If there is one constant in Donald Trump's administration, it is this: To gain power, one must first submit to acts of public humiliation.

JD Vance went through it, transforming overnight from a Trump critic who once compared him to Hitler into one of his most fervent defenders. So did Marco Rubio, who spent a presidential primary trading insults with Trump before ultimately kneeling before him to become secretary of state.

Each has climbed higher in Trump's orbit only after first being made to grovel.

If proving ultimate loyalty to a mob boss requires committing a serious crime on his behalf, those seeking to become "made men" in Trump's orbit must first debase themselves in public.

It is initiation by humiliation — a test not of competence, but of submission.

The simplest way to clear that bar is also the most demeaning: Refusing to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

The ritual goes like this. A nominee is asked, "Who won the 2020 election?" They answer, "Biden was certified as president of the United States."

This call and response signals that the person is willing to lie for Trump, or at least willing to dodge the truth on his behalf. If someone won't acknowledge something as simple as who won the 2020 presidential election, they'll be willing to do or say almost anything else Trump demands of them.

It is a loyalty test disguised as a matter of semantics.

The latest person to take the 2020 loyalty test was Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, whom Trump has tapped as director of national intelligence.

Clayton was once a well-respected lawyer and served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump's first term, a position that earned him a reputation as a careful lawyer and institutionalist.

He is someone who knows better — which makes him the perfect person for Trump to tap...