In nominating Matt Gaetz for attorney-general and Pete Hegseth to helm the Pentagon, President-elect Donald Trump has picked two pugnacious candidates with a mandate to gut and transform the institutions they would take over.
And for them, it's personal. Like many of Trump's picks, Gaetz, 42, and Hegseth, 44, are Trump loyalists who lack the experience typically expected for such high-level roles.
What sets them apart is that they both feel victimised by the agencies they would take over, giving them further motivation to embrace Trump's call for a to-the-bones makeover after he takes office in January.
As the country's top law enforcement official, Gaetz would oversee a Justice Department that spent nearly three years scrutinising him and pursued two criminal cases against Trump after he left the White House in 2021.
Gaetz, who resigned from his congressional seat after his nomination last week, was the subject of a federal investigation over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.
He denied any wrongdoing and ultimately was not charged by prosecutors.
For Hegseth, a former Fox News host, becoming defence secretary would mean leading the institution where he had dedicated his life before he felt it spurned him.
He served tours of duty with the National Guard in Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded two Bronze Stars.
But Hegseth said he was told by his superiors to stand down from guard duty during President Joe Biden's inaugural in 2021 over concerns that his tattoos symbolised white supremacy.
Hegseth has denied the interpretation and has said he felt unwanted by the military.
Hegseth and Gaetz are now looking to carry through Trump's reforms and perhaps gain some payback in the process.
In a social media message posted hours before Trump announced his nomination, Gaetz said: "We ought to have a full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people.
"And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I'm ready to get going!"
Hegseth has disparaged efforts to diversify the armed forces, opposed women in combat roles and questioned whether the
top American general was in his position because of his skin colour.
"Rarely do we see cabinet nominees who pledge to be activists in their role," said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida.
"This time around ... the nominees are pledging a disruptive level of activism targeted directly at the departments they are being asked to oversee."
That's exactly the point, Trump's supporters say.
"The reality this time is, we actually know what we're doing. And it's about surrounding my father with people who are competent and loyal.
"They will deliver on his promises," Trump's son Donald Trump Jr said to Fox News on Sunday.
Elon Musk, named to co-head an agency aimed at improving government efficiency, weighed in on Tuesday, saying in a post on X: "Matt Gaetz has three critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind."
The nominations of Gaetz and Hegseth could serve as an early test of Trump's relationship with the newly elected, Republican-majority Senate and an indicator of how far Trump is willing to go to defend his most controversial choices.
Trump has threatened to place some of his nominees on the job through a recess appointment in which they would bypass the Senate confirmation process and serve temporarily.
"President Trump was re-elected by a resounding mandate from the American people to change the status quo in Washington," said Karoline Leavitt whom Trump has named as his White House press secretary.
Daniel Richman, a criminal law professor at Columbia University said: "The threat level with Matt Gaetz is considerable. This is somebody who has demonstrated a clear disdain for the process of the Department of Justice."
Richman said Trump likely will ensure Gaetz has allies at his disposal.
"We have to assume there are agents and prosecutors ready to carry out some vindictive agenda on the attorney-general's part."
Hegseth could spearhead Trump's efforts to push out generals and other senior leaders at the Pentagon whom he views as impediments to his policy agenda.
Trump pledged that Hegseth, if confirmed, would "return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence".
* The writer is from Reuters