Last month, when Donald Trump first began his rapid-fire nomination of baggage-laden, barely vetted political allies to fill out his cabinet, Washington presumed a certain method to his madness. Sure, the likes of Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed obviously unqualified. But Trump’s straight-from-the-gut, spaghetti-at-the-wall decision-making at least suggested a patina of strategy. Republican senators, stunned into submission by the onslaught, appeared ready to capitulate in a humbling demonstration of loyalty. “If Donald Trump says jump three feet high and scratch your head, we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads,” Rep. Troy Nehls declared, one week after the election. “And that’s it.”