In the weeks following his 2024 election win, President-elect Donald Trump has begun to fill top positions in his administration, including his Cabinet and key advisory roles.
Here’s who has been selected so far in the early stages of the Trump transition — and who is still in the running:
Trump’s Cabinet
Pam Bondi: Attorney general
Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his next pick for attorney general, following former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal earlier in the day.
Bondi served as attorney general of Florida from 2011 to 2019. However, she is best known for serving as one of Trump’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment.
Bondi was one of Trump’s earliest significant allies, becoming close during the 2016 primaries when she was attorney general of Florida. After her work as his defense attorney, Trump said he would “love to have her in my administration.” She took a stint at K Street instead, but quickly distinguished herself as a Trump surrogate, becoming a staple in media appearances.
Bondi served as the chairwoman for the Center for Litigation, and co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute.
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Scott Bessent: Treasury secretary
Trump announced that he will nominate hedge manager Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department.
If confirmed, Bessent, 62, would ascend to one of the most powerful Cabinet positions at the White House, overseeing the country’s fiscal and economic policy. Bessent will be tasked with implementing Trump’s economic agenda, which includes a ramp-up in tariffs and further tax cuts.
Bessent is a well-known hedge fund manager who joined Soros Fund Management in the 1980s and worked his way up the totem pole at the firm before leaving in 2015. He then founded the New York-based investment firm Key Square Group.
Some Trump advisers began pushing for Bessent’s nomination shortly after the president-elect won the election. The South Carolina native is well regarded on Wall Street, and his nomination will likely be welcomed by the markets and investors, who crave stability and certainty.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Health and Human Services secretary
Trump is expected to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and a prominent vaccine skeptic, to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, a move with major implications for the federal public health infrastructure.
Kennedy had run for president as an independent candidate largely on a public health platform, including remodeling the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before dropping out and endorsing Trump.
Due to his unorthodox stance against vaccines, seed oils, and milk pasteurization, Kennedy is expected to have a difficult time gaining enough votes during the Senate confirmation process, even with a Republican majority in the chamber.
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Scott Turner: Housing and urban development secretary
Trump nominated Scott Turner, a former NFL player and Texas state lawmaker, as his secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
During Trump’s first administration, Turner was the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council’s first executive director.
The president-elect said in his previous administration that Turner had helped “lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities” while working with Trump’s former HUD secretary, Dr. Ben Carson.
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Lori Chavez De-Remer: Labor secretary
Trump nominated outgoing Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) to be secretary of the Department of Labor.
Chavez-DeRemer has been described by the New York Times as a “a mainstream Republican” who pitches herself as an independent thinker. Trump, in his nomination, said her appointment “will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.”
Chavez-DeRemer, a one-term congresswoman, recently lost reelection to Rep.-elect Janelle Bynum (D-OR).
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Tulsi Gabbard: Director of national intelligence
Trump announced he will nominate former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence.
Gabbard, who served four terms in Congress as a Democrat and ran in the Democratic presidential primary in 2020, has since left the party and was an avid Trump campaign surrogate during the 2024 election cycle.
Prior to her time in Congress, Gabbard served in the U.S. Army and deployed to the Middle East and Africa.
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Sean Duffy: Transportation secretary
Trump nominated former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary.
After appearing on several reality TV shows, Duffy served as a district attorney in Wisconsin from 2002 to 2010. He was elected as Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District representative in 2010, a position he held for most of the decade until he resigned in 2019 to take care of his daughter, who suffers from Down syndrome. Duffy was a major Trump ally during his time in the House.
Duffy has since served as a co-host with his wife on a Fox Business show and is a Fox News contributor. He is the second Fox News contributor to be picked for a Cabinet position.
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Howard Lutnick: Commerce secretary
Trump nominated billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department.
As Commerce secretary, Lutnick would oversee the implementation of Trump’s tariff agenda and be responsible for implementing the duties on imports and determining which exceptions should be made. While many on Wall Street are skeptical about the use of tariffs, Lutnick has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s agenda.
Lutnick is the chairman and CEO of financial services giant Cantor Fitzgerald and currently serves as co-chairman of the presidential transition team. He is a close personal adviser to Trump and spoke at the president-elect’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York.
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Brooke Rollins: Agriculture secretary
Trump tapped Brooke Rollins to lead the Department of Agriculture, praising her in a Truth Social post for “building a team of loyal Patriots, and championing the Policies of our America First Agenda.”
A policy adviser to Trump during his first term in office, Rollins is the president of the American First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank she co-founded in 2021 that has proposed plans for the president-elect’s second and final term in the White House.
Between 2020 and 2021, Rollins was Trump’s director of the domestic policy council and assistant to the president for strategic initiatives.
Combined with at least two other former Trump administration officials affiliated with AFPI, Michael Rigas and Doug Hoelscher, who are working directly with the transition, Rollins’s nomination appears to cement the influence the conservative think tank will wield over the incoming administration.
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Pete Hegseth: Secretary of defense
Trump announced on Tuesday that he would nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.
Hegseth was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge, served as an infantry major in the Army National Guard, and served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. Since retiring, he has worked on-air at Fox News for the last eight years and was an avid Trump backer during the president-elect’s first term in the White House.
Hegseth, like all of Trump’s Cabinet picks, will need a Senate majority to be confirmed, and the Republicans will have a small majority in the upper chamber.
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Doug Burgum: Interior secretary
Trump selected Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) to be secretary of the Department of the Interior in a surprise announcement during an event at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Burgum tried to challenge Trump early on in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. He dropped his bid in December, and subsequently became a surrogate for his former opponent on the campaign trail, even being rumored at one point to be on Trump’s short list for vice president.
The news comes after speculation swirled for months that Trump might appoint Burgum to a Cabinet position.
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Kristi Noem: Homeland security secretary
Trump announced his plans to nominate Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) as the secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
Noem, 52, is not from a border state, and her background is as a state and U.S. lawmaker. However, she has visited the Texas border several times during the Biden administration and thanked Trump for the new position.
Noem has been an ardent supporter of Trump for years, and her selection continues with the Trump transition team’s theme of picking loyalists who will back the incoming president’s policy decisions.
If confirmed by the Senate, Noem would oversee the 245,000-employee federal agency whose mission is protecting the people of the United States.
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Doug Collins: Veterans Affairs secretary
Trump tapped former Rep. Doug Collins, a longtime ally and military veteran, to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Collins spent four terms representing Georgia’s 9th Congressional District. Between 2013 and 2021, he ascended to the rank of vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and was also a member of the House Rules Committee, which is one of the most powerful committees in the lower chamber.
He also ascended to the top Republican position on the House Judiciary Committee in January 2019, subsequently emerging as a powerful defender of Trump during his first impeachment that year.
Collins served a combat tour in 2008 and has been an Air Force Reserve chaplain since 2002, where he continues to be on call as lieutenant colonel reservist.
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Mike Waltz: National security adviser
The president-elect announced Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) as his pick for national security adviser, according to source familiar with the conversations.
The Green Beret veteran is cut from the same foreign policy cloth as Trump. He is known as a China hawk who has also been skeptical about the amount of aid the U.S. has supplied for Ukraine and NATO.
While skeptical of some aid to Ukraine, Waltz has also expressed support for Ukraine and floated escalating the conflict if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t immediately come to the negotiating table. He is also known for his staunch support of Israel and hawkish stance toward Iran.
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John Ratcliffe: CIA director
Trump announced that he selected former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) as his nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Ratcliffe previously served as Trump‘s Director of National Intelligence from 2020-2021 and has been called a “warrior for truth” by the president-elect.
Trump awarded Ratcliffe the National Security Medal, the nation’s highest honor for an intelligence officer, back in 2020. He would be the first person to serve as both DNI and CIA director, following Senate confirmation.
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Lee Zeldin: EPA administrator
Trump tapped former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency during his next administration. Zeldin confirmed he accepted the offer in a post to X, saying it was an “honor” to join Trump’s incoming Cabinet.
Trump indicated that new leadership will prioritize rolling back EPA rules from the Biden administration, saying Zeldin, if confirmed, will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”
Zeldin will need to be confirmed by the Senate before ascending to the top of the EPA. But, with Republicans set to control the chamber, the new Trump administration will likely face few hurdles in the process.
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Chris Wright: Energy secretary
Trump picked Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to be the secretary of the Department of Energy, the latest in a slew of high-level Cabinet picks.
In a statement from the Trump-Vance transition team, Trump said Wright will serve both as secretary of the DOE and as a member of the newly created Council of National Energy.
The council will be focused on “cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” according to to a statement from the Trump administration.
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Trump’s White House
Susie Wiles: Chief of staff
Trump picked his 2024 co-campaign manager, Susie Wiles, to be his next White House chief of staff.
Wiles, the daughter of famed football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall, made a name for herself over decades of work as a Republican operative in Florida. She successfully helmed the 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign for Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Trump’s own Florida operation during the 2016 general election.
Wiles was widely credited with orchestrating Trump’s political comeback this cycle, and her name had been floated as a top choice to lead Trump’s White House team. Wiles will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
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Stephen Miller: White House deputy chief of staff for policy
Trump tapped immigration hawk Stephen Miller as White House deputy chief of staff for policy, a prominent sign that enacting a mass deportation of immigrants is a priority for him.
Miller served under the first Trump administration as a former senior adviser. He was credited with shaping the administration’s immigration policy, which also included the decision to enact a travel ban on majority-Muslim nations in addition to the controversial family separation program.
Miller and Homan have pushed for restrictive immigration policy in the nation, and the two leaders will likely have the resources to enforce their vision starting in January.
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Steven Cheung: White House communications director
Trump tapped campaign spokesman Steven Cheung as his incoming director of communication and Sergio Gor as director of the presidential personnel office.
The combative Cheung previously worked in the first Trump administration as director of strategic response, while Gor ran the pro-Trump Super PAC, Right For America.
Cheung has taken to social media to blast Trump’s critics including former defeated rival Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who challenged Trump for the presidential nomination. He also worked at the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a communications professional.
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Karoline Leavitt: White House press secretary
Trump announced his campaign national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, will continue with him in the administration as the White House press secretary.
On the campaign trail, Leavitt was seen as a fiery, staunch defender of the former president. In her new role as White House press secretary, Leavitt will need to balance giving reliable information as well as gaining credibility with reporters during daily press briefings, while maintaining strong loyalty to Trump as he prioritizes loyalty in his second administration.
Leavitt, 27, previously worked as an assistant press secretary under former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. She will be the youngest White House press secretary in history.
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Tom Homan: ‘Border czar’
Trump tapped his former head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be the “border czar” in his administration.
In his announcement, Trump said he’d make Homan responsible for the southern border, northern border, coastal and air borders. Homan was under consideration to lead the entire Department of Homeland Security, a Senate-confirmed Cabinet position.
Homan’s appointment means he will not need to get Senate confirmation, avoiding a possibly difficult process, given Homan’s loyalty to Trump over the years. As a “czar,” Homan will advise Trump on border issues and be the point person on related matters.
Trump has promised to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history, vowing to remove the 20 million to 25 million illegal immigrants he claimed were in the country.
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Russ Vought: Office of Management and Budget director
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Russ Vought to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position he previously held from 2019 to 2021 during the first Trump administration.
If confirmed, Vought would play a key role in implementing Trump’s budget ideas. Trump has vowed an ambitious rollback of President Joe Biden’s agenda and has promised major policy undertakings, including mass deportations of illegal immigrants and a historically expansive tariff regime. Trump has also promised to extend the 2017 tax cuts and enact new forms of tax relief, a goal that would be complicated by the rising federal deficit.
Vought’s nomination may court controversy on Capitol Hill. Vought is the president of the conservative think tank Center for Renewing America, which was on the advisory board for the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a blueprint for the next Republican presidential administration — an initiative that Trump disavowed on the campaign trail.
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Dr. Janette Nesheiwat: Surgeon general
Trump nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be surgeon general. According to the office of the Surgeon General’s website, she will be responsible for the operations of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which is “an elite group of over 6,000 uniformed officers working throughout the federal government whose mission is to protect, promote, and advance the health of our nation.”
Nesheiwat is currently a Fox News medical contributor and serves as a medical director at CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in the New York area. While she is a believer in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, she was critical of vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her nomination marks Trump’s third Cabinet pick from the Fox News world.
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Dr. Marty Makary: FDA commissioner
Trump selected Marty Makary, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, to lead the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the president-elect, Makary will “properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic.”
“I am confident that Dr. Makary, having dedicated his career to High-Quality, Lower-Cost Care, will restore FDA to the Gold Standard of Scientific Research, and cut the bureaucratic red tape at the Agency to make sure Americans get the Medical Cures and Treatments they deserve,” Trump said in a statement.
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Dr. Dave Weldon: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director
Former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon (R-FL) is Trump’s pick to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trump said in addition to Weldon’s experience in the medical field, he has “been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues.”
“The current Health of Americans is critical, and CDC will play a big role in helping to ensure Americans have the tools and resources they need to understand the underlying causes of disease, and the solutions to cure these diseases,” a statement from Trump said.
Weldon, a board-certified doctor and Army veteran, served seven terms in Congress until 2008. In the House, Weldon served on several committees, including Appropriations, Health and Human Services, Education and Labor, and Science.
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Kevin Hassett: National Economic Council director
Trump has chosen economist Kevin Hassett to be director of his National Economic Council.
Hassett, 62, worked in economic affairs under Trump during his first administration. He served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 until 2019 and then as a senior adviser to the president on economic issues for a few months in 2020.
In that role, Hassett frequently made the case for Trump’s tax overhaul and regulatory reforms in the media. Hassett published analyses finding that the 2017 tax cuts would lead to much higher wages for workers.
In the new role, Hassett will work closely with Trump and figures like Scott Bessent, who was nominated to lead the Treasury Department.
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Other key posts
Jamieson Greer: US trade representative
Trump has chosen Jamieson Greer to serve as U.S. trade representative.
Greer served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, the trade representative during Trump’s first term in office. In that time, he helped negotiate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He is a lawyer who previously served in the Air Force.
As trade representative, Greer would be tasked with carrying out the administration’s imposition of tariffs, a tool Trump used heavily in his first term. He would lead the renegotiation of the USMCA and trade deals with China if confirmed.
Greer is currently a partner at the law firm King & Spalding, where he deals with cases on international trade.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator
Trump announced that he will nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the next Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, a position that requires Senate confirmation.
CMS administers health coverage to over 160 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIPs, and the Obamacare Health Insurance Marketplace, making it one of the largest healthcare purchasers in the world.
Oz earned his medical degree and master’s of business administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and practiced cardiology before becoming a television personality. His television show began in 2009 and aired for 13 years.
Oz ran a campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 and lost to Democrat John Fetterman in a contentious race, which was also one of the most costly in state history.
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Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: NIH director
Trump selected Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to serve as director of the NIH, working with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct national medical research.
Bhattacharya serves as director of Stanford University’s Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.
“Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America’s biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease,” Trump wrote. “Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!”
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Brendan Carr: Federal Communications Commission chairman
Trump selected Brendan Carr to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
In a statement, Trump praised Carr as a “warrior for Free Speech” and someone who has “fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy.”
Carr is currently the top Republican in the FCC. He is one of five commissioners leading the agency, all of whom are appointed by a president and then confirmed in the Senate.
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Steve Witkoff: Special envoy to the Middle East
Trump appointed Steve Witkoff to serve as the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East in his second administration.
Witkoff is far from an establishment politician or lifetime government worker. He’s been a friend of Trump for more than 20 years and has amassed a real estate fortune, much like the president-elect.
Witkoff has had prominent speaking roles for the Trump campaign well before joining his administration. The real estate magnate made appearances at the Republican National Convention, Trump’s second Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, and his Madison Square Garden rally.
In Witkoff’s new role, he will travel to the Middle East and advise Trump on the region’s issues.
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Elise Stefanik: US ambassador to the UN
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has accepted Trump’s offer to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Stefanik was first elected to Congress in 2014. Since then, she has risen to prominence in recent years and became known for her assertive leadership. Stefanik received widespread attention for her criticism of the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania for each school’s response to accusations of antisemitism on their respective campuses.
In accepting the role, Stefanik will have to vacate her seat in the 21st District — a move that could affect the size of the Republican House majority as 2024 House election results roll in.
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Mike Huckabee: US ambassador to Israel
Trump has named former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as the United States ambassador to Israel in his incoming administration.
In his statement announcing the pick, Trump praised the politician and Baptist minister as “highly respected” in both countries. Huckabee has visited Israel more than 100 times throughout his life, spurred by both his political diplomacy and his evangelical Christian belief that the country holds a sacred status.
Huckabee was a close Trump ally during the 2024 election cycle, speaking highly of the former president on his Trinity Broadcasting Network talk show, Huckabee.
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Withdrawn
Matt Gaetz: Attorney general
Just over a week after Trump nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to become the next attorney general — a surprise choice that sent shockwaves through Washington — he abruptly announced he was removing himself from consideration for the position.
Gaetz said in a statement that after meeting with numerous senators and attracting a barrage of media attention over tough confirmation fight in the Senate, it had become apparent that his nomination was “unfairly becoming a distraction.”
The controversial firebrand came under intense scrutiny for Justice Department and House Ethics Committee investigations related to sex trafficking allegations. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
The Florida Republican had already resigned from his House seat, effective immediately. His stepping down came days before the House Ethics Committee had planned to vote on whether to release a “highly damaging” report about him.
Other contenders for attorney general included former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, and John Ratcliffe, who Trump tapped as CIA director.
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Who’s still in the running
Below is a tracker of all the rumored names for different positions, which will be updated by the Washington Examiner. Those who have been confirmed will be highlighted in green.
