With election season coming to an end, it is time for the next step for the winner. Since winning the popular vote and the electoral vote, Donald Trump has assumed the position of the next president of the United States. One of the first things Trump must do to prepare for taking over the Oval Office is choosing who his cabinet will comprise.
“The Cabinet”, which dates back to the beginning of the presidency in the United States, includes the president, the Vice president, and the heads of 15 executive departments. The president gets to pick who they want to serve on their cabinet, but their picks must be approved by the Senate. However, cabinet positions are not voted on by the general public.
With the Senate being controlled by Republicans after the election, Trump’s cabinet nominees are likely to be confirmed by the Senate, even those who have sparked more controversy with their actions. So far Trump has nominated someone for almost every single position, including high-profile roles, which are not a part of the cabinet but still hold great significance.
Trump’s nomination for secretary of state is Marco Rubio, a United States senator from Florida who has held his seat since 2011. In a statement, Trump called him, “a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” despite calling Rubio “Little Rubio” when they were running against each other for the Republican nomination in 2016. Mr. Rubio has advised Trump on foreign policy during his presidency and has been advocating for the US to be more harsh on China, Iran, and Venezuela. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Rubio will become the first Latino to be in the position of Secretary of State. For the position of Secretary of Education, Trump nominated Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She has no background in teaching or education policy other than being on the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009 for just over a year. Mcmahon had led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term although she resigned in 2019 to help Mr Trump’s re-election campaign. In preparation for his upcoming term, Trump has said that he plans to eliminate the Department of Education and “will send education back to the states.” In a statement made by Trump, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every state in America and empower parents to make the best education decisions for their families. This however would require congressional support, which is unlikely to happen. In a recent lawsuit, McMahon was accused of enabling the sexual exploitation of children by a WWE employee. She has financially supported Trump’s political campaigns in the past, and she and her husband have friendly ties with Donald Trump going back as late as the 1980s. McMahon’s nomination has faced scrutiny given her lack of an extensive background in education.
Robert F. Kennedy was nominated by Mr. Trump to serve as the secretary of Health and Human Services. This has become an incredibly controversial nomination as Kennedy has a history of spreading theories on vaccines and other health issues that have been discredited, implying that vaccines cause autism and that HIV may not be the cause of AIDS. Many public health experts have expressed their upset with this nomination as they believe it could pose a threat to the nation’s health. Kennedy has said little about healthcare delivery programs such as Medicare and has focused his attention on public health research agencies like the FDA and C.D.C. Apart from his health policies, Kennedy has received backlash for allegations of sexually assaulting a babysitter, in response he said, “ I am not a church boy. I am not running like that…I had a very, very rambunctious youth. I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world.”
Trump’s nominee for the Secretary of Homeland Security is Kristi Noem, who was seen as a potential candidate for Vice President. Noem is the governor of South Dakota and is known as a Trump loyalist. She was one of the first governors to endorse Trump before his run for president in 2024. It is reported by the New York Times that in 2020, Noem gave Trump a 4-foot replica of Mount Rushmore with his face accompanying the 4 original presidents. Noem received backlash over an excerpt in her book No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, where she describes how she shot her dog because it was “untrainable,”. Within the same excerpt, she went on to say that she killed a goat in the same way. In a draft of her book (that was submitted for review), Noem claimed to have met with Kim Jong-un; she also claimed that she canceled a meeting with French President Macron. This anecdote was later removed and was not included in the book upon release, as speculation surrounding the veracity of these meetings began to surface. If confirmed by the Senate, Noem will play a crucial role in helping Trump fulfill his promises of more aggressive policing of the border as well as carrying out a wide-scale deportation operation throughout the country. In a statement, Noem said, “I will secure the border and restore safety to American communities so families will again have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.”
Attorney General:
The position of Attorney General has become quite controversial during this cabinet appointment period. Originally, on November 8th, Trump nominated Matt Gaetz, a republican congressman from Florida. This nomination received tons of backlash as Gaetz was the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation involving a 17-year-old girl (the investigation ended with no charges against him). He was also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use until he resigned from the House after Trump announced he planned to nominate Gaetz. However, Gaetz withdrew from consideration on November 21, with the statement “I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” After Gaetz withdrew from consideration, Trump nominated Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General. Bondi served on Trump’s impeachment defense team and has supported his false claims of winning the 2020 election.
As Trump assembles his cabinet, his nominations reflect loyalty and boldness as well as controversy. With a Republican-controlled Senate most if not all of his nominees are expected to be sworn in. The cabinet will influence which issues our country prioritizes and will play a key role in shaping the future of our country.
