Noor Mushtaq
Contributing Writer
Donald Trump won the 60th quadrennial U.S. presidential election and has begun the process of selecting the people he wishes to serve in his Cabinet. The Cabinet has at least 16 positions, including the vice president and the heads of the 15 executive departments. Presidents also have the power to elect other officials to the cabinet. Most nominees must be confirmed by the Senate.
Ohio senator JD Vance, who previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, as well as a military journalist in Iraq, has been elected as vice president on the same ticket as Trump. Vance is relatively new to politics and was previously a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. He was originally a critic of Trump, but later gave his support during his successful run for Senate in 2022.
Trump selected Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz as the Attorney General to join the cabinet. When Gaetz resigned from the House on Nov. 13, he was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct.
Two of the candidates for Trump’s Cabinet include former Fox News correspondents, including Fox Business host and fellow former reality television star Sean Duffy as the Secretary of Transportation and Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense. Hegseth, a veteran who formerly served in Iraq, is currently facing several controversies.
Trump has appointed billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social application X, Elon Musk, and political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump nominated the previous governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, who was once considered as a potential presidential candidate, to be the secretary of Homeland Security. Noem has faced scrutiny as she has been banned from multiple South Dakota tribes.
Marco Rubio, who previously competed with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was nominated by Trump to be the Secretary of State.
A former Democratic House member who ran for president in 2020 and then left the party, Tulsi Gabbard, was selected as the Director of National Intelligence. Karoline Leavitt, who most recently served as Trump’s campaign press secretary, will assume the position of White House Press Secretary. Will Scharf, an attorney for Trump, will serve as the White House Staff Secretary and Sergio Gor will serve as the Director of Personnel. Steven Cheung served in the first Trump White House as Director of Strategic Response and will now serve as White House Communications Director. Bill McGinley, who served as a cabinet secretary during Trump’s first term, will now serve as the White House counsel.
Michael Waltz, a former Green Beret and current Florida congressman, will now serve as Trump’s National Security Advisor. Tom Homan will serve as the ‘Border Czar’ and the Chiefs of Staff will be Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller, Taylor Budowich and James Blair. Brendan Carr, a veteran Republican regulator and current FCC (Federal Communications Commission) commissioner, will serve as the FCC Chair.
