The electoral college isn't just voting for Trump, it's also voting for the people in his cabinet - who are even worse

Trump has refilled his swamp with oil giants, banking executives, anti-gay lobbyists, semi-professional conspiracy theorists, retired generals and too many men named Michael

Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, has been named the new US Secretary of State (Rex Features)

“Drain the swamp” was the rallying cry of Donald Trump and his entourage during the last few months of the election campaign. As the Electoral College members head to cast their vote at Capitol Hill, they may want to re-evaluate his pledge.

In a world of post-truth politics, Trump has refilled his swamp with oil giants, banking executives, anti-gay lobbyists, semi-professional conspiracy theorists, retired generals and too many men named Michael.

Retired General Michael Flynn, incoming national security adviser, is reportedly prompting a mass exodus from the defence department due to his scarily Islamophobic views. Flynn's soon-to-be deputy, KT McFarland, insists that Muslims want to destroy western civilisation. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state, has incredibly close ties to the Kremlin, at a time when Russia is being investigated for hacking the election. The labour secretary and fast food CEO, Andy Puzder, is strongly against working people earning the minimum wage. He earns $17,000 per day. Scott Pruitt, incoming head of the Environmental Protection Agency, wants to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. Gary Cohn, president of Goldman Sachs and a key player in the 2008 financial crisis, is about to get his hands on the national economic council.

Just a few more. Ben Carson said a few weeks ago that he had no governmental experience and would feel like a "fish out of water" to run a federal agency. He will be leading policy on housing and urban development. Energy secretary Rick Perry could not remember the name of the department he wanted to dismantle during a television debate in 2011 - it was the energy department. James "Mad Dog" Mattis, the secretary of defence, told veterans in 2005 that it was "a lot of a lot of fun to shoot some people".

These appointments are being overseen and encouraged by Stephen Bannon, Trump's chief adviser and the man who boasted that his website, Breitbart, provided a platform for white supremacists.

Trump's cabinet is arguably one of the least educated in political history. And, as Bernie Sanders pointed out, it is also one of the richest. Trump’s 17 cabinet appointees have more wealth than one third of American households.

Even where Trump can be viewed more favourably in terms of policy, such as his moderate stance on the minimum wage, paid maternity leave and transgender rights, people in his cabinet will undermine any vestiges of New York liberalism from the President-elect. They are hardliners. Hardline climate change deniers, hardline pro-guns, hardline anti-abortion - without any exceptions for rape or incest. This cabinet will be key in advising the president-elect, shaping and implementing policy, and acting as the mouthpiece of the American government.

Given this impending horror, there were some almost desperate attempts to stop the 538 members of the electoral college voting for Trump today. Petitions abounded, gathering millions of names. People wanted to scrap, or at least reform, the electoral college. Faithless electors declared they would break ranks and vote for a more moderate Republican. But most of those faithless electors are democrat and bound to vote for Hillary Clinton. It is likely only Clinton will lose a significant number of votes.

D-Day is here, and this swamp is murkier and stinkier than ever. The electoral college might try to not blush from shame as they choose party loyalty over the prosperity of 318 million people.