Besides the ill-defined Iranian war, DOJ-FBI created Epstein file debacle, tariff fiasco, Venezuela, Ecuador, Greenland and Cuba interventions, special elections turning in Democrats’ favor and the ever increasing cost for gasoline, health care, mortgages, rent, prescription drugs, food, clothing, natural gas, electricity and agri-fertilizer, President Trump has other problems.

YouGov polling reveals that nearly all of Trump’s second-term political appointees are net-unpopular. Let’s examine Trump’s `most troubling’ appointees.

Kristi Noem

Fifty-two GOP and seven Democrat Senators confirmed Kristi Noem’s appointment to serve as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary. After Noem gutted FEMA, received hundreds of court orders for unconstitutional immigration actions, spent $286 million for self-promoting DHS ads and her ICE agents killed two citizens in Minnesota and one resident in Texas, Mr. Trump had seen enough and on March 5 told Noem, “You’re fired.”

Pete Hegseth

Mr. Hegseth’s tenure as secretary of defense commenced unfavorably when a journalist and several unauthorized individuals were included in a Signal chat where details about striking Houthi targets were revealed. Hegseth’s mismanagement is under Pentagon investigation.

Gerard Baker, a journalist for the conservative-oriented Wall Street Journal, criticized Hegseth in a March 10 essay where Baker described Hegseth’s Iran wartime oratory language as “cringe-making … `death and destruction from the sky all day long’ is the sort that would be rejected by the cartoonists at Marvel Comics.”

On March 13, Hegseth said of the Iran war “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” (the refusal to take prisoners and execute everyone), which violates international law and the 1966 War Crimes Act; a serious red flag.

Currently, only 29% of citizens feel Hegseth should remain in office (Truthout).

Pam Bondi

As Trump’s attorney general, Ms. Bondi fired the Department of Justice’s top ethics adviser. Bondi then fired the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates DOJ attorney misconduct. Bondi did not fill either position. Legal experts and former judges say the DOJ is now an “ethics-free workplace” (Liz Oyer, March 5).

Despite a December 19, 2025 legal deadline requiring the release of all Epstein files, lawmakers maintain that around 50% of the files remain unreleased (ABC News). On March 17, articles of impeachment were filed against Bondi.

Only 22% of Americans believe she should remain in office, according to a March poll (Truthout).

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr’s leadership of the Health and Human Services agency has created turmoil through a series of anti-medical science decisions from issues related to children’s vaccines, mental health grants, fluoridated water, anti-vaccine advisory board and autism holocaust. A front page headline from March 14-15’s Wall Street Journal spoke volumes: “White House puts RFK on tight leash.”

Kash Patel

Kash Patel’s tenure as FBI director has been marked by multiple high-profile controversies, centering on politicization of the bureau, personnel vendettas, public misstatements, erosion of institutional norms, use of FBI resources for personal conduct, strains with foreign intelligence partners and questionable handling of several criminal investigations.

A Feb. 17 Rasmussen Report notes low morale exists among current and former FBI employees. Sixty-six percent of Americans have unfavorable to very unfavorable opinions of Mr. Patel.

Stephen Miller

Mr. Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, has been a central figure in the Trump administration’s far-right, populist, pro-tariff and anti-immigration policies (Parmar & Furse, Nagel, Bose and Apel). In 2021, Jean Guerrero, an American investigative journalist, characterized Miller as a white nationalist (anti-multicultural/racial integration).

As of Jan. 27, YouGov polling found that only 17% of respondents have a positive impression of Miller.

Brendan Carr

When Mr. Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened broadcast licenses against ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR and PBS for being critical of President Trump, freedom of the press and civil-liberty groups came unglued.

Suspending Jimmy Kimmel’s show from ABC and cancelling Stephen Colbert’s `The Late Show’ were too much for Americans; only 19% of Americans have a positive opinion of Mr. Carr (Quinnipiac poll).

Reality and Resolve

In an essay I opined, titled `Best and Worse U.S. Presidential Cabinets Ranked: What the Research Reveals,’ published Sept. 3, 2025 in The Fulcrum, research revealed Mr. Trump’s first- and second-term cabinets were the worst in US history, citing his “cabinets have been widely criticized for their lack of qualifications … appointments based on loyalty over capability … and poorly vetted appointees ….”

With over $1 billion of taxpayer funds spent – every year — to keep the Senate operating, we should expect better-vetted, approved presidential appointees.

Let your two Senators know how disappointed you are in their role in permitting Hegseth, Bondi, RFK Jr., Patel, Miller and Carr to remain on the taxpayer’s payroll while Trump’s appointees are irresponsibly serving their 348 million American constituents. Senators’ and citizens’ silence effectively endorses the status quo.

Americans’ sentiment is clear. Mr. Trump: Say it again six more times, “you’re fired!”

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Steve Corbin is a Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and non-paid freelance guest

columnist contributor to 158 newspapers and 47 social media platforms in 44 states.