Days away from the second inauguration of Donald Trump, his Cabinet picks are sniping some attention during contentious confirmation hearings.

Pete Hesgeth has been this week’s choice for meat-on-a-stick as Senate Democrats have been doing their best to grill him in what will prove to be nothing more than political theatre. With the backing of Trump and a three-vote GOP majority, his confirmation seems highly likely.

Hesgeth will just be the opening act though to the headliner of the confirmation hearings: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Whether it’s his stance against vaccination, for raw milk, or firing all the nutritionists at the FDA, Kennedy, the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is anything but boring and uncontroversial.

CSPAN’s ratings are about to skyrocket.

I do have to wonder though one thing about all the confirmation hearings: does it really matter?

Frankly, with Donald Trump in office, this feels like the equivalent of preseason baseball (which starts in about a month!)

No matter what you think about Donald Trump, one thing that’s true is those around him generally aren’t there for too long … at least not when he’s president.

Of the 25 cabinet positions, 19 of them have been with Biden from the start in 2021, or 76 percent. By comparison, only seven, or 28 percent, of Trump’s Cabinet stayed with him from the start.

And love him or hate him, it’s not hard to imagine working with him would present challenges. He’s remarked he’s quick to fire people who are under-performing and because of that, or for other reasons, employees are equally quick to quit on him, further increasing that turnover.

And no one is more likely to be fired, or to quit, than RFK.

I’m more inclined to bet on Elon Musk having the first break-up with President Trump as both are too strong-willed to play nice for long. But he’s not a Cabinet member, so he doesn’t qualify.

RFK though is on an equally fast collision course with his soon-to-be boss.

And while RFK may harbor some unconventional beliefs, those alone aren’t going to be a problem with Trump.

What will be a problem, unfortunately, may be one of his best ideas.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, is a longtime critic of the food industry and specifically additives and preservatives they use.

Just a few months ago at a rally for President Trump, Kennedy stated the food industry is poisoning our kids.

Whether it’s shells at Taco Bell, fries at McDonalds or Fruit Loops from the grocery store, food in Kennedy’s ideal world would look … and taste … much differently than it does today.

And while RFK may want to change the oils used to fry McNuggets or preservatives added to deli meat, he may not have the authority, even with the backing of the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA’s purpose isn’t to enact legislation, but to enforce it as passed by Congress.

But we’ve seen regulatory agencies like the EPA creating mandates which act like a law so maybe RFK’s onto something.

Unfortunately though for him, that’s a trick typically used by the Democratic party, of which Kennedy used to be a member.

Republicans typically advocate for smaller government and less regulations, except for the occasional exception-worthy social or domestic issue.

But again, Kennedy’s biggest obstacle may be Trump and to a lesser extent, who Trump represents: The American people.

In many ways, Trump is nothing like you or me. As someone born into wealth, he has lived his entire life from an entirely different perspective than 99 percent of those reading this.

But there’s one way Trump is just like you and me and most Americans: The man likes his fast food.

Trump’s renowned for loving Big Macs and other things McDonalds, which may be the most American thing about him.

And while Kennedy has been publicly critical of Trump’s diet, he might want to stop there. If he’s serious about enacting widespread change that would disrupt American fast food, he’s going to find out quickly how responsive Trump is to not only his own cravings, but those of the American people.

Nine months. That’s how long I give Kennedy on Trump’s cabinet. And that might be overly generous.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of The Lincoln County Journal, Elsberry Democrat and Troy Free Press. While Taco Bell is his fast food guilty pleasure, he confesses the occasional Big Mac craving as well. Contact him at gorear@cherryroadmedia.com.