The Senate has begun the confirmation process for the president-elect’s new administration.
Elise Stefanik
US Ambassador to the UN
Announced
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.
Lee Zeldin
Administrator of EPA
Announced
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.
John Ratcliffe
Director of CIA
Announced
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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.
Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense
Announced
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-wing policies concerning the military, and he spent eight years as a Fox News host.
Kristi Noem
Secretary of DHS
Announced
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.
Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
Announced
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.
Tulsi Gabbard
Director of National Intelligence
Announced
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. On Oct. 22, at a Trump rally, she formally announced her switch to the Republican Party. She is also an honorary co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Secretary of HHS
Announced
President-elect Donald Trump officially picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), pending Senate approval.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump wrote on platform X, along with his announcement.
Trump added that HHS will work to protect Americans from harmful chemicals, food additives, pesticides, pollutants, and pharmaceutical products that contribute to the “overwhelming heath crisis.”
Kennedy had his eyes set on the health sector, and HHS oversees 13 different agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health.
“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Kennedy previously wrote on X. “This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma.
“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
An environmental attorney who challenged corporations such as DuPont and Monsanto, Kennedy is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. Originally making a bid for president as a Democrat, he ran as an independent before suspending his campaign in August and endorsing Trump.
Kennedy is also founder of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization that works to end “childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure,” according to its website.
Doug Collins
Secretary of VA
Announced
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, former Rep. Doug Collins, has also served as one of his attorneys.
Collins is also a longtime loyalist who has stood with the president-elect through his ups and downs—a consistent characteristic of many of the men and women being chosen for top positions in the new administration.
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need. Thank you, Doug, for your willingness to serve our Country in this very important role!” Trump wrote in a statement.
Collins was a member of the House of Representatives serving Georgia’s ninth district between 2013 and 2021. He sat on the House Judiciary Committee and served as vice chair of the House Republican Committee.
In Georgia, Collins lost to both Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Kelly Loeffler in the race to fill the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Johnny Isakson in 2019.
Collins was deployed to Iraq during the Iraq War. A U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain, the Gainesville, Georgia, native also served in Georgia’s House of Representatives. He has a wife, Lisa, and three children: sons Copelan and Cameron and daughter Jordan.
Collins is also chair of the Georgia chapter of the America First Policy Institute, which has been central to Trump’s presidential transition.
Doug Burgum
Secretary of Interior
Announced
Leaders of both Dakotas could be moving to Washington, pending Senate approval. President-elect Donald Trump picked North Dakota’s Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.
“We’re going to do things with energy and with land, interior, that is going to be incredible,” Trump said to Burgum on Nov. 14.
The Department of the Interior oversees several key agencies including the National Parks Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Society, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. All of these agencies are crucial to Trump’s plans for energy.
From the moment he suspended his own candidacy for president, speculation has been focused on Burgum becoming a part of either the Department of Interior or Department of Energy.
Burgum is a North Dakota native, and he attended North Dakota State University before earning an MBA from Stanford University.
Prior to politics, he worked in the tech industry, working with Great Plains Software, which was eventually sold to Microsoft. He’s a proud North Dakotan who touted his administration’s energy development and experience with the Interior agencies on the campaign trail.
“North Dakota’s energy, agriculture and technology economy is poised to thrive in the coming era where private sector innovation, not overreaching government regulation, is seen as the key to solving our biggest challenges and realizing our fullest potential,” Burgum stated on Nov. 7 in reaction to Trump’s election victory.
Bergum’s appointment comes after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was picked to become the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
