Donald Trump has sent further shockwaves through Washington’s national security and law enforcement establishment after tapping two controversial loyalists to head the US justice department and America’s spy agencies.
The selections of Matt Gaetz, a polarising Republican congressman, to be attorney-general, and Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, to be director of national intelligence, come as Trump is moving quickly to stack his cabinet with personal protégés.
The moves immediately drew criticism that the president-elect is disregarding qualifications to place his most ardent supporters at the helm of the country’s crucial government institutions.