Trump administration 2.0: Tracking his Cabinet, White House picks

Members of Trump's Cabinet

The president's Cabinet is a team of 26 individuals tasked with running various federal agencies and departments along with the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

• These people help the president solve the most pressing and most important problems facing the U.S., both at home and abroad, and all but two roles — chief of staff and vice president — require Senate confirmation.

These are President-elect Trump's Cabinet picks:

Stephen Miran: Council of Economic Advisers chair

Stephen Miran, a senior adviser at the Treasury Department during Trump's first administration, is Trump's pick to head the three-member Council of Economic Advisers.

• Miran co-authored a paper published in July accusing the Biden administration of manipulating the economy before the election, an allegation the Treasury vehemently denied.

Billy Long: IRS commissioner

Former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) was nominated by Trump to serve as head of the IRS.

• Long, whose background is in real estate, spent 12 years in Congress representing Missouri before losing a 2022 Senate primary.
• The new administration is expected to pull back on the IRS's funding as part of a pivot away from enforcement, Axios' Ben Berkowitz reports.

Kelly Loeffler: Administrator of the Small Business Administration

Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), a co-chair of Trump's inaugural committee, is the President-elect's pick to lead the Small Business Administration.

• With a background in business, she briefly joined the Senate in 2020 as an appointee to fill the seat of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), serving on the Senate Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, HELP, and Joint Economic Committees.
• Loeffler is the former CEO of crypto trading platform Bakkt, which Trump's media company was in talks to purchase.

Brooke Rollins: Agriculture Secretary

Brooke Rollins, a policy adviser in Trump's first White House, was selected as his next agriculture secretary.

• She is the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump group formed by veterans of his first administration. Several of the president-elect's new Cabinet and White House picks have worked with the organization.
• In a statement announcing Rollins' appointment, Trump celebrated her "commitment to support the American Farmer" and her "practitioner's experience."

Russ Vought: Office of Management and Budget Director

Russ Vought will return to the OMB, which he also helmed during Trump's first term.

• He's a prominent contributor to Project 2025 and has played an active role in Trump's presidential transition efforts.
• "Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government," Trump said in a statement announcing his pick.

Scott Turner: Housing Secretary

Former Texas congressman and NFL player Scott Turner is Trump's pick to run the Housing Department.

• Turner served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump's first administration.
• The council was formed to better coordinate federal partnerships with Opportunity Zone investors.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer: Labor Secretary

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R- Ore.) was tapped by Trump to serve as Labor secretary.

• The one-term Oregon Republican lost her reelection bid this month to a Democratic state lawmaker.
• Prior to Trump's announcement, Chavez-DeRemer won backing from Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Scott Bessent: Treasury Secretary

Scott Bessent is Trump's pick for Treasury secretary, positioning him as the top economic official representing the nation on the world stage.

• Bessent, 62, founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. Before that, he spent most of his career at Soros Capital Management, including as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015.
• Bessent has been an avid fundraiser for Trump and a defender of the president-elect in media appearances.

Pam Bondi: Attorney General

Pam Bondi is Trump's second choice for attorney general, after his previous pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew his name from consideration.

• Bondi is a longtime Trump ally whose confirmation chances appear stronger than Gaetz's. She would give the incoming administration a staunch ally atop the Department of Justice.

Linda McMahon: Education Secretary

Trump Transition co-chair Linda McMahon was selected to serve as the secretary of the Department of Education.

• She served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first administration.
• McMahon is the co-founder and former chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment. She faces allegations of being complicit in the grooming and sexual exploitation of children. Her attorney said the recent lawsuit was "baseless."

Howard Lutnick: Commerce Secretary

Howard Lutnick was chosen by Trump to serve as Commerce secretary and lead the push for a sweeping program of tariffs.

• The Commerce Department will have a key role in implementing Trump's trade agenda — and billionaire Lutnick has been a vocal supporter.
• Lutnick, co-chair of Trump's transition team, is the chairman and chief executive of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Sean Duffy: Secretary of Transportation

Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.) was tapped by Trump to serve as Secretary of Transportation.

• The Fox News contributor left Congress in 2019 and now co-hosts "The Bottom Line" on Fox Business.

Doug Burgum: Secretary of the Interior

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was nominated for Secretary of the Interior.

• The Interior boss is expected to play a big role in Trump's efforts to further boost U.S. oil and gas production.

Chris Wright: Secretary of Energy

Chris Wright, a fracking services company executive with no prior government experience, was tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Energy.

• Voices from the oil and gas industry celebrated the announcement, Axios' John Frank and Nick Sobczyk report.
• The Liberty Energy CEO has denied or downplayed the existence of the climate crisis.

Doug Collins: Secretary for Veterans Affairs

Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), a veteran who served in Iraq, will be nominated to serve as Secretary for Veterans Affairs.

• Collins, who is currently an Air Force Reserve chaplain, was a fierce defender of Trump in Congress as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Secretary of Health and Human Services

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked by Trump to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

• The pick would put one of the nation's foremost vaccine skeptics in charge of America's health care agencies.
• Kennedy threw his support behind Trump after dropping his independent presidential bid in August.
• The "Make America Healthy Again" campaign, led by Kennedy, is built around conspiratorial concerns about the food supply, vaccines and drug industry and has already alarmed some public health experts.

Tulsi Gabbard: Director of National Intelligence

Ex-Democrat and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will be nominated to serve as the Trump administration's head of national intelligence after previously joining the Trump team as an honorary transition co-chair.

• Gabbard, a four-term congresswoman and Army National Guard veteran, launched her own unsuccessful bid for the White House during the 2020 election and left the Democratic Party two years later.
• She became a campaign surrogate for Trump after she endorsed him in August.

Marco Rubio: Secretary of State

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), once the president-elect's opponent but now a loyal ally, was named Trump's pick for Secretary of State.

• Rubio was also on Trump's shortlist for vice president.
• He's earned his reputation as a foreign policy hawk — notably taking hardline positions on China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela — during his tenure on Capitol Hill, where he's served in the Senate since 2011.

Rubio voted against $95 billion in Ukraine aid in April and has called for the war-torn nation to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Pete Hegseth: Defense Secretary

Fox News host Pete Hegseth was nominated by Trump to serve as Secretary of Defense.

• A surprise choice, the TV personality and military vet is a proponent of a non-interventionist "America First" foreign policy, in contrast with Trump's picks for other top national security roles.

Kristi Noem: Homeland Security Secretary

Trump announced plans to nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a post in which she'll play a key role in implementing Trump's far-reaching immigration plans.

• A source close to the governor told Axios her experiences dealing with immigration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will prepare her to assume the position currently held by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Elise Stefanik: UN Ambassador

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) will take over the post formerly held by Trump primary opponent Nikki Haley.

• Like Rubio, she was considered a potential vice presidential pick.
• Though she criticized Trump early in his political rise, she has since become a staunch defender, showing her loyalty during his 2019 impeachment hearings and more recent legal woes.

Zoom in: Stefanik, who is fiercely pro-Israel, has been critical of the United Nations' approach to the Israel-Hamas war, condemning what she sees as antisemitism in the global body.

Lee Zeldin: EPA administrator

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) was nominated to run the Environmental Protection Agency — a role that will be key to Trump's efforts to roll back Biden-era environmental and climate initiatives.

• Zeldin did not focus on environmental topics while in the House and has not spoken much about his views on climate change.

John Ratcliffe: CIA director

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe was announced as Trump's pick to lead the CIA during his second administration.

• A Trump loyalist and a former member of Congress from Texas, Ratcliffe faced accusations of politicizing his post as director of national intelligence in Trump's first term, Axios' Erin Doherty reports.

Susie Wiles: Chief of staff

Susie Wiles will assume the second most important job in the White House.

• She served as Trump's campaign co-chair and was widely seen as the rudder who kept his bid for the White House from steering too far off course.
• Wiles has an extensive career in Florida politics behind her, which helped her forge relationships with key players like Rubio, and left plenty of tumultuous water under the bridge with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Jay Bhattacharya: NIH Director

Jay Bhattacharya, a doctor and Stanford University professor of health policy, has been nominated as the next director of the National Institutes of Health.

• Bhattacharya was a prominent critic of lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also criticized mask mandates for schoolchildren, per the New York Times.
• "We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again," Bhattacharya wrote on X Tuesday.

Jamieson Greer: U.S. trade representative (USTR)

Jamieson Greer, an international trade attorney, has been selected to serve as the next U.S. trade representative (USTR).

• During Trump's first term, Greer served as chief of staff to then-USTR Robert Lighthizer.
• Trump said in a statement Tuesday that Greer played a "key role" in levying tariffs on China during his first term. As USTR, he will be Trump's top trade negotiator.

Jim O'Neill: HHS deputy secretary

Jim O'Neill, a former top aide to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, has been tapped to serve as RFK Jr.'s top deputy at the Health and Human Services department.

• The Silicon Valley-backed O'Neill previously worked at HHS during former President George W. Bush's administration.
• O'Neill doesn't have any formal medical training and in the past has been critical of some FDA guidelines. In a 2014 speech he called for the FDA to approve drugs once their safety had been established, but before their efficacy had been determined.

White House jobs

Outside of Trump's Cabinet are a bevy of jobs inside the administration. None of these positions require Senate confirmation, but they include advisers and policymakers, as well as some public-facing positions that will deliver the president's message and agenda to the American people.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: Department of Government Efficiency

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut government spending and streamline bureaucracy, Trump announced.

• It's unclear what exactly Musk's role will entail — or whether he and Ramaswamy will be able to make the kinds of sweeping changes they have proposed, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.
• Trump said the new "department" would be advising from "outside of government." That suggests Musk and Ramaswamy won't have any power to implement changes, only to advise the White House and executive branch departments.

Worth noting: Despite its name, DOGE is not a government agency or official department. It exists in an advisory capacity and must answer to Congress.

Stephen Miller: Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

Stephen Miller, Trump's first-term senior adviser and speechwriter, is expected to take on an expanded role in Trump's return to Pennsylvania Ave.

Zoom out: Miller, founder of the Trump-allied group America First Legal and an influential aide, is an immigration hardliner who will likely be an architect of the administration's mass deportation plan.

• In a series of election night posts, Miller wrote on X that "Illegals are raping and murdering American children. All the men of America need to fulfill their duty, get to the voting booth, and end the invasion once and for all."
• The New York Times reported Miller is also running policy planning for the transition.

Karoline Leavitt: White House press secretary

Karoline Leavitt is Trump's pick to serve as White House press secretary.

• Leavitt served as the Trump campaign's national press secretary and was previously assistant press secretary during his first White House term.
• She will be one of the public faces of the Trump White House. Trump's team is expected to challenge tradition in its approach to media briefings, which Leavitt will steer.

Michael Waltz: National Security Adviser

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) has been tapped to serve as Trump's national security adviser.

• Waltz, a decorated combat veteran, will guide the administration through a number of ongoing conflicts abroad as the Russia-Ukraine war and fighting in the Middle East rage on.
• A China hawk who served in the Bush administration, Waltz is seen as more hawkish on foreign policy than some in Trump's orbit.
• He has served on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Permanent Select Intelligence committees.

Flashback: Trump clashed with two former national security advisers, John Bolton and Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who have now criticized him publicly.

Tom Homan: "Border Czar"

Trump announced that Tom Homan, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his first term, will return in his second administration as "border czar."

• Homan told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that the deportations promised by Trump will be "a well-targeted, planned operation ... by the men of ICE."
• He said the administration will target "the worst first" by prioritizing criminals and national security threats.

Homan is listed as a contributor to the controversial Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for a GOP presidency.

William McGinley: White House Counsel

Former White House Cabinet secretary William McGinley was tapped by Trump to serve as White House Counsel.

• The role was an unusually high-profile one during the first Trump administration and is likely be even more so now that the president-elect and his aides have indicated they'll challenge the limits of executive power.

Todd Blanche and Emil Bove: Deputy Attorneys General

Attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who have both represented Trump in several criminal cases, will be nominated for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the Department of Justice.

• Trump said in a statement that he wants Blanche to serve as deputy attorney general and said he "will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long."
• Bove will serve as principal associate deputy attorney general and as acting deputy attorney general while Blanche is in process of being confirmed by the Senate, Trump said.

Steven Cheung: Director of Communications

Steven Cheung, the communications chief for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, will join his White House staff as communications director.

• He served as Trump's director of strategic response under his first presidency and is also a former spokesperson for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Kevin Hassett: White House National Economic Council director

Kevin Hassett, who led the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump administration, has been tapped to return as the director of the National Economic Council.

• Hassett will be tasked with implementing Trump's promised tariffs and tax cuts in the new administration.

Other government jobs appointed by Trump

The Cabinet and White House are just some of the jobs where an incoming president may appoint someone to fill a role. Here are some of the high-profile positions named for the incoming administration.

Dr. Oz: CMS Administrator

Mehmet Oz, a doctor and TV personality, was selected by Trump to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

• Oz is a household name and became a Trump world ally during a failed 2022 Senate run.
• But he has no experience running a large government bureaucracy like CMS, which administers Medicare and Medicaid and conducts other services like inspecting nursing homes.

Kash Patel: FBI Director

Kash Patel, a senior National Security official during Trump's first term and a fierce MAGA ally, could face a challenging path to Senate confirmation as Trump's pick for FBI director.

• He shares Trump's disdain for the so-called "deep state" and has pushed the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
• In an interview earlier this year, Patel said he'd "shut down" the FBI headquarters building in D.C. and "reopen it the next day as a museum of the 'deep state.'"

Candidates who have withdrawn

Matt Gaetz: Attorney General

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrew as Trump's pick for attorney general.

• Gaetz, a Republican firebrand, was considered among the president-elect's most controversial Cabinet appointments and was widely thought to be the most vulnerable during the Senate confirmation process.
• The ex-Florida Rep resigned from Congress hours after Trump appointed him as attorney general. The move also came just before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to vote on releasing a report detailing its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, misuse of campaign funds and bribes. The committee canceled the vote after Gaetz resigned.
• Gaetz previously faced sex trafficking allegations in a Justice Department probe, which he denied. The DOJ did not bring charges.

Chad Chronister: DEA Administrator

Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, saying "the gravity of this very important responsibility set in."

Go deeper: Trump's next Situation Room

Editor's note: This article will be updated with more appointments as they are made.