US President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Wednesday, stunning some allies and making clear that he is serious about reshaping - and in some cases testing - America's institutions.

Trump's choice of congressman Matt Gaetz, 42, for US attorney general, America's top law enforcement officer, was a surprising pick.

The former attorney has never worked in the Justice Department, or as a prosecutor, and was investigated by the Justice Department over sex trafficking allegations, Reuters reported.

His office said in 2023 that he had been told by prosecutors he would not face criminal charges.

Trump tapped Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.

The former Democratic congresswoman-turned-Trump-ally has in the past spoken out against military intervention in the civil war in Syria under former President Barack Obama and implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine, America's ally.

"I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community, championing our constitutional rights and securing peace through strength," Trump said in a statement.

Gabbard has little direct experience with intelligence work and had not been widely expected to be tapped for the post, which oversees 18 spy agencies, Reuters reported.

She was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a major in the Hawaii National Guard and is now a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.

On Tuesday, Trump chose Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and veteran, to be his secretary of defense. Hegseth has opposed women in combat roles and questioned whether the top American general was promoted to his position because of his skin color.

He also lobbied Trump during his 2017-2021 term to pardon servicemembers who allegedly committed war crimes.

Sprinkled in with those personnel choices were more conventional selections. Trump said on Wednesday he would nominate Senator Marco Rubio, who is a hardliner on China, as his new secretary of state.

But on the whole, his selections signal a radical shift in the way the U.S. government conducts its business and in the role America will play in the world over the next four years, Reuters reported.

One common thread for Trump's picks: He chose unfailingly loyal people who are unlikely to push back against his most controversial orders, analysts said.

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are drawing up a list of military officers to be fired, potentially to include the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two sources said, in what would be an unprecedented shakeup at the Pentagon, Reuters reported.

The planning for the firings is at an early stage after Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory and could change as Trump’s administration takes shape, said the sources, who are familiar with the Trump transition and requested anonymity to speak candidly about the plans.

One of the sources questioned the feasibility of a mass firing at the Pentagon.

It was also unclear if Trump himself would endorse the plan, although in the past he has railed extensively against defense leaders who have criticized him. Trump has also spoken during the campaign of [USN:L1N3MD1PE TEXT:“firing “woke” generals"] and those responsible for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The second source said the incoming administration would likely focus on U.S. military officers seen as connected to Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, read the report.

Milley was quoted in the book “War” by Bob Woodward, which was published last month, calling Trump “fascist to the core” and Trump’s allies have targeted him for perceived disloyalty to the former president.

“Every single person that was elevated and appointed by Milley will be gone,” the second source said.

“There’s a very detailed list of everybody that was affiliated with Milley. And they will all be gone.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff include the highest ranking officers in the U.S. military and comprise the heads of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force.

The disclosure of plans to fire senior leaders of the U.S. armed forces comes a day after Trump [USN:S0N3M808W TEXT:“picked as his defense secretary Pete Hegseth”], a Fox News commentator and veteran who has signaled a willingness to clean house at the Pentagon.

“The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired,” Hegseth said in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”

It is unclear if Hegseth’s lack of management experience could complicate his Senate confirmation and if a more traditional alternative for the position would carry out such sweeping dismissals.

Hegseth has also taken aim at Milley’s successor, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, asking whether he would have gotten the job if he were not Black, Reuters reported.

“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt - which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” he wrote.

The first source familiar with the transition planning said Brown would be among the many officers to leave.

“The chiefs of the Joint Chiefs and all the vice chiefs will be fired immediately,” the source said, before noting that this was still only early planning.

Some current and former U.S. officials have played down the possibility of such a major shakeup, saying it would be unnecessary and disruptive at a time of global turmoil with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The first source said that it would be difficult bureaucratically to fire and replace a large swath of senior U.S. military officials, suggesting the planning could be bluster and posturing by Trump allies.

But the second source suggested the Trump camp believed the Joint Chiefs of Staff needed to shrink due to perceived bureaucratic over-reach.

Such cuts could be endured in an organization the scale of the U.S. military, the source said.

“These people are not irreplaceable. They are very replaceable. And then the other thing too is there is no shortage of people that will step up,” the source said.

“In World War Two, we were very rapidly appointing people in their 30s or people competent to be generals. And you know what? We won the war.”

Former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned on Wednesday that turning back on Afghanistan would be a mistake, adding that the Doha Agreement can be the basis for Donald Trump administration's engagement with the Islamic Emirate.

Speaking at the Global and National Security Institute in the University of South Florida, Khalilzad emphasized that the United States considers its interests in Afghanistan. He added that the issues in this regard include prisoners, terrorism, weapons, competition with other superpowers, and resources.

“My judgment would be turning our back is a mistake, would not be prudent, would not be wise, and revenge for what happened would not be a good motive to shape the policy. It should be future-oriented as to what serves US interests, and engagement would be necessary in my view,” Khalilzad said.

The former US diplomat said that the biggest challenge is whether “we can get Afghans to get to agree to anything together.”

He also said that there are alternative ways to engage with the Islamic Emirate in the light of the new circumstances and the assessment by the Trump administration of US interests, US objectives, and US grand strategy.

Khalilzad warned that the Islamic Emirate's refusal to form an inclusive government is a mistake and will create problems.

This comes as the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly claimed that it is committed to the Doha Agreement and that the current government in Afghanistan is inclusive.