Trump’s return to the White House: His cabinet choices so far

Donald Trump, fresh off an election win earlier this month that capped a stunning comeback, is quickly announcing plans for an emboldened new administration.

Trump’s first term as president between 2017 and 2021 was marked by heavy turnover, and he made strategic use at times of having people serve in an acting capacity (new window) in cabinet-level positions for several months.

Cabinet positions, along with several other administration roles, generally require Senate approval. In a social media post on Nov. 10, Trump said anyone seeking to be Republican majority leader must agree not to stand in the way of temporary presidential appointments.

WATCH l For 1st time in 8 years, a president and president-elect meet at White House:

So-called recess appointments are a practice generally shunned since a Supreme Court ruling in 2014, and are meant to be used when the chamber has a legitimate break. At least one constitutional expert has expressed concern (new window) that Trump could be looking to circumvent challenging confirmation hearings on contentious nominees.

Upcoming Trump personnel moves will be closely watched — especially his choice for attorney-general to lead the Justice Department, as he has made generalized campaign pledges to investigate perceived political opponents.

The Justice Department also houses the FBI. While FBI Director Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump, his future may not be secure. The former president has been critical of Wray, a Republican, given the role of FBI agents in helping investigate cases that led to criminal indictments for Trump (new window).

Here are the cabinet-level picks so far.

Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence

Trump’s announcement of his intention to nominate Hegseth, a Fox News anchor, to lead the Pentagon seemed to catch even some Republican legislators off guard, with reactions on Capitol Hill (new window) ranging from wow to who? to interesting.

After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, Hegseth was commissioned as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, serving overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as at Guantanamo Bay. He then lobbied on behalf of Eddie Gallagher and Mathew Golsteyn, military members accused of war crimes, leading to an unprecedented intervention by a U.S. president (new window) as military tribunals were examining the allegations.

Hegseth, who has complained about woke diversity initiatives within the military, has never led an organization, let alone one the size of the Pentagon and its estimated 24,000 employees. The next defence secretary confronts a tenuous geopolitical situation that includes an emboldened North Korea, Russia’s war on Ukraine and Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah, which has exacerbated already poor relations between Israel and Iran.

I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our service members, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a social media post on Tuesday. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected.

Kristi Noem, Homeland Security secretary

Noem grew up on a farm and interned on Capitol Hill, before serving in both U.S. and state legislatures. She was elected governor in 2019, but a memoir released this year of her life and career was criticized both for factually dubious anecdotes (new window) and her description of shooting dead a misbehaving dog (new window).

South Dakota has one of the lowest percentages of foreign-born citizens (new window) of any state, but Noem has made asylum and irregular immigration from the southern border a preoccupation. She sent state National Guard troops for Texas’s controversial Operation Lone Star (new window).

Noem has claimed that drugs are flooding her state due to a porous border, though federal government statistics indicate the vast majority comes through points of entry (new window), not between them. Reporting to her could be Tom Homan (new window), a Trump pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homan has spoken enthusiastically about large-scale deportations of those in the country without legal status.

John Ratcliffe, CIA director

Ratcliffe, a U.S. attorney in the George W. Bush administration serving the Eastern District of Texas, served as a congressman from the state for five years. Once rejected as a nominee (new window) for director of national intelligence (DNI) in 2019 after bipartisan Senate criticism over his lack of experience and some questionable claims on his resumé (new window), he was confirmed by the chamber several months later.

He faced criticism just weeks before election day in 2020 for declassifying Russian intelligence alleging damaging information about Democrats while acknowledging that it was unverified. While Democrats decried the move as a partisan stunt that politicized intelligence, even former Trump defence secretary Mark Esper suggested in his 2022 book A Sacred Oath it was inappropriate.

Elise Stefanik, ambassador to United Nations

Stefanik, a Republican House member since 2014, appeared skeptical of Trump initially but over time became one of his most vociferous supporters (new window). She was among many Republicans who objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election win; she is also one of very few who have mimicked Trump’s description (new window) of defendants charged and sentenced in the 2021 Capitol riot as “hostages,” seeming to indicate they were political prisoners.

Stefanik saw her profile rise after the Israel-Hamas war for her aggressive questioning of American university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses. She has gone as far as calling last month for a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding for the United Nations, and could be viewed with suspicion at the UN by some countries in the Middle East after helping push for the blocking of American support for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator

Zeldin, who ran for governor of New York in 2022, previously served eight years in the House of Representatives and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. He did not serve on any House committees with oversight of environmental policy and had a low lifetime score of 14 per cent from advocacy group the League of Conservation Voters (new window) during his eight years in Congress.

Trump is in favour of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, the main causes of climate change. He has vowed to end subsidies for wind power that were included in legislation signed by President Joe Biden (new window) two years ago.

In his first turn as president, Trump rolled back more than 100 environmental laws and regulations (new window).

With files from the Associated Press

This article is republished from RCI.