All of Trump’s Cabinet and Staff Picks So Far

Over the past week, Donald Trump has made waves in announcing his picks for the top roles in his administration. Several of his closest allies and surrogates have scored spots in his Cabinet, regardless of whether or not they are qualified for the position. In some instances, Trump has made up entirely new positions for the people closest to him (Elon Musk).

Many of the staffers closest to Trump won’t need to be confirmed by the Senate, but his Cabinet nominees are certainly required to go through the process, as stipulated by the U.S. Constitution. And yet Trump — who promised to be a dictator, but only on “day one” (*wink wink*) — is already pushing Republicans to let him unilaterally appoint Cabinet members without the Senate’s approval. South Dakota senator John Thune, whom Republicans chose to be the next Senate majority leader, may be open to the idea of violating constitutional norms and letting Trump do whatever he wants.

Below, here’s everything you need to know about the people who’ll be serving at the highest levels of government for the next four years. (Or, given the previous Trump administration’s chaotic track record, they could go the same way as Anthony Scaramucci and be out in less than a week. Who knows!) We’ll continue updating this story as Trump announces other roles.

Susie Wiles, chief of staff

The veteran of Florida politics helped manage Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Her appointment was the first to be announced by the president-elect, who calls her “Ice Baby.” She will be the first woman ever to hold the position, which makes her essentially the second-most powerful person in Washington. She’ll help drive the president’s agenda and act as a gatekeeper. Her predecessor, John Kelly, who thinks Trump is a fascist, described the chief of staff role as “the least enjoyable job” he’s ever had, so good luck to Wiles!

Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy

Stephen Miller, the infamous immigration hawk, is set to return as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and adviser to the Homeland Security Department. In the role, Miller will help oversee Trump’s immigration agenda, including his promise to carry out “no-price-tag” mass deportations starting on day one. During Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, he said “America is for Americans and Americans only,” in case it wasn’t clear already how much of a hatemonger he is.

Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff

Scavino’s first job in Trumpworld was working as caddy in one of the president-elect’s golf courses at age 16. He’s been loyal to Trump for most of his adult life; during his first term, Scavino served as director of social media and deputy chief of staff for communications. He’s a prolific poster who helped craft at least half of @realDonaldTrump’s tweets during his first term. In the incoming administration, Scavino will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president, though the scope of his portfolio remains unclear.

James Blair, deputy chief of staff

James Blair, who was the political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and the Republican National Committee, will serve as deputy chief of staff for legislative, political, and public affairs in the next administration. Blair is a relative newcomer to Trump’s orbit, having previously worked for Florida governor Ron DeSantis as deputy chief of staff and adviser. He is said to be close to Susie Wiles as well as Chris LaCivita, her co–campaign manager.

Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff

Taylor Budowich will serve as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel as well as assistant to the president. He worked in the campaign and previously ran Trump’s super-PAC MAGA Inc. Budowich was deposed in 2021 in connection to the January 6 insurrection, and a congressional committee found there was “credible evidence” that he was involved in activities leading up to the attack. However, he never faced any charges and denies any wrongdoing.

Bill McGinley, White House counsel

Bill McGinley will be returning to the Trump administration as White House counsel after previously serving as Trump’s White House Cabinet secretary. Come January, McGinley will be advising Trump on all legal and ethical questions regarding his role as president. In a statement, Trump said that McGinley would “help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.”

Mike Waltz, national security adviser

The three-term Florida congressman and former Green Beret is sure to bring a hawkish sensibility to his role as National Security Adviser. Waltz currently serves on the Armed Services, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs Committees, and he previously worked as a defense adviser in the Bush administration. In recent years, he has called China an “existential threat” to the U.S., said that Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was “disastrous,” and introduced legislation that would allow the president to use military force against Mexican drug cartels.

Marco Rubio, secretary of State

The Florida senator has come a long way from his “Little Marco” days. After being reportedly passed over as Trump’s VP pick, Rubio proved himself to be a loyal ally in the lead-up to the election. He’s been rewarded with a secretary of State nomination, which if confirmed would put him fourth in line for the presidency and make him the first Latino to serve in the role. “We’re entering into an era of pragmatic foreign policy in which the world is rapidly changing,” Rubio told CNN the day after Trump’s win. “Adversaries are uniting — North Korea, Iran, China, Russia [are] increasingly coordinating — it’s going to require us to be very pragmatic and wise and how we invest overseas and what we do.”

Pete Hegseth, secretary of Defense

One of Trump’s more shocking picks, Hegseth is a Fox News commentator and Army National Guard officer with little experience in military leadership. What he lacks in experience he makes up for in opinions. “I’m straight up just saying: We should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated,” he said on The Shawn Ryan Show earlier this month. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, in 2022 he wrote “RETURN TO SENDER” on his Harvard diploma, saying, “I hope this is a statement that as conservatives and patriots, if we love this country, we can’t keep sending our kids and elevating them to universities that are poisoning their mind.”

Shortly after Trump announced Hegseth as his pick for secretary of Defense — a position that would put him in charge of the military — it was reported that Hegseth was facing a sexual-misconduct allegation that hadn’t been uncovered in the vetting process. The alleged incident took place in Monterey, California, in 2017, and Vanity Fair reports that when confronted about it, Hegseth told Trump’s lawyers that it was a consensual encounter.

Matt Gaetz, attorney general

Speaking of alleged sexual misconduct, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is Trump’s pick for attorney general. Former congressman, actually. He resigned after his nomination, forcing the House Ethics Committee to close its investigation into Gaetz, which included allegations of sex trafficking, misusing state ID records and campaign funds, sharing inappropriate images on the House floor, and improper drug use. (The committee still might release its report.) This was not the first time Gaetz was being investigated: In 2019, the Department of Justice — which Gaetz could be in charge of if confirmed by the Senate — opened an investigation into his alleged “encounters” with a 17-year-old girl. The DOJ ultimately did not press charges.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services

If confirmed to head up the department that oversees the FDA, the CDC, and the NIH, RFK Jr. wants to do a major overhaul. He told MSNBC that he intends to clear out “entire departments” of the FDA. The former presidential candidate is famous for propagating misinformation about vaccines, often repeating the completely debunked theory that the MMR vaccine is linked to autism in children. One of Kennedy’s most strongly held beliefs is that fluoride should be banned from public water systems, a decades-old initiative that has greatly reduced cavities in children and that the CDC listed alongside vaccinations as one of the “10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.”

Doug Burgum, Interior secretary

Doug Burgum currently serves as the governor of North Dakota. Prior to that, he made his fortune in tech as the head of a software company that was acquired by Microsoft. He later served as a senior vice-president at Microsoft, and he founded a real-estate development firm and a venture-capital firm that specializes in software companies. In June, Burgum joined several other Republicans in signing a letter to President Biden urging him to “unleash American energy and end the regulatory overreach that’s restricting domestic production.” If confirmed as secretary of Interior, Burgum will be able to do just that by opening up opportunities for drilling on public lands.

Kristi Noem, secretary of Homeland Security

Perhaps most notable for her story about killing her dog, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem proved herself to be a strong ally to Trump during the campaign. (She was the one moderating the town hall where he made everyone listen to music for half an hour.) She’s been rewarded with a nomination that would put her in charge of implementing U.S. immigration policy. Noem has strong anti-immigration views. She supported Trump’s Muslim ban as a congresswoman in 2017, and while serving as governor, she said that South Dakota would not welcome any migrants from the southern border. “South Dakota won’t be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate,” she wrote on X at the time. “My message to illegal immigrants … call me when you’re an American.”

Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard, the former progressive Democratic congresswoman turned independent Trump supporter, has been nominated to oversee the United States Intelligence Community, a group of intelligence agencies that includes the CIA. While Gabbard has served in the Army National Guard for two decades, she does not have any direct experience working in intelligence.

John Ratcliffe, CIA director

Trump has announced that John Ratcliffe is his pick to head up the CIA. Ratcliffe previously served as director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term, holding the position from May 2020 until Biden came into office. He had previously been up for the job in 2019 but faced accusations of being unqualified and embellishing his record as a federal prosecutor in Texas. He withdrew himself for consideration, only to be confirmed for the same role the next year. Additionally, he was one of the contributors to Project 2025, assisting the authors of the Mandate for Leadership plan.

Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Lee Zeldin, a former Long Island congressman, has been tapped to lead the EPA. He has a lifetime score of 14 percent from LCV, a national environmental-advocacy group. The organization’s record shows that while in Congress, Zeldin had a strong history of voting against pro-environment initiatives. “It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” Zeldin wrote on X.

Tom Homan, border czar

Another Project 2025 contributor, Tom Homan is Trump’s choice for “border czar.” Since the role is one that Trump has simply dreamt up, it will not require Senate confirmation. Unlike a lot of Trump appointments, Homan actually does have experience. In the last Trump administration, Homan served as acting director of ICE. Prior to that, he was a cop, a Border Patrol agent, and a special agent with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Homan “will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.” While overseeing ICE, Homan played a huge role in implementing policies that saw children separated from their parents at the border. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023, Homan defended the separations. “You know, I’m still being sued over that, so come get me. I don’t give a shit, right. Bottom line is, we enforced the law,” he told the crowd.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Department of Government Efficiency

Another thing that Trump just made up (and therefore does not need Senate confirmation), the Department of Government Efficiency (annoyingly, DOGE) is a new department being helmed by billionaire supporters Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. In a statement, Trump said that Musk and Ramaswamy will “pave the way” for his administration to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”

There are lots of questions around this: How will Musk be able to do this without creating massive conflicts of interest as someone who runs companies that regularly work with or are investigated by the federal government? Why are two people running the efficiency department? Will Musk make it to Inauguration Day without being excommunicated by Trump for being annoying?

Elise Stefanik, ambassador to the United Nations

A Trump ally since his first term, the congresswoman from upstate New York is being rewarded for her allegiance by being appointed ambassador to the United Nations. Recently, Stefanik has been vocally outraged with the U.N. for its criticism of Israel. She pushed for a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding for the U.N. should the Palestinian Authority continue to call for Israel to be removed from the international organization.

Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee — who recently described himself as an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist” — has been appointed ambassador to Israel, a strong sign that the president-elect will continue the Biden administration’s support of the country in its ongoing war in Gaza. During his 2008 presidential run, Huckabee said there was “no such thing as a Palestinian” and claimed that Palestinian identity was “a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”