are effectively running the government now,” Meyers pointed out, “and even the picks who aren’t billionaires themselves have billionaires backing them.” Meyers also weighed in on Matt Gaetz , Trump’s pick for attorney general, with Musk chiming in on X (formerly Twitter). "Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets for AG: a big brain, a spine of steel, and an axe to grind,” Musk tweeted. Meyers, however, wasn’t having any of it. “He’s got a big brain... and an axe to grind? If you’re the nation’s top law enforcement officer, you’re not supposed to have an axe to grind... unless you’re out there fighting crime with a chainsaw.” Gaetz’s Ethics Nightmare: The Venmo Chronicles Venmo Chronicles Meanwhile, over on the House Ethics Committee front, Matt Gaetz is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel had a field day with the report investigating the Florida congressman’s alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and Venmo transactions—notably 27 payments totaling over $10,000 to two women for sex. “If you have to worry about deleting your browser history and Venmo transaction history every night, you probably shouldn’t be attorney general of the United States,” Kimmel quipped. But wait—the plot thickens. The House Ethics Committee reached an impasse when it came to releasing the findings, with Republicans voting in lockstep to protect Gaetz. "Just like you do with any ethics report that completely exonerates someone," Kimmel snarked. One lone Republican voting with Democrats could have pushed for the release of the report, but alas, Kimmel noted, "In a party full of Minions, we have to hope that one of them is a Stuart." Still, Trump remains optimistic about Gaetz’s nomination prospects, but Kimmel’s not so sure: “If Gaetz wants enough votes to get confirmed in the Senate, he’s got a lot of work to do... Not on his face – he’s already done too much on that. It looks like his forehead got Zamboni-ed or something. Maybe instead of attorney general, he could be our plastic surgeon general?” Colbert’s Take: The Gaetz Saga Continues And of course, Stephen Colbert couldn’t resist getting in on the action, taking aim at the House stalemate over whether to release the damning Gaetz report. With an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the committee, Colbert summed up the situation: "All they needed was one Republican with ethics." Spoiler alert: That Republican didn’t show up. Instead, the vote went along party lines, with Gaetz getting a free pass. Colbert was on fire with his analysis. “When Gaetz heard the words 'party lines,' he showed up with a rolled-up hundred-dollar bill,” he joked. “What I want to know is, what the hell is it that they don’t want us to see?” As for the existing information on Gaetz? “It’s so terrible that if Gaetz ever moves to a new neighborhood, he’s going to have to introduce himself door-to-door.” Colbert wasn’t finished there. He took another jab at Trump’s cabinet pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon—who, in case you missed it, has zero background in education. But hey, “those who can, do. Those who can’t, get a job in the Trump administration.” A Cabinet Built on Wealth and Weirdness So there you have it—billionaires and botox leading the charge in Trump’s cabinet, while Matt Gaetz continues to dance on the edge of scandal. It’s a political circus where money talks, and common sense is on mute. Will these billionaires use their newfound political power to fix the system, or will they simply use it to profit from it? With a cabinet made of the rich and the questionable, it seems we’re about to find out.