The Washington rumor mill is abuzz with reports that RFK Jr. is planning to announce the suspension of his independent campaign for the presidency as soon as tomorrow. It's also being claimed that he plans to toss his support to Donald Trump. Kennedy has thus far refused to either confirm or deny these stories, but if they pan out it will hardly come as a surprise. RFK has done fairly well in the polls for an independent entry, but he isn't currently in danger of actually carrying any states in the general election. Being a political animal by nature, it's also unlikely that Kennedy would toss his support to anyone if he didn't think there was something in it for him down the road. But that should lead us to ask what he might be looking for in return. Might there be a place for him in a second Trump administration? And if so, what type of position would he really be qualified for? (ABC News)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to drop out of the presidential race by the end of this week, sources familiar with the decision tell ABC News.

Sources tell ABC News that Kennedy plans to endorse Donald Trump -- but when asked directly by ABC News if he will be endorsing the former president, Kennedy said, "I will not confirm or deny that."

"We are not talking about any of that," he said.

Sources cautioned the decision is not yet finalized and could still change, with one source adding that Kennedy's hope is, in part, to finalize things quickly in order to try to blunt momentum from the Democratic National Convention.

Having RFK drop out of the race won't deliver much of an impact on the popular vote, but it might be enough to move the needle in a couple of swing states. That, of course, depends entirely on how many of his supporters who were simply disenchanted with Joe Biden or Kamala Harris are willing to flip the script entirely and back Trump. Alternately, some of them may choose to simply stay home on election day, which would still result in a net boost for the Trump campaign. It's virtually impossible to gauge how those numbers will play out at this point.

If Kennedy does switch sides and support the MAGA agenda, it will be entirely the fault of the Democrats because they have effectively driven RFK into Trump's arms. They have been waging battles in the courts to have him removed from the ballot wherever they can and they already succeeded in New York. When RFK requested a meeting with Kamala Harris recently, she refused to even see him. Having been treated in that fashion by his own party, Trump probably looks like the only game in town.

Returning to the question I posed at the top, let's imagine that Trump is willing to cut a deal and offer RFK a spot in his administration in exchange for his support. What sort of position might that be? Looking over his resume, he is primarily famous for his last name and not much else. He has a law degree and briefly served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York, so perhaps you might look at a position in the DOJ, but that's fairly thin gruel in terms of qualifications. He did a lot of legal work on behalf of environmental organizations, so perhaps a post at the EPA? Again, he's hardly an expert in the field. 

Wherever you place RFK in a future Trump cabinet, someone would always have to be watching him like a hawk. His natural proclivities tend toward progressive policies, even if he's considerably more centrist than the Squad. Based on Joe Biden's cabinet, you might be tempted to think that it really doesn't matter all that much. After all, we have a Secretary of Transportation whose only qualification for the position is that he's "always really liked cars." We have a Secretary of the Interior who has a bachelor of arts degree and majored in poetry before racking up a couple of DUI convictions and never worked a day in her life at anything resembling her current role. Our Secretary of Health and Human Services is just a lawyer and career politician, not a doctor or someone with any experience in healthcare.

But haven't we learned our lesson from all of this? We've seen the results of all of the DEI hires and they are far from impressive. Do we really want to encourage Donald Trump to start doling out cabinet positions based on backroom political deals? If elected, Trump should make every effort to distinguish himself from Joe Biden, starting by only appointing high-quality, well-qualified people to key positions. I simply don't see RFK fitting in that mold.