Carmen Macri
Who is Trump Really Appointing?
Words by Carmen Macri
Every morning, it feels like there’s a new headline: “President-elect Donald Trump appoints someone with no experience in their assigned government role,” and we all just have to deal with it. These are just his nominees — most still need Senate approval, but with Republicans taking control of the Senate, it feels like a sure thing.
Now, let’s dive into who Trump is attempting to appoint — keyword, attempting. A few picks have already dropped out or are under heavy public scrutiny, whether for lack of experience or a stack of allegations. But hey, that’s Trump for you.
Starting with the obvious pick, the one we could see coming from miles away …
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Department of Health and Human Services. For the most part, people do seem pleased with this choice, even though Kennedy has made some wild claims: that vaccines cause autism, wi-fi causes cancer and “leaky brain,” antidepressants lead to school shootings, chemicals in water turn kids transgender and HIV might not cause AIDS. Oh, and he’s long insisted vaccines don’t protect against disease. On the flip side, he’s all about “Making America Healthy Again” by aiming to tackle the chronic disease epidemic by rooting out corruption in health agencies and reforming incentives in the healthcare system. He also wants stricter regulation of chemicals in our food and more transparency around vaccines, so people can make informed decisions. Aside from the conspiracies, RFK does seem like he will get the job done.
Elon Musk for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. I’m sure we are all well aware of this choice as it went supernova online. If you only know Musk as the guy who sells electric cars and loves space, you might be wondering why everyone’s so fired up. He hasn’t exactly done anything wrong — it’s more that he says wild stuff online, brushes off hefty complaints within his company and now heads a government agency. Plus, a billionaire running the Department of Government Efficiency? Feels a little on the nose, doesn’t it?
Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. The joke practically writes itself: Trump saw the word “secretary” and figured Rubio was his guy. But why this choice? Let’s revisit a few of Trump’s past tweets about his new pick because, as we know, Twitter tells all. (No, I will not call it X.)
“Rubio is totally owned by the lobbyists and special interests. A lightweight senator with the worst voting record in Senate. Lazy!” OK, not horrible. Trump has definitely said worse.
“Marco Rubio is a total lightweight who I wouldn’t hire to run one of my smaller companies — a highly overrated politician!” That one did not age well. God, I love irony.
“Marco Rubio is totally weak on illegal immigration & in favor of easy amnesty. A lightweight choker – bad for #USA!” Bad for the USA, you say?
Pete Hagseth for Defense Secretary? Yes, that Pete Hegseth — the Fox News host. The same one who reportedly paid a secret financial settlement to a woman accusing him of sexual assault back in 2017. Sure, he’s a veteran with military service under his belt, but let’s not forget he was also a co-host on “Fox & Friends.” Really? And it gets more interesting. According to “The New Yorker,” newly released documents and a whistleblower report just unveiled a massive bombshell about Hegseth.
“A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran — Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America — in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety and personal misconduct.”
Russell Vought for Office of Management and Budget. Before we get into the obvious, has anyone seen “The Boys”? VOUGHT? You can’t make this stuff up. For those outside the niche fandom — Vought is the family behind the injectable that creates “superheroes” like Homelander (who is basically a nazi). Now, back to the real reason this pick raises eyebrows: Vought was a key architect of Project 2025. Interesting, considering Trump has publicly distanced himself from it, claiming no involvement — yet somehow managed to hire at least 17 people connected to the project. (More on that in a minute.)
Linda McMahon for the Department of Education — let that sink in. Sure, she’s not just a former WWE performer; as CEO, she turned the company into a multibillion-dollar global empire, which is undeniably impressive. What’s less impressive? The stack of sexual assault allegations surrounding WWE and the fact that she has zero experience in education. In October, she was accused of failing to prevent the sexual abuse of teenage WWE workers, a lawsuit her lawyers called “baseless.” But you know what’s actually baseless? Appointing someone with no educational background to run the Department of Education, especially when Trump has openly declared he wants to abolish the department altogether.
Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Don’t make me laugh. He faced a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking, a probe he could have overseen had he not withdrawn from consideration. Why? Because of resurfaced sexual misconduct allegations. Yes, allegations, plural — because, of course, there’s more than one. This is Trump’s cabinet we’re talking about. Where to begin? Illicit drug use? Sex with a minor? Paying women for sex? Take your pick. The torch has now been passed to Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General. Finally! Something that makes sense.
Here is the full list of Trump’s cabinet and staff nominations:
Senate confirmation required:
Highlighted are associated with the America First Policy Institute or Project 2025
Marco Rubio – State
Pam Bondi – Attorney General
Pete Hegseth – Defense
Kristi Noem – Homeland Security
Lori Chavez-DeRemer – Labor
John Ratcliffe – C.I.A
Tulsi Gabbard – D.N.I.
Mehmet Oz – Medicare and Medicaid
Lee Zeldin – E.P.A.
Elise Stefanik – U.N.
Robert F. Kennedy – Health
Doug Burgum – Interior
Doug Collins – Veterans Affairs
Scott Bessent – Treasury
Brooke Rollins – Agriculture
Howard Lutnick – Commerce
Sean Duffy – Transport
Martin A. Makary – F.D.A.
Chris Wright – Energy
Linda McMahon – Education
Matthew G. Whitaker – NATO
Scott Turner – Housing
Dave Weldon – C.D.C
Janette Nesheiwat – Surgeon General
Russell T. Vought – O.M.B
Mike Huckabee – Ambassador to Isreal
Pete Hoekstra – Ambassador to Canada
Todd Blanch – Department Attorney General
- John Sauer – Solicitor General
Jamieson Greer – U.S Trade Rep
Jay Bhattacharya – N.I.H. Director
John Phelan – Navy
Jim O’Neill – Health Deputy
Kash Patel – F.B.I.
Charles Kushner – Ambassador to France
Jared Issacmen – NASA (shout out!)
Adam Boehler – Hostage Affairs Envoy
Daniel Driscoll – Army Secretary
Paul Atkins – S.E.C.
Michael Faulkender – Treasury Deputy
Billy Long – I.R.S.
Kelly Loeffler – Small Business
Frank Bisignano – Social Security
David Perdue – Ambassador to China
Brandon Judd – Ambassador to Chile
Senate confirmation not required:
JD Vance – Vice President
Susie Wiles – Chief of Staff
James Blair– Deputy Cheif of Staff
Taylor Budowich – Deputy Cheif of Staff
Stephen Miller – Deputy Cheif of Staff
Dan Scavino – Deputy Cheif of Staff
Thomas Homan – Boarder Czar
Michael Waltz – National Secretary Advisor
Bill McGinley – Government Efficiency Counsel
David Warrington – White House Counsel
Steven Cheung – Comm. Director
Karoline Leavitt – Press Secretary
Will Sharf – Staff Secretary
Sergio Gor – Personnel
Elon Musk – Government Efficiency Lead
Vivek Ramaswamy – Government Efficiency Lead
Brendan Carr – F.C.C
Alex Wong – Dep. Nat. Sec. Adviser
Sebastian Gorka – Dep. asst. to Press.
Steven Witkoff – Middle East Envoy
James Braid – Legislative Affairs
Alex Latcham – Public Liaison
Vince Haley – Domestic Policy
Kevin Hassett – N.E.C Director
Keith Kellogg – Ukraine and Russia Envoy
Massad Boulos – Senior Advisor
Peter Navarro – Trade and Manufature
Caleb Vitello – I.C.E Acting Director
Withdrawn:
Matt Gaetz – Attorney General
Chad Chronister – D.E.A
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