When the ballots were counted and the presidential race was called for Donald Trump early Wednesday morning, another race immediately began: the 11-week sprint to staff a new administration that will need to be ready to take over the management of the country on January 20.
A president’s administration includes thousands of appointees, but in the first weeks after the election, the focus will be identifying the people who will make up the president’s Cabinet.
The Cabinet traditionally includes the vice president and the leaders of the 15 departments of the executive branch, such as the State and Treasury departments. It also includes about 10 officials serving in Cabinet-level positions, such as the U.S. trade representative, the director of national intelligence and the White House chief of staff. Except for the vice president and the chief of staff, all Cabinet-level appointees require Senate confirmation.
On Thursday evening, Trump said Susie Wiles, a longtime Republican operative who was one of the two main managers of his successful campaign, would be his White House chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold that position.
A mix of backgrounds
Beyond naming Wiles, Trump has offered few specifics about whom he wants to fill key roles in his second administration.
Many who served in Cabinet and sub-Cabinet posts in his first administration have since broken with the president-elect. Some even went so far as to endorse his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. However, a sizable number of former Trump appointees have maintained good relations with him, and they may reappear in significant roles in the next administration.
Beyond that, those he might tap for key positions include current and former members of Congress as well as major figures from the business world who supported his campaign, such as SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Transition team
Presidential candidates typically set up transition teams well before the end of the election to get a head start on the process.
Jo-Anne Sears, a nonresident fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, served on transition teams for former President George W. Bush and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. She told VOA that she has been in touch with Trump transition team members and expects them to cast a wide net when considering potential appointees.
“I’m hearing from folks within the transition that they really want to bring the best and brightest to Washington, D.C.,” Sears said. “And that means they’ll come from all different parts of the country — it won’t just be New York or D.C.
“I think he’s going to try to bring people in who are true experts in their fields, whether that’s national security, homeland security, or in technological solutions to streamline government, which I think is going to be one of his goals,” Sears said.
Former Trump Cabinet appointees
Some of the most obvious choices for senior positions in Trump’s second administration are the individuals who held senior, Senate-confirmed positions in the first.
Robert Lighthizer served as U.S. trade representative for most of Trump’s first term. He may reappear in the new administration in a more senior role, such as treasury secretary.
Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA director and secretary of state at separate times in the first Trump administration, could return to one of those roles or take up the mantle of secretary of defense.
John Ratcliffe served as Trump’s director of national intelligence during the last year of his first term. He could appear in any of several roles, from a senior intelligence post to the office of the attorney general.
Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, a professional wrestling promoter, served as head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term. Currently one of the leaders of Trump’s transition team, she is said to be under consideration for commerce secretary.
Potential sub-Cabinet-level returnees
Several potential appointees have served in senior sub-Cabinet roles or in Trump’s Cabinet on an acting basis.
Richard Grenell, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and then briefly in 2020 as acting director of national intelligence, is believed to be in the running for secretary of state. Grenell is famously combative, however, and could struggle in the Senate confirmation process. He might also be a candidate for national security adviser, which is not a Cabinet-level position and does not require Senate confirmation.
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser who also served as an envoy for hostage affairs, might also assume a top job in the new administration, potentially as secretary of state.
Stephen Miller, who served first as director of speechwriting and then as a senior adviser to Trump throughout his first administration, may also return to the White House. However, like Grenell, Miller might face long odds in a confirmation hearing. What position Miller might hold is unclear, but his past focus on illegal immigration suggests a role in the Department of Homeland Security or a job related to border policy.
Larry Kudlow, the financial news commentator who served as director of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term, is rumored to be a potential candidate for a senior position on Trump’s economic team, possibly treasury secretary.
Keith Kellogg, a former Army lieutenant general who briefly served as acting national security adviser early in Trump’s term and remained in the White House as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, could take a role on the national security team.
Tom Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, could be brought back on board to lead the Department of Homeland Security and help the next president pursue his stated goal of orchestrating mass deportations of noncitizens living in the U.S.
Another possibility for Homeland Security is Chad Wolf, who led the agency for 14 months at the end of Trump’s administration. During his tenure, Wolf reliably carried out Trump’s draconian immigration policies. However, his appointment was later found to have been illegal. Wolf also resigned his position after Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general who played a key role in pressuring Justice Department officials to help overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, may also return, despite being under indictment in Georgia for attempting to overturn the election in that state. Trump briefly considered appointing Clark acting attorney general in the aftermath of the 2020 election but decided not to after the Justice Department’s senior staff said they would resign en masse.
Kash Patel, who served in several senior staff positions related to the defense and intelligence communities, may also reappear. Patel, a vocal supporter of Trump, vowed at one point that in a second term, the administration would “come after” Trump’s critics.
Jay Clayton, who served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Trump and has a long history as a business lawyer, is seen as a potential pick for Treasury who would bring confidence to the financial markets.
Brian Hook, who served as director of policy planning and later as U.S. special representative for Iran, has been mentioned as a potential nominee to lead the Department of Defense.
One longshot candidate for a senior position is former Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who served briefly as Trump’s first national security adviser before being forced to resign for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials. Flynn has remade himself as a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist associated with the QAnon movement, and the former president has expressed some interest in bringing him back into the administration.
Current and former members of Congress
Current and former members of Congress are also potential Trump appointees, including Utah Senator Mike Lee. An attorney and ardent Trump supporter who aided efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Lee is believed to be a leading candidate for attorney general.
Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee is believed to be under consideration for various top jobs. He served as Trump’s ambassador to Japan before being elected to the Senate and could fill any of several of trade- and diplomacy-related positions.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Trump critic-turned-avid supporter, was considered as a vice presidential nominee last year. He is now considered a possible candidate for secretary of state.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is one of Trump’s most visible supporters in the African American community and may be in line for a post as secretary of housing and urban development.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a veteran Army officer and national defense hawk, is said to be under consideration for secretary of defense.
Another possibility for the Pentagon is Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and National Guard colonel who serves in Congress representing Florida. Waltz is a vocal defender of Trump in the media.
Representative Mark Green of Tennessee, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, is seen as a potential pick to run the Department of Homeland Security.
Representative Elise Stefanik of New York has been mentioned as a potential ambassador to the United Nations.
Business leaders
While Musk played a major role in funding Trump’s campaign and has signaled an openness to serving on some sort of commission aimed at making the federal government more efficient, it seems unlikely that he will serve in an official Cabinet position. Musk already serves as CEO of several companies that have billions of dollars’ worth of contracts with the federal government, including the rocket company SpaceX. This creates a web of potential conflicts of interest that would make Senate confirmation difficult.
Several figures from the world of investing and finance are also reported to be in the mix. John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has supported Trump since the president-elect’s first campaign in 2016, is reportedly under consideration for treasury secretary.
Also said to be under consideration for treasury secretary is Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and adviser to the Trump campaign.
One of the leaders of Trump’s transition team, Howard Lutnick, the CEO of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is a possible candidate for an economic policy position.
There have long been rumors that Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is a potential treasury secretary. However, recent news reports have suggested that he is not interested in the job.
The RFK Jr. factor
During the campaign, onetime independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of the former attorney general, threw his support to Trump.
In return, Trump has offered Kennedy a role in shaping public health policy. In a Zoom call with supporters late in the campaign, Kennedy said that Trump had “promised” him control of the Department of Health and Human Services – which includes the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health – and the Department of Agriculture.
However, there are doubts that Kennedy could survive a Senate confirmation vote for any Cabinet-level position. A former environmental lawyer, he has in recent decades become a prominent vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, and lawmakers might be reluctant to place him in charge of the country’s public health infrastructure.
Campaign figures
Finally, two figures who arose during Trump’s most recent presidential campaign might find their way into the White House in January.
Former Trump primary opponents-turned-supporters Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, might also be in the mix.
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