What to Know About Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks
Donald Trump has begun to drop names for his administration in 2025.
Following his victory in the 2024 election, Trump has begun the process of selecting nominees for cabinet picks. So far, Trump has nominated someone for the roles of Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State, Director of National Intelligence, Defense Secretary, Attorney General, Labor Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Homeland Security Secretary, CIA Director, Health and Human Services Secretary, Agriculture Secretary, Transportation Secretary, Veterans Affair Secretary, Interior Secretary, Energy Secretary, Education Secretary, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and Housing and Urban Development.
A lot of Trump’s picks are controversial, but they all have one thing in common of being loyalists to Trump in some way, whether that was being loyal to his term as 45th U.S President from 2016-2020, or serving him in some way during his campaign for presidency in 2024.
Trump’s first pick for attorney general was Matt Gaetz, a Florida U.S Representative who has since removed his name from the running due to controversy surrounding allegations of him being involved in sex trafficking. Following the removal of his name from the running, Gaetz has said that he does not plan to rejoin Congress. Trump has since picked Pam Bondi as his new pick for Attorney General.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former presidential candidate who ran in the 2024 election, has been selected as the Health and Human Services Secretary, a pick that has drawn controversy due to Kennedy’s statements on vaccines and touting of conspiracy theories. Kennedy has been named by some public health experts on PBS News as one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the United States, which has brought a lot of concern as the Health and Human Services Secretary oversees the Center for Disease Control.
Trump has appointed key authors and contributors relating to Project 2025, despite his prior claims that he had nothing to do with the hard-right plan for America. In a post on his social media website, Trump said in the summer, “I know nothing about project 2025,” and he condemned some of the statements made by its authors.
Trump’s appointment for the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, is one of the main authors of Project 2025, a decision that has sparked concern over the hypocrisy in Trump’s claims of non-involvement with the project.
