President-elect Donald Trump is making his Cabinet picks and raising eyebrows on both sides of the aisle with choices looking very different compared to his first White House administration.
Trump most recently tapped environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the late Democratic U.S. President John F. Kennedy for the Health and Human Services Cabinet position. This was not without controversy given his anti-vax beliefs and positions against Big Pharma and Big Food – both under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy wrote on X in late October. “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
Kennedy’s mantra has become MAHA – Make America Healthy Again.
The Kennedy pick came the day after another controversial Trump pick in Matt Gaetz to lead the Department of Justice, given he’s been the subject of a year-long Justice Department probe himself, that ended without charges, although still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Some Republican senators have warned it will be a difficult path for Gaetz to get confirmed, among other picks.
It is not clear what role, if any, Trump’s family members will work in this administration. Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner worked in the White House previously. They have since stepped back from being involved in their father’s political work.
The Cabinet serves as an advisory board for the President in their subject area of expertise and duties and generally have the most influence on presidential decisions and actions. It is made up by the vice president and 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.
Here are all the picks that Trump has made so far for his administration and Cabinet as of Thursday, Nov. 14 at 1p.m. and what we know about them.
Who are Trump’s Cabinet and White House staff picks?
- Susie Wiles, 67, has been chosen for Chief of Staff. She was a senior advisor to Trump’s 2024 presidential election and the first major decision that Trump announced after his win. Although not a Cabinet position, this is a key role in the White House.
- Mike Waltz, 50, has been chosen for National Security Advisor. He is a Florida Congressman, a retired Army National Guard officer and combat-decorated Green Beret. This position reports to the Secretary of Defense.
- Tom Homan, 62, has been tapped as ‘border czar‘ to oversee border control, again. He previously acted as Trump’s head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and will join his new administration. Homan will report to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
- Elise Stefanik, 40, has been chosen for United Nations ambassador. She is a New York congresswoman and has served as House Republican Conference chair since 2024 and would fill Trump’s first U.N. ambassador role. Nikki Haley held this post in the last Trump administration. Though not a Cabinet position, ambassadors report to the Secretary of State.
- Stephen Miller, 39, has been chosen to return as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. He served as a senior advisor in Trump’s first administration and White House director of speechwriting. This is a key advisory role outside of the Cabinet.
- Dan Scavino Jr., 48, has been chosen as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. He is returning after having served in similar role during Trump’s first term, and will take on an advisory role.
- James Blair, has been picked as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs. This is not a Cabinet position.
- Taylor Budowich, was chosen to be Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel, a non-Cabinet role.
- Lee Zeldin, 44, has been chosen to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. He is a former New York congressmen and officer in the United States Army Reserve. EPA administrator is not in the Cabinet, but is seen as a Cabinet-level role.
- Kristi Noem, 52, has been picked to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She is the Governor of South Dakota and is described as a “loyalist” that will be key to his domestic agenda.
- Pete Hegseth, 44, has been picked to serve as Secretary of Defense. He is an Army combat veteran and a popular media personality as the co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekends.
- William McGinley was chosen for White House counsel. He is a veteran Republican lawyer that previously served as White House Cabinet secretary in Trump’s first administration and also served as Republican National Committee outside counsel for election integrity and as general counsel for the GOP Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
- John Ratcliff, 59, has been picked for CIA director. He is a former Texas congressmen and is returning in this new role after having served as Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump administration.
- Mike Huckabee, 69, has been chosen to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel. He is the former governor of Arkansas, a Baptist minister and strong defender of Israel. His daughter Sarah Huckabee previously served as Trump’s press secretary in his first administration.
- Elon Musk, 53, has been picked to co-serve along Vivek Ramaswamy as leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency – nicknamed DOGE, which is also the name of a cryptocurrency that Musk has promoted. Musk is a billionaire businessman and innovator, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
- Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, was picked to co-serve with Elon Musk as leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency. He is an entrepreneur that founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company and also ran against Trump for the Republican Party nomination before throwing his support behind him.
- Tulsi Gabbard, 43, has been selected to serve as Director of National Intelligence. She is a military veteran, former congresswoman of Hawaii and ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent before joining the Republican party this year.
- Matt Gaetz, 42, has been picked to be his attorney general, heading the Justice Department.
- Florida Senator Marco Rubio, 53, has been tapped for Secretary of State. He serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the top Republican on the Senate intelligence Committee and comes with extensive foreign policy experience.
- Robert F. Kennedy, 70, has been selected to head the Health and Human Services Department. Also known as RFK Jr., he is an environmental lawyer, anti-vaccine activist, founder of Waterkeeper Alliance, and was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. He also made a run for the recent 2024 presidential election as an independent before eventually throwing his endorsement behind Trump.
- Doug Collins, 58, was picked to run Veterans Affairs. He is a former congressman of Georgia and a Baptist minister that served in Navy and Airforce Reserve. He also authored a book about Trump’s first impeachment which argued that Democrats were impeaching him to get revenge for him beating Hillary Clinton in 2016 among other things.
- Doug Burgum, 68, has been selected for Interior Secretary. He is a wealthy software executive and the Governor of North Dakota.
- Steven Witkoff, 67, has been appointed as Special Envoy to the Middle East. He is a real estate investor and campaign donor. This is not a Cabinet position.
What positions make up the president’s White House Cabinet?
The president gets to make his choices for the 15 Cabinet positions and the Senate must them approve them with a majority vote. These roles also follow an order of succession to the Presidency of the United States:
- Vice President of the United States – JD Vance
- Department of State – Marco Rubio
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Defense – Pete Hegseth
- Department of Justice – Matt Gaetz
- Department of the Interior – Doug Burgum
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Labor
- Department of Health and Human Services – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Energy
- Department of Education
- Department of Veterans Affairs – Doug Collins
- Department of Homeland Security – Kristi Noem
The following positions have the status of Cabinet-rank:
- White House Chief of Staff – Susie Wiles
- Environmental Protection Agency – Lee Zeldin
- Office of Management & Budget
- United States Trade Representative
- United States Ambassador to the United Nations – Elise Stefanik
- Council of Economic Advisers
- Small Business Administration
- Director of National Intelligence – Tulsi Gabbard
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
