The president-elect is confirming Cabinet members a week after winning the 2024 presidential election.
President-elect Donald Trump is already beginning to finalize his Cabinet roster less than a week after his decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
The president’s Cabinet usually includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments, including the president’s chief of staff, the secretary of state, and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Here’s who Trump has selected for his Cabinet so far, with most pending Senate confirmation next year:
Matt Gaetz, US Attorney General
Trump picked Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as his nominee for U.S. attorney general, pending Senate confirmation.
“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations, and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
Gaetz, 42, was first elected to Florida’s House of Representatives in 2010. His father, Don, was president of the Florida Senate from 2012 to 2014. Gaetz then ran for Florida’s 1st congressional district in 2016, winning with 69 percent of the vote.
The congressman has been both an outspoken proponent of Trump. He was a fierce critic of the false Russia collusion allegations against Trump. Gaetz was probed by U.S. officials for allegations including sexual misconduct, but no charges were ever brought and Gaetz’s attorneys said the Department of Justice informed them the investigation was over.
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
Trump selected former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the Director of National Intelligence, pending Senate confirmation.
“I am pleased to announce that former Congresswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard, will serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said in a statement shared by his campaign team on Nov. 13.
Gabbard, 43, represented Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 until 2021.
Gabbard unsuccessfully ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary before leaving the party to become an Independent in 2022. She campaigned for several Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections before endorsing Trump in August. She is also an honorary co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, pending Senate confirmation, which would make him the first Latino to serve as the country’s top diplomat.
“Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom,” Trump wrote in a Nov. 13 statement.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.”
Rubio, 53, has a nearly four-decade-long political background in the Sunshine State. He was first elected as a city commissioner for West Miami in 1998. Rubio became a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, leading the 111th House District, which includes Miami. He was also the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 until 2008.
During this time, Rubio traveled around the state, speaking to citizens to compile ideas for a book called “100 Innovative Ideas For Florida’s Future.” Many of the ideas in the book became state law. He also briefly taught at Florida International University.
Rubio was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 when then-Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican at the time, decided to run as an independent in the race after trailing Rubio in GOP primary polling. Rubio won with 49 percent of the vote.
In the Senate, he has been an outspoken critic of communist China and his selection by Trump signals a tough approach by the incoming administration toward international diplomacy.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
Trump has chosen South Dakota Gov.Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, pending Senate confirmation.
“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in his announcement. “She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times.
“She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
Noem became South Dakota’s first-ever female governor in 2018, and was reelected in 2022 by an historic vote count for the state. She was floated as the possible choice for Trump’s vice president before Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was selected.
The 52-year-old mother and grandmother has continued to take a strong stance against illegal immigration. Previously describing the Texas border with Mexico as a “warzone,” she is aligned with Homan in the belief that anybody who crosses the U.S. border illegally must be deported.
Besides border security, the Department of Homeland Security encompasses several agencies, including the Secret Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Department of Defense
Trump announced Pete Hegseth as his pick for Defense Secretary, pending Senate confirmation.
Hegseth is the latest veteran to be named in the president-elect’s Cabinet. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a captain in the Army National Guard. He has been awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Trump highlighted Hegseth’s military background in his announcement.
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops and for the Country,” Trump said. “Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth also graduated from Princeton and Harvard, wrote the bestselling book “The War on Warriors,” which criticizes left-wind policies concerning the military, and he spent eight years as a Fox News host.
John Ratcliffe, CIA Director
Trump announced John Ratcliffe as his pick to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ratcliffe served as the director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, as well as Trump’s primary intelligence adviser. Trump awarded him the National Security Medal in 2020.
“From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump said in his announcement. “When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People.”
Trump said Ratcliffe would be a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans while ensuring the highest levels of national security.”
The Notre Dame and SMU Law graduate previously served as a member of Congress, where he was a member of the House Intelligence Committee and House Judiciary Committee. While in Congress, he was also questioned about the foundation of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign in 2016, and, in late 2020, made the claim that year’s elections were marred by foreign intelligence.
Ratcliffe also spoke out against communist China intelligence, stating that the Chinese Communist Party attempted to meddle in the 2020 elections and later testifying that a lab leak in China was “the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense” for the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), a colonel (ret.) in the National Guard and combat-decorated Green Beret, will be Trump’s national security adviser. He is the first Green Beret elected to Congress and the third veteran to join Trump’s Cabinet.
While this is not traditionally a Cabinet-ranked position, Trump announced that Waltz’s role will be promoted to the Cabinet.
On Nov. 5, Waltz won reelection in the Sixth Congressional District in east-central Florida. He has been a member of the House China Task Force, the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, and the House Armed Services Committee, and he served as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. He has also been a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
He served as a military adviser in the George W. Bush administration and worked as a defense policy director under Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
Waltz continues to be a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), calling out human rights violations and the ongoing threat of espionage and advocating for more support of Taiwan’s self-defense.
“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength,” Trump said in a statement.
Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the EPA
Former New York congressman Lee Zeldin will take on the role of EPA administrator, and it is expected that he will quickly focus on deregulation.
Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said in a statement posted to the social media platform Truth Social.
Zeldin’s political service began in 2010 when he was elected to the New York Senate. He served at the state level until 2014 before being elected to Congress to represent New York’s First Congressional District. He served in that role from 2015 to 2023.
He ran for governor of New York in 2022 but lost the closer-than-expected race to current Gov. Kathy Hochul.
While he was in Washington, Zeldin served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. One of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, he co-chaired the House Republican Israel Caucus.
Zeldin is an Army veteran, having served four years of active duty—including a deployment to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He still serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves.
Elise Stefanik, US Ambassador to the UN
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R–N.Y.) has been described by Trump as “an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”
Pending approval in the Senate, the Harvard graduate will assume the ambassadorship after serving five terms in the House of Representatives. At age 30, she was the youngest woman elected to Congress in U.S. history when she was elected in 2014.
Stefanik replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as the chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021 with Trump’s endorsement, and she has been in that role since. She is also on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
She has positioned herself as a Trump ally since his 2016 election and was the first member of Congress to endorse him for reelection in 2024.
If approved by the Senate, she will replace Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Biden administration appointee, to become Trump’s third appointed ambassador to the U.N., following Nikki Haley and Kelly Craft.
Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff
Susie Wiles, 67, will become the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. Co-chair of Trump’s successful campaign, she is being credited with several key campaign victories in her home state of Florida.
She gained national attention managing Rick Scott’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign and has been credited by some with rescuing current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Both races were extremely close in what was then considered a battleground state. Wiles also worked as DeSantis’s senior adviser from September 2018 through January 2019.
Wiles met Trump in 2015 and was hired to co-chair his Florida operations in 2016 and 2020. She was named CEO of his Save America Leadership PAC in 2021 before being asked to co-chair the 2024 campaign.
Wiles has been described as a background figure in the Trump world, responsible for instilling discipline and suggesting key course corrections in his positions, including his stance on mail-in voting.
She’s also had a successful career in government affairs and communications consulting and is the co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs, a global public strategy firm.
JD Vance, Vice President
Vice President-elect JD Vance will be the first millennial vice president and, at age 40, the youngest vice president in the nation’s history.
Before joining the Senate in 2023, Vance served in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent in the Iraq war. A graduate of Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he has worked in venture capital with Peter Thiel and was a CNN commentator. His 2016 best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” details his life growing up in poverty in a Rust Belt town in Ohio, where he was raised by his grandmother while his mother struggled with substance abuse.
In the Senate, Vance served on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging. He has a conservative voting record, expressed support for Israel and criticism of the war in Ukraine, and sees focus on China as a priority.
He is married to corporate litigator Usha Chilukuri Vance, who will become the first Hindu spouse of a vice president and the first woman of color second lady. They have three children—Ewan, 7, Vivek, 4, and
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Jacob Burg, Joseph Lord, Jackson Richman, Nathan Worcester, and Frank Fang contributed to this report.
