Transition Tracker: Cabinet
Cabinet
Nominees require Senate confirmation.
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State Department The president and CEO of Exxon Mobil has extensive experience making oil and gas deals with foreign governments. But he is expected to face a tough confirmation battle in the Senate due to his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Learn more here. |
Treasury Department Mnuchin is a former Goldman Sachs partner, who has recently helped finance several major Hollywood films. He served as Donald Trump’s campaign finance chairman. Learn more here. |
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Defense Department Mattis is a renowned Marine commander who led U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He led U.S. Central Command until 2013, when he left the military after clashing with members |
Justice Department Sessions was an early supporter of Trump and is seen as influencing his hard-line immigration policies. The Alabama senator could have a tough confirmation process; his nomination as a federal judge was derailed in the 1980s by accusations he made insensitive comments. Learn more here. |
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Interior Department The first-term lawmaker is a former Navy SEAL and an early backer of Trump’s presidential bid. He’ll have a hand in determining the future of Obama administration policies restricting energy development on public lands. Learn more here.
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Agriculture Department If confirmed, the former Georgia governor will run a department tasked with implementing farming and food-safety policies. The Democrat-turned-Republican would be a chief emissary to rural America, which helped elect Trump. Learn more here. |
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Commerce Department Ross is a billionaire investor who has famously called himself the “king of debt.” He’s known for purchasing failing companies and turning them around. Ross was once a registered Democrat but was an early backer of Trump. Learn more here. |
Labor Department Trump is expected to nominate the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, a fast-food conglomerate. Puzder, a major donor to Trump’s campaign, has criticized President Obama’s labor regulations, including a rule expanding overtime pay to millions of workers. Learn more here. |
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Health and Human Services Department An orthopedic surgeon by trade, Price has been a vocal opponent of ObamaCare during his time in Congress. He has also proposed a major overhaul of Medicaid that would include spending cuts and handing the program over to the states. Learn more here. |
Housing and Urban Development Department Carson ran against Trump in the Republican presidential primaries and was often the target of jeers from the businessman. The pick is somewhat surprising because Carson’s business manager said last month he felt unprepared to run a Cabinet agency. Learn more here. |
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Transportation Department Chao has deep experience in Republican administrations, having served as President George W. Bush’s Labor secretary and deputy Transportation secretary under George H.W. Bush. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Learn more here. |
Energy Department Trump will nominate the former Texas governor to lead the agency whose main missions are to manage the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and conduct energy research. During his failed 2012 presidential run, Perry famously forgot the Energy Department’s name during primary debate while vowing to abolish it. Learn more here |
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Education Department DeVos is a leading proponent of for-profit charter schools. She’s from a family of major GOP donors from Michigan and once chaired the state’s Republican Party. Learn more here. |
Veterans Affairs Department An Obama nominee, Shulkin currently serves as the agency’s undersecretary for health. Trump has said improving healthcare services at scandal-plagued Veterans Affairs hospitals is a top priority for his administration. Learn more here. |
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Homeland Security Department Trump selected the retired Marine Corps general to lead the agency tasked with guarding against terrorism and illegal immigration. Kelly led the U.S. Southern Command, which covers Central and South America. His son was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Learn more here. |
Environmental Protection Agency Trump plans to nominate the 48-year-old Oklahoma attorney general, a close ally of the oil and gas industry. Pruitt helped assemble a legal challenge to President Obama’s climate change regulations, and he would take the lead on dismantling them as head of the EPA. Learn more here. |
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Director of National Intelligence The former Indiana senator sat on the Senate intelligence committee and also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany. Trump tapped him amid reports he’s considering restructuring the 11-year-old post, which the president-elect’s advisers have denied. Learn more here. |
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer The former Reagan administration official is a critic of China’s trade practices. Lighthizer will be Trump’s top negotiator tasked with brokering improved trade pacts, including his stated goal of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Learn more here. |
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U.S. Mission to the U.N. Haley lacks foreign policy experience but achieved a national profile during her state’s heated debate over whether to fly the Confederate battle flag. Unlike other Trump Cabinet picks, she publicly criticized Trump throughout the 2016 campaign. Learn more here. |
Small Business Administration The professional wrestling executive ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Connecticut as a Republican in 2010. McMahon helped oversee a major expansion of World Wrestling Entertainment and was an early backer of Trump, who has deep ties to the pro wrestling world. Trump is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Learn more here. |
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Central Intelligence Agency The former Army officer is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. He emerged as a vocal critic of Hillary Clinton’s handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi. He also criticized the Senate’s decision to disclose a report on the CIA’s use of torture. Learn more here. |
Office of Management and Budget The founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus is a spending hawk, which could put him at odds with other members of Trump’s inner circle in debates over policies like infrastructure. Learn more here. |
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Council of Economic Advisers |
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