And yet, Trump has taken this tradition to a new level. His administration has featured more individuals coming from the corporate sphere than any recent administration (72 percent). This included individuals such as former secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who was the CEO of ExxonMobil. This beat George W. Bush, the next-highest president, who pulled 64 percent of his Cabinet from the corporate world.
What impact does this have? The mere presence of corporate elites in an administration, of course, does not mean that Cabinets necessarily represent elite corporate interests.
But it does deeply influence what issues get discussed and what perspectives get considered as administrators grapple with policy questions. Stocking the Cabinet with corporate veterans enables elite corporate interests to communicate their preferences easily to both Democratic and Republican administrations. Average Americans don’t have the same advantage, and given the power that Cabinet members wield over government bureaucracies, this should alarm Americans. Whose voices get heard may be distorting our policies at the expense of all but the wealthiest Americans.
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