establishment

Trump rattled wide swaths of the U.S. defense establishment this week with a draft executive order, whose existence was reported Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal, to create a special panel — dubbed a “warrior board” — that would have the power to force out high-ranking generals and admirals.

Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who served in Iraq, has long been critical of foreign policy establishment.

In Roberts’ analysis, Trump represents a break from the establishment, despite some of his recent cabinet appointments, like reported Secretary of State pick Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and that Trump has been a Republican power broker since 2012, when Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, traveled to New York during his presidential campaign to seek Trump’s endorsement.

Of all the president-elect’s picks for his administration so far, this is easily the most controversial - and sends a clear message that Trump intends to shake up the establishment when he returns to power.

Their bond goes deeper: Gaetz, who represents the Florida panhandle, won his first race for the House in 2016 as a Trump-style firebrand who loathed the establishment.