President-elect Trump has quickly assembled a Cabinet and group of senior advisers for his new administration, roiling Washington with some of his more controversial decisions.
Trump released a flurry of nominations and appointments in his first full week as president-elect, causing lawmakers to respond frantically.
Here are five takeaways from Trump’s Cabinet until now.
Trump values loyalty
The president-elect has long made clear that loyalty comes first for everyone around him, and his past Cabinet appointments are a sign that he rewards those who have stayed on his good side.
Almost every nominee or appointment Trump has made so far has been a person who has defended the president-elect in some capacity, supported him on the campaign trail or stood by him during some of his more turbulent moments.
Four Cabinet nominees — Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for United Nations ambassador, Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Doug Collins for Veterans Affairs secretary and John Ratcliffe for CIA director — were there Part of his impeachment defense team in 2020.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has been one of Trump’s fiercest and most vocal defenders since 2016. Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress as Trump shocked Washington by announcing the Florida Republican as his candidate for attorney general.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard were prominent Trump surrogates on the campaign trail, having supported him as former Democrats. And Trump’s personal defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove were tapped for top positions at the Justice Department after representing him in his hush-money trial earlier this year.
The assembled government is a far cry from the “team of rivals” that formed the first group of senior officials in Trump’s first term.
“It seems like this group is a tighter-knit group of people,” Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs, said on MSNBC. “You may not like the people they’re contacting, but at the same time I think they’ve evolved pretty quickly.”
Some nominees undermine the agencies they are supposed to lead
Several candidates for Cabinet positions have in the past used rhetoric that would undermine the mission of the agencies they are tasked with leading.
Gabbard, the former Democrat appointed director of national intelligence, was accused parroted Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine and refused to call Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad a war criminal after he was implicated in the exploit of chemical weapons against civilians.
Gaetz has called for defunding the FBI in the past Laws introduced that would have abolished the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Both agencies are located within the Ministry of Justice and fall under his authority as Attorney General.
Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has done it come to the test for writing in his book published earlier this year that women are less suited to combat roles than men. He also criticized the Pentagon’s efforts to promote diversity and equity. If confirmed, Hegseth would preside over the millions of men and women employed by the Defense Department.
And Kennedy, who was chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has been doing this for years Spreading anti-vaccination conspiraciespromoted the consumption of raw milk and promoted unproven treatments for COVID-19 such as ivermectin. If confirmed, Kennedy would have broad authority over the nation’s health and regulatory agencies, approving vaccines, administering Medicare and Medicaid and researching treatments for various diseases.
A faster pace and a clearer vision than 2016
When Trump won the White House in 2016, he and his team appeared to have been caught flat-footed and were hesitant to step up efforts to fill a new administration.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was ousted as head of the interim party shortly after the election, and Trump ushered candidates in and out of Trump Tower for the press to see. He did not name his first cabinet members until November 18, 2016, ten days after the election.
By contrast, Trump has hastily nominated not only his top Cabinet officials but also second-ranking Justice Department officials and senior White House staffers—all within about a week of his victory over Vice President Harris.
Allies saw it as a clear sign that Trump knows what he is looking for this time.
“I think the transition is obviously in much better shape than it was in 2016 because four years in the wilderness was not a waste,” said Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during Trump’s first term.
“The plans, the staff, the process have all been thought through and the people he now surrounds himself with are all committed to pushing the agenda forward,” he continued. “He no longer has to be surprised by their commitment to the agenda.”
Senate confirmation tests are approaching
Trump’s nominees – notably Gaetz, Gabbard and Kennedy – will do this pose a challenge to the Republicans in the Senate, providing a barometer of how independent these lawmakers want to be from the new president.
Republicans are poised to hold 53 seats in the Senate starting in January, meaning any Trump nominee can afford three defections from the Republican Party assuming they don’t get Democratic support. Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio) would break any 50-50 tie.
Senators in particular often talk about how essential it is for the institution to function as a solemn body and to monitor the House of Representatives and the executive branch. But Trump’s convincing victory could augment pressure on lawmakers to bend to the will of the president-elect.
Trump launched the pressure campaign on Senate Republicans before even naming names, pushing for whoever becomes Republican leader to approve appointments during recess, a procedure that would allow the president to control the confirmation process for controversial nominees essentially bypassing it.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who was elected Republican leader this week, hasn’t ruled out appointments during recess, but he also acknowledged that they could be procedurally complex to achieve if there is enough opposition from the Republican Party gives.
(*5*) Thune told Fox News.
“And these nominees deserve their day in court. They deserve a hearing, a confirmation hearing, an opportunity for review,” he added. “And the Senate will exercise its constitutional role with advice and consent.”
Key positions are still pending
While many of the highest-profile nominees have already been announced, Trump is expected to fill several Cabinet-level and top White House positions in the coming days.
Most notable is his economics team. Trump has yet to announce his picks for Treasury Secretary, Commerce Secretary and U.S. Trade Representative.
Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are considered finalists for the Treasury Department, while Robert Lighthizer, who was Trump’s trade representative during his first term and is a sturdy supporter of imposing tariffs, is likely to get a job in the new administration.
There are also still vacancies for the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump promised during the campaign to close the Department of Education, but that would require congressional approval. It is unclear whether Trump intends to name a secretary for the department in the meantime.
