Policy Briefs
November 15, 2024
The Trump Team is Taking Shape: A Look at His Emerging Cabinet
With the conclusion of the 2024 presidential race, attention now turns to President-elect Trump’s first 100 days in office. Perhaps one of the top areas of interest is who he will appoint to lead his various federal agencies. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, to act as Secretary of State. Here’s what else we know so far:
- President-elect Trump has selected Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff. Wiles is a longtime pillar of conservative Florida politics and will become the first woman to hold this key leadership position.
- Stephen Miller has been tapped to be deputy chief of staff for public policy. Miller, a longtime Trump advisor, is known for his hard-line approach to immigration policy and is currently president of America First Legal.
- Trump has chosen Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The activist promises to “Make America Healthy Again;” read his plan here. AHPA will review his proposed policies in the months to come and provide updates.
- Marco Rubio (R-FL) is Trump’s choice for Secretary of State. The Florida Senator has long shown professional interest in international affairs, serving on the Senate’s Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees. Florida Governor DeSantis gets to appoint Rubio’s replacement; Rubio’s replacement will serve until a 2026 special election.
- Tom Homan has been selected to be Trump’s “border czar,” likely due to his previous work as Director of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
- Former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) will lead the Environmental Protection Agency,
- Mike Waltz (R-FL) has been chosen as National Security Advisor. The former Army Green Beret has served on multiple military intelligence and foreign affairs committees, often with a focus on reducing U.S. reliance on and vulnerability to China.
- Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will jointly head the new Department of Government Efficiency; Trump wants them to focus on “dismantling Government Bureaucracy, slashing excessive regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring Federal Agencies.”
- Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been selected to serve as Attorney General. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday stated that the Senate won’t allow the man who took away his speaker’s gavel to become attorney general. The Florida Republican was also the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into multiple allegations. Gaetz resigned from Congress this week, prior to the investigation report being released.
President-elect Trump still has many appointments left to make to federal offices, many which will require Senate confirmation after inauguration day. No appointments would be more far reaching than to the U.S. Supreme Court. During his first administration, President Trump appointed three new justices, creating a conservative majority. In his second term, President-elect Trump could put an indelible stamp on the court, with speculation that Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor could retire in the next four years. That would mean that the majority of the Court would have been appointed by President Trump, shaping judicial rulings for decades to come.