This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on Nov. 30, 2024.
Exactly three weeks after President-elect Donald Trump won the Electoral College and national popular vote, he finished selecting the men and women who would fill the Cabinet of his second administration.Absent any potential use of recess appointments to approve their appointments, the Senate will still need to confirm Trump’s choices next year.
Many of the selections are young and less connected to the pre-Trump GOP establishment than his original cabinet, with some hailing from the business world or across the political aisle, as is the case with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat who is Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The process was completed at a rapid pace compared to 2016 when Trump took months to assemble his first Cabinet. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were also still picking Cabinet officials in late December in 2008 and 2000, respectively.
Many of the Trump 2.0 Cabinet selections express concern about China’s looming geopolitical might. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who Trump nominated for secretary of state, John Ratcliffe, who Trump chose to run the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), who Trump nominated for national security adviser, are all known China hawks.
“China is building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America,” Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, said on the “Shawn Ryan Show.”
As for Trump’s economic agenda, there are promises to lower the corporate tax rate from 21 to 15 percent, and to apply both blanket and targeted tariffs on exports from countries like Mexico, Canada, and China, although those tariffs could reach upwards of 60 percent or higher on Chinese exports in particular.
Billionaire Howard Lutnick, who Trump nominated to be the Commerce Secretary, has said he sees tariffs as a “win-win scenario” for bringing back American manufacturing. Mexico, however, has already threatened retaliatory tariffs if Trump follows through on his threat of a 25 percent tariff on the country’s exports.
For Treasury Secretary, Trump tapped billionaire financier Scott Bessent. That role involves being the federal government’s fiscal watchdog while addressing the nation’s growing debt and budget deficit, which may be compounded by Trump’s ambitious tax cuts and tariff threats.
One of Trump’s most high-profile nominees, however, has already withdrawn his name.
The president-elect tapped former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to lead the Justice Department as U.S. Attorney General. Gaetz resigned from Congress shortly after the nomination, just days before the House Ethics Committee was slated to release its report on his allegations of sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behavior.
Instead, Trump moved to nominee former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime ally of the president-elect.
There are also notable selections within healthcare, especially with Kennedy’s nomination for HHS director. Trump nominated Dr. Marty Makary, an opponent of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, to lead the Food and Drug Administration and Dr. Dave Weldon, a vaccine skeptic, to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trump also nominated North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, to be the interior secretary. The politician and businessman will also helm a new National Energy Council.
As for the Department of Energy, Trump tapped fracking entrepreneur Chris Wright to be its secretary. Wright will also serve on the energy council with Burgum.
Even though Trump tried to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 while he was busy on the campaign trail, some of his Cabinet picks have direct ties to the project’s policy blueprint.
Trump’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, authored the chapter on the Executive Office of the President. Ratcliffe was a Project 2025 adviser, as well as Tom Homan, who Trump chose to serve as border czar.
The American First Policy Insitute supplied its president and CEO, Brooke Rollins, as Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Agriculture. Bondi and Ratcliffe are also among the institute’s staff.
Trump also chose Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and Scott Turner to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Hailing from Trump’s days working with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., its former President and CEO Linda McMahon was nominated to be the Secretary of Education. McMahon also served in Trump’s first administration as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Association.
While recess appointments have not been ruled out by incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), these selections will face Senate scrutiny next year, with Republicans now holding a 53-47 Senate majority. That means the GOP can only risk three defectors, not including Vice President-elect JD Vance, to confirm Trump’s nominees.
