Trump names veggies Ramaswamy & Gabbard + vivisector Oz to inner circle

Ramaswami & Gabbard will have no direct authority over animal policy,  but Dr. Oz & David Weldon will have a role in directing animal research

WASHINGTON D.C.––“A growing number of animal advocates fall for what seems to me to be an obvious falsehood, which is that former president [and now president elect] will in some way benefit other creatures,”  opined Slaughter-Free America blogger Jon Hochschartner on November 23,  2024.

“Such advocates point to Trump’s cabinet selections,”  Hochschartner continued.  “They cite [National Intelligence Director nominee] Tulsi Gabbard’s veganism,  [Department of Government Efficiency nominee] Vivek Ramaswamy’s vegetarianism,  [Attorney General nominee] Pam Bondi’s support for various welfare measures,  and [Secretary of Health & Human Services nominee] Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s past criticism of factory farming.

“Political parties are coalitions”

“The truth is,  though,”  Hochschartner pointed out,  “political parties are coalitions. Whatever the nominees’ personal views,  they will be constrained by the broader Republican Party,  which is hostile to nonhuman progress.

“That said,”  Hochschartner added,  “I don’t mean to concede that the aforementioned nominees actually have pro-animal perspectives.  Take Kennedy,  for example.  Yes, he has criticized factory farming.  However,  the conspiracy theorist has also condemned cellular agriculture,  which I view as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death.  He has even attacked plant-based alternatives as part of a secret plan to control the food system.”

One does not have to come from the left side of the political spectrum,  as Hochschartner proudly does,  to perceive an element of whistling past the graveyard in the quest of animal advocates,  particularly Direct Action Everywhere founder and Simple Heart blogger Wayne Hsiung,  to find some cause for optimism about animal issues under the forthcoming second Donald Trump regime.

What actual hope do Ramaswamy & Gabbard offer?

Having already reviewed the records pertaining to animals of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pam Bondi,  what in the biographies and appointments of either Vivek Ramaswamy or Tulsi Gabbard suggests hope for animals in their Trump administration positions?

(See RFK Jr., named to head Health & Human Services, offers little for animals and The animal backgrounds of Trump cabinet nominees Rollins, Bondi, & McMahon.)

Assuming,  that is,  that the Gabbard nomination survives forthcoming U.S. Senate screening.  As with Kennedy,  her nomination appears to be in jeopardy.

Ramaswamy is unlikely to be allowed to cut “red state” farm subsidies

Ramaswamy,  nominated to share leadership of the newly created,  non-cabinet level Department of Government Efficiency with fellow billionaire Elon Musk,  does not need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to take office.

Neither,  however,  does Ramaswamy have direct authority over any actual branch of the U.S. government,  either at the cabinet level or anywhere else.

Ramaswamy and Musk are expected to make recommendations for $500 billion in federal budget cuts.

The $213 billion Department of Agriculture budget,  including $30 billion in subsidies chiefly supporting animal agriculture,  would at a glance appear to be an easy target for budget-cutting.

But 27 of the 28 states receiving the most money in farm subsidies are states whose voters favored Trump,  as well as Republican candidates for Congress,  in the 2024 national election.  The likelihood that the Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will endorse budget cuts that majorly hurt their constituencies is slim and none.

Animal Welfare Act enforcement budget could be vulnerable

A more vulnerable target,  in view of the Ramaswamy and Musk pledge to target regulatory spending not specifically authorized by Congress,  would be the $1.1 billion budget of the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service,  including the $4 million or thereabouts allocated for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act––a primary target of the previous Donald Trump administration.

To be sure,  Ramaswamy,  39,   is a lifelong vegetarian.  In 2020 Ramaswamy opined that,  “I believe it is wrong to kill sentient animals for culinary pleasure,”  as the Wall Street Journal reminded readers in 2024.

On November 5,  2024,  one day before the U.S. national election,   Ramaswamy reportedly posted to X,  formerly Twitter,   “Animal cruelty will eventually become a genuine concern for conservatives.  It’s already happening.  Count me in.”

Political history does not support Ramaswamy’s statement

But Abraham Lincoln,  the first Republican president,  1861-1865,  reputedly remarked “I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.”

Nearly 100 years passed before Republican president Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958.

Republican president Richard Nixon subsequently signed into law the Horse Protection Act of 1970,  the Wild Free-Ranging Horse & Burros Act of 1970,  the Animal Welfare Act of 1971,  the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972,  and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The also Republican George W. Bush administration and the previous Trump administration both conspicuously failed to fully enforce any of these laws.

Regardless of whatever Ramaswamy may hope to do in the Trump administration,  the odds are against his accomplishing much against any entrenched animal industry.

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard,  the Humane Society Legislative Fund offered in 2019,   “has been a consistent supporter of animal protection legislation since being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012,”  representing Hawaii.

Gabbard,  the Humane Society Legislative Fund detailed,  cosponsored “legislation to end the domestic shark fin trade,  create a felony penalty for malicious animal cruelty,  and crack down on puppy mills,”  and “voted for the PAST Act,  which would end horse soring abuses.

“Previously,”  the Humane Society Legislative Fund said,  “Gabbard has voted to crack down on animal fighting in the U.S. territories,  and against stripping Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in the Lower 48 states.”

“We were all raised vegetarian”

Explained Gabbard to Jasmin Singer of VegNews,  in an interview published on February 19,  2020,  “I have been a lifelong vegetarian.  There are five kids in our family.  We were all raised vegetarian.  And my parents,  they were living in American Samoa.  There was a very meat-based diet there,  and they were looking for how they could eat in a more health-conscious way.

“My dad said that one day they were out with the family at a community Luau type of thing, and he bit into a piece of chicken,  and it was raw and bloody.  And at that moment he was just like,  ‘I can’t do this anymore.’  And so that’s when my parents became vegetarian and raised us kids in that way.

“For me,”  Gabbard added,  “deciding to be vegetarian is rooted in a very strong spiritual foundation as a practicing Hindu—and an awareness and a care and compassion for all living beings.”

“Factory farms have to be a thing of the past”

Gabbard insisted then that she wanted “to bring awareness around the environment and climate change.  There is a direct correlation to our diet and the choices that we make,  what we eat,  and what we put in our bodies every day,”  she told Singer.

“When you look at the impact that we could have in the world and on the planet by people moving to a plant-based diet,  or even just starting to move in that direction,  it’s really quite tremendous.

“Factory farms have to be a thing of the past,”  Gabbard declared.  “Throughout the time I’ve spent in Iowa,”  in a short-lived 2020 campaign for the U.S. presidential nomination,  “we’ve seen the horrifying ways animals are treated in these farms and the incredible,  ravaging impact that it has on the communities where these farms are located.

“Supporting more ethical and organic farming has to be the place that we go when it comes to farming,”  Gabbard insisted,  also arguing for “Ending animal testing,”  and  “To ban puppy mills.”

Gabbard,  even if confirmed as National Intelligence Director,  in that capacity would have little or nothing to do with either animals or animal policies.

Dr. Oz,  vivisector

Offsetting any positive effect that either Ramaswamy or Gabbard might have,  Mehmet Cengiz Oz,  the Trump nominee to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,  would if confirmed bring to his office arguably the worst record on animal issues of any Trump nominee yet.

Oz,  64,  known on television as “Dr. Oz,”  before becoming a TV personality notorious for amplifying quackery,  was previously a surgeon for 14 years,  and professor of surgery and professor emeritus at Columbia University for 22 years.

On September 25,  2003,  People for the Ethical Treatment [PETA] wrote to the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service detailing multiple alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act by Oz and his Columbia University research team.

USDA fined Columbia University for Oz’s Animal Welfare Act violations

“In May 2004,”  reported Kylie Cheung on October 3,  2022 for the online magazine Jezebel,   “Columbia University was ordered by the USDA to pay a $2,000 penalty for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

“The fine paid by Columbia was the result of a settlement between the university and the USDA, based on the findings of Columbia’s internal investigation of Oz’s research.”

Elaborated Cheung,  “Over the course of 75 studies published in academic journals reviewed by Jezebel,  Oz’s team conducted experiments on at least 1,027 live animal subjects,”  among them “dogs, pigs,   calves, rabbits,  and small rodents.  Thirty-four of these experiments resulted in the deaths of at least 329 dogs,  while two of his experiments killed 31 pigs,  and 38 experiments killed 661 rabbits and rodents.”

Cruel euthanasia procedures

Eventually  testimony relayed by PETA “from a whistleblower and veterinarian named Catherine Dell’Orto,”  Cheung explained,  led to the USDA charges,  many of which pertained to failure to euthanize suffering animals and/or cruel euthanasia procedures.

“Dell’Orto testified that a dog experimented on by Oz’s team experienced lethargy, vomiting, paralysis, and kidney failure,”  wrote Cheung,  “but wasn’t euthanized for a full two days.  She alleged that at least one dog was kept alive for a month for continued experimentation despite her unstable, painful condition,  and despite how data from her continued experimentation was deemed unusable.”

Also,  “According to Dell’Orto, one Oz-led study resulted in a litter of puppies being killed by intracardiac injection with syringes of expired drugs inserted in their hearts without any sedation.  Upon being killed,  the puppies were allegedly left in a garbage bag with living puppies who were their littermates.”

The complete set of PETA allegations is accessible at https://web.archive.org/web/20050210225048/http:/www.columbiacruelty.com/letters/USDA1104.pdf.

Weldon argued “There’s no wildlife” in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Trump on November 22,  2024 nominated another retired medical doctor,  David Weldon,  71,  who is also a former Republican Congressional Representative from Florida,  to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC]––one of the agencies with the most involvement in animal research.

Weldon remains notorious for having argued on the June 17,  2012 edition of the Central Florida News 13 broadcast Political Connections that “There’s no wildlife” in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,  which Donald Trump has long argued should be opened up to oil exploration and drilling.

The oil industry,  incidentally,  in recent years has shown little interest in whatever oil might be beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,  since hydrofracking in the Lower 48 produces more oil at less production cost.

“It’s like a moonscape,”  with musk oxen & polar bears

“I have gone up there,”  Weldon said.  “It’s like a moonscape.   There’s no trees,  there’s no animals. They call it a wildlife refuge,  but there’s absolutely nothing up there.  It’s just tundra,  it’s ice.  And in my opinion you can drill safely up there.”

Pointed out Katie Sanders of Florida PoliFact four days later,  the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge website “boasts of 42 fish species,  37 land mammals,  eight marine mammals,  and more than 200 migratory and resident bird species.”

Sanders conceded that,  “Weldon does have a point about there being no trees. While the southern part of the refuge,  known as the boreal forest,  is heavily forested,  the greenery turns to shrubs and grass farther north.”

Lemmings too

Explained Alan Springer,  identified by Sanders as a research professor at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks,  “This is a tundra biome,  not a forest.  That fact hardly diminishes its intrinsic value as a pristine, unique ecosystem.”

Among the better known resident animal species,  Arctic National Wildlife Refuge supervisory ecologist and veterinarian David Payer enumerated,  include “Musk oxen,  wolves, wolverines,  Arctic and red foxes,  polar and grizzly bears,  ptarmigan and ravens,  lemmings,  and about 169,000 caribou.

Sanders gave Weldon a “pants-on-fire” veracity rating.

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