As the presidential-election controversy subsides, President-elect George W. Bush continues his transition into the White House and prepares to step into his role as leader of the nation.Considering the mass confusion surrounding the Nov. 7 election and the tangle of lawsuits and recounts in the weeks that followed, experts said Bush may have to work extra hard to earn the trust of the American public.”Presidents always have to do a lot to earn the trust of the people, for different reasons,” said Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science. “Bush will have to do it because he got elected in a kind of controversial way. It’s a challenge for Bush to show that he deserves the support of even those who didn’t vote for him.”Bush recently completed his Cabinet appointments, which also often spurs controversy, Schmidt said.”There’s always some trouble, sometimes really serious trouble, getting [appointments] approved by the Senate,” he said. “That was true of Clinton, too. He had a huge problem trying to get an attorney general.”John Ashcroft, a conservative Republican from Missouri who lost his Senate seat in the November election, is expected to face one of the toughest confirmation hearings for his nomination as attorney general, Schmidt said.”I think because Ashcroft is very conservative in things like abortion and gays’ rights, and also things like race relations or affirmative action, people might think he’s too narrow in those issues,” Schmidt said.Other appointees who may have tough questioning ahead of them are Linda Chavez, labor secretary nominee, Christine Whitman, Environmental Protection Agency secretary nominee, and Donald Rumsfeld, defense secretary nominee.”[Ashcroft, Chavez and Whiteman] are definitely getting hit up by some of the interest groups, saying that these people are not generally known as being champions in their fields,” said Aaron Fister, president and producer of ISU9’s “Politics Unlimited.” “[Chavez] is not pro-union by any means, so the union groups are saying they’re going to go after her.”Chavez’s confirmation may be further complicated by the transition team’s confirmation that she took a Guatemalan woman, who was in the country illegally, into her home and gave her spending money. According to CNN.com, Chavez said she did not know the woman was an illegal immigrant.Ann Veneman, agriculture secretary nominee, may also cause discomfort among Midwestern farmers because of her Californian-agriculture background. However, Dee Stewart, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party, defended Veneman’s appointment.”I think she is a person known to be an expert in the agricultural field,” he said. “All of George W. Bush’s appointments are widely regarded as people of integrity, experience and leaders in their respective fields of expertise, and I think that they will serve Bush and the nation very well.”The Senate charged with confirming Bush’s Cabinet is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, which could help increase cooperation between the parties, Schmidt said.”That is not a particularly good situation to be in, because if things are completely divided, you don’t want to call in the vice president all the time to break a tie and have such a slim majority,” he said. “I think the Republicans are already showing that they want to sit down and work with the Democrats.The 50-50 Senate also may enable Democrats to deadlock legislative action, said Fister, junior in management information systems.”The Democrats can definitely block whatever legislation they want to, and they can make it look like nothing has happening so they have a better chance of taking over in 2002,” he said. “They definitely have a need, thinking politically, for them to take back over Congress, which is really a big deal.”The slowing economy is a major concern for the country, and Schmidt said this may strengthen Bush’s case for a tax cut.”A tax cut, if it can be quickly implemented and passed through the economy, like in the first quarter or half of this year, will be putting money back into the economy and people’s pockets,” he said. “I think it will improve his chances of getting even Democrats to approve his tax cut.”