Roughly one week out from elections, President-elect Trump has already begun announcing appointments to Cabinet level positions. Today, Senate Republicans elected Senator John Thune to be their new Majority Leader – the first time in 18 years that the GOP’s top Senate position won’t be held by Mitch McConnell. Starting next year, the Republican-controlled Senate will serve as a gatekeeper to Trump’s cabinet selections thanks to the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2), which requires the Senate's “advice and consent” for presidential appointments.
However, Trump has said that a prerequisite for the Majority Leader position should be that the new leader commit to allowing “recess appointments” – effectively allowing Trump to appoint top positions without Senate confirmation; a proposal that Thune has acknowledged he’s open to and is technically allowed by the Constitution. While Trump’s stated reason for recess appointments is to get his Administration up-and-running more quickly by avoiding time-consuming confirmation hearings, an ulterior motive could be to avoid the process altogether to advance more controversial appointments consisting largely of loyalists.
Regardless of whether the Senate holds confirmation hearings, here are the cabinet position appointments that Trump has announced so far:
Environmental Protection Agency – Lee Zeldin: It’s telling that one of the first cabinet positions that Trump announced was for the EPA. Zeldin, a former Representative from New York who ran against current Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022 — during which he issued a plan calling on the state to lift its ban on fracking for natural gas. Under Trump, Zeldin will likely seek to roll back regulations that constrain fossil fuel production and consumption. Major targets for the chopping block include Biden-era clean air regulations as well as unspent funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Department of State – Marco Rubio: Rubio, a former Trump-critic who has served in the Senate since 2011, may be one of the few (relatively) moderate voices in a Trump II Administration. He maintains an aggressive stance on certain foreign policy issues, such as U.S. relations with Iran and Cuba, but has pushed for maintaining the international alliances that Trump has generally disparaged. Rubio’s optimistic view on entities like NATO could be useful at a time when international leaders are apprehensive about Trump returning to the White House.
Department of Defense – Pete Hegseth: Hegseth, a former Army veteran and current Fox News host is a relative outsider with no Pentagon or government experience outside of his military service. After a series of strained relationships between Trump and previous Defense secretaries, Hegseth’s focus would likely be more on internal DoD policies while Trump seeks to avoid foreign conflicts.
Department of Homeland Security – Kristi Noem: South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who sent her State’s National Guard to the southern border multiple times during her term, would serve in a high-profile position given Trump’s emphasis on immigration during his campaign. Noem stands to oversee one of the few expansions of federal authority in Trump’s second administration, and is likely to receive substantial resources to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, hiring of more border agents, and construction of detention facilities.
United Nations Ambassador - Elise Stefanik: A rising GOP star who has represented New York’s 21st District since 2016, Stefanik is a staunch defender of Israel and a vocal critic of the United Nations. Even with confirmation hearings, Stefanik’s appointment would likely face little resistance from Senate Republicans due to her position as chair of the House Republican Conference and her extensive relationships across Congress.
Trump also announced this morning that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly-established “Department of Government Efficiency” to provide recommendations to cut government spending and restructure federal agencies. While Trump described the entity as a “Department,” he also noted that Musk and Ramaswamy would operate outside of the federal government. Last year, Ramaswamy promised on the campaign trail to eliminate the FBI, the Department of Education and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and released a white paper outlining a legal framework he claims would allow the president to eliminate federal agencies of his choice. Musk has also been a consistent and vocal critic of federal regulations.
While it’s unlikely that every one of Trump’s initial picks will ultimately make it to a cabinet position, the early effort to lay the foundation for Trump’s second term indicates a more-prepared Trump Administration; one with an extensive agenda to reshape Washington with their perceived mandate.
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