Donald Trump completes 15-member cabinet

Washington: Donald Trump has completed his picks for the top 15 positions in his cabinet, selecting a range of establishment and non-traditional officials for top positions in just three weeks.

A former football player will be the secretary of housing and urban development. A former pastor will be the secretary of veterans’ affairs, and a survivor of the 9/11 attacks who lost 658 employees, including his brother, as the secretary of commerce.

Two Fox News hosts will be the secretaries of defense and transportation. A dog killer who refused to order masks during COVID-19 will be the secretary of homeland security. A former wrestler will be the secretary of education, and the richest billionaire politician will be the secretary of the interior. The president-elect’s choice under Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement is uniting diverse ideologies.

1. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services Former Democrat and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will head the Department of Health and Human Services in Trump’s cabinet. Kennedy Jr. is the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Kennedy is a former environmental law attorney who has spoken out about conspiracy theories about a vaccine ready to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. He attempted to run as a Democratic candidate in the party's primary election. However, in October 2023, he decided to become an independent candidate. In late August 2024, he dropped out of the race and endorsed Republican candidate Trump.

2. Lori Chavez de Reimer Labor Trump selected Lori Chavez de Reimer of Oregon as the next Secretary of the Department of Labor.

Chavez is considered the most pro-labor Republican in Washington and is one of the few members of Congress to co-sponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

Chavez de Reimer lost re-election in Oregon’s 5th District earlier this month. She was first elected to the House in 2022, becoming one of the first two Latinas to represent Oregon.

The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, quickly signaled its support for Chavez de Reimer. During her time in Congress, Lori Chavez de Reimer voted against defunding the Department of Education, against school vouchers, and cuts to education funding.

3. Scott Besant Treasury Secretary Trump nominated Scott Besant, founder of investment firm Square Group and an ardent promoter of political oversight of the Federal Reserve, to be Treasury Secretary. Scott Besant, 62, is one of the billionaire investors and will be the first openly gay Treasury secretary in US history.

He made his name at Soros Capital Management, where he served as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015. After his work with Soros, he founded the hedge fund Square Capital Management and was a key economic policy advisor and fundraiser for the Trump campaign. He has been an advocate for economic policies such as lower taxes, spending cuts, and deregulation.

4. Marco Rubio Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, will be Trump's next secretary of state. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has been a vocal critic of Trump in the past.

He has advocated for stronger ties with foreign alliances, including NATO, has openly supported Israel's war on Hamas, and has spoken out against aid to Ukraine. Marco Rubio is a senior member of the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees and a former political rival of Trump.

Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010. Rubio, 53, would be the first Latino secretary of state in US history. He is known for taking tough stances on Iran and China. Rubio himself ran against Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016.

5. Pat Hegseth Secretary of Defense Trump has nominated Pat Hegseth, a decorated veteran and former Fox News host, to be the US secretary of defense.

After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, he joined the Army National Guard as an infantry officer. He earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University.

Hegseth, who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Minnesota National Guard, has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration's approach to national security. Hegseth also faces sexual harassment allegations in 2017.

6. Pam Bondi Attorney General Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been selected to take over the Justice Department after Matt Gaetz withdrew. Former Congressman Matt Gaetz was nominated for the position before Pam, but he withdrew his name. Matt Gaetz was facing strong opposition from the Democratic Party as well as his own Republican Party when his name was named in the alleged sexual assault allegations. So, he withdrew his steps.

Palm is a longtime Trump supporter who served on the legal team during the impeachment trial.

7. The newly elected US president has nominated Doug Burgum to be Secretary of the Interior. He is a businessman and politician who has served as the 33rd Governor of North Dakota since 2016. He is one of the wealthiest politicians in America, with a net worth of $1.1 billion.

8. Trump nominated Brooke Rollins, CEO and president of the America First Policy Institute, to be secretary of agriculture. Rollins, who grew up on a farm in Glen Rose, Texas, served as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council during the first term of the Trump administration.

Since his time in the Trump White House, Rollins has co-founded the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute think tank. He holds a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from Texas A&M University.

9. President-elect Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick to be secretary of commerce. Lutnick, 63, served as co-chair of Trump's transition team and was a key fundraiser for Trump's 2020 and 2024 campaigns.

He is an American businessman who succeeded Bernard Gerald Cantor as head of Cantor Fitzgerald. After losing 658 employees, including his brother, in the September 11 attacks, he survived the collapse of the towers and has since become known for his philanthropic efforts.

10. Trump has nominated Eric Scott Turner, a politician and former football player who previously served as executive director of the White House Recovery Council, to be the secretary of housing and urban development.

11. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy to be the secretary of transportation. He is currently a host on Fox News.

Sean Duffy will oversee policies related to aviation, automobiles, rail service, transit, and other sectors.

12. Trump has chosen Chris White to lead the Department of Energy in his administration. Chris Wright is the CEO of Denver, Colorado-based Liberty Energy.

13. Trump has nominated former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education.

14. Douglas Allen Collins is an American lawyer and retired politician who served as the US Representative for Georgia's 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2021.

A member of the Republican Party and a political supporter of Donald Trump, he has served in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2007. Collins also served as a chaplain, holding the rank of colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. Since leaving politics, he has served as Trump's legal advisor.

15. Homeland Security Secretary South Dakota Governor Kirsty Noom has been selected to take over the Department of Homeland Security in the new US administration.

Kirsty Noom rose to fame in the US when she refused to issue a statewide mask-wearing mandate during COVID-19. She wrote in her memoir that she shot a dog on her family's farm because she hated it.