President-elect Trump has made quick work of pulling together a Cabinet and group of senior aides for his incoming administration, roiling Washington with some of his more controversial picks in the process.
Trump issued a flurry of nominations and appointments during his first full week as president-elect, sending lawmakers scrambling to react.
Here are five takeaways from Trump’s Cabinet thus far.
Trump prioritizes loyalty
The president-elect has long made clear that loyalty is paramount for anyone in his orbit, and his Cabinet picks thus far are a sign that he is rewarding those who have stayed on his good side.
Nearly every nominee or appointment Trump has made to date has been an individual who has defended the president-elect in some capacity, endorsed him on the campaign trail or stuck by him during some of his more turbulent moments.
Four Cabinet nominees – Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for United Nations ambassador, Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Doug Collins for Veterans Affairs secretary and John Ratcliffe for CIA director – were part of his impeachment defense team in 2020.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has been one of Trump’s most brash and vocal defenders since 2016. Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress when Trump rocked Washington by announcing the Florida Republican as the pick for attorney general.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard were prominent surrogates for Trump on the campaign trail after endorsing him as former Democrats. And Trump’s own personal criminal attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, were picked for top jobs in the Justice Department after representing him during the hush money trial earlier this year.
The assembled administration is a far cry from the “team of rivals” that formed the first batch of top officials in Trump’s first term.
“It does seem like this group is a closer knit group of people,” Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first legislative affairs director, said on MSNBC. “Now, you may not like the people they’re coming forward with, but at the same time I think they’ve moved pretty quickly.”
Some nominees undercut agencies they’re tasked to lead
Multiple nominees for Cabinet positions have used rhetoric in the past that would undercut the mission of the agencies they have been put forward to lead.
Gabbard, the former Democrat tapped to serve as director of national intelligence, has been accused of parroting Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine and refused to label Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad a war criminal after he was implicated in using chemical weapons on civilians.
Gaetz has in the past called for defunding the FBI and introduced legislation that would have eliminated the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Both agencies are housed within the Justice Department and would be under his purview as attorney general.
Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has come under scrutiny for writing in his book published earlier this year that women were less suited than men to serve in combat roles. He has also been critical of the Pentagon’s efforts to embrace diversity and equity. If confirmed, Hegseth would preside over the millions of men and women employed by the Defense Department.
And Kennedy, who has been chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has for years spread anti-vaccine conspiracies, promoted the consumption of raw milk and pushed unproven treatments for COVID-19 like ivermectin. If confirmed, Kennedy would have broad authority over the nation’s health and regulatory agencies that approve vaccines, manage Medicare and Medicaid and conduct research into treatments for various diseases.
A quicker pace and clearer vision than 2016
When Trump won the White House in 2016, he and his team appeared to be caught flat-footed and were slow to ramp up efforts to staff a new administration.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was ousted as head of the transition shortly after the election, and Trump paraded candidates in and out of Trump Tower for the press to see. He did not name his first Cabinet picks until Nov. 18, 2016, 10 days after the election.
By contrast, Trump has moved at a rapid clip to nominate not just his main Cabinet officials, but second-tier officials at the Justice Department and senior staff at the White House all within roughly one week of his victory over Vice President Harris.
Allies took it as a clear indication that Trump knows what he’s looking for this time around.
“I think the transition is in obviously a much better place than it was in 2016, because four years in the wilderness wasn’t wasted,” said Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during Trump’s first term.
“The plans, the personnel, the process were all thought about, and the people that he is surrounding himself with now are all committed to advancing the agenda,” he continued. “He doesn’t have to wonder anymore about their commitment to the agenda.”
Tests lie ahead for Senate confirmations
Trump’s nominees – Gaetz, Gabbard and Kennedy in particular – are going to pose a test for Republicans in the Senate and provide a barometer of how independent those lawmakers intend to be from the incoming president.
Republicans are poised to hold 53 seats in the Senate beginning in January, meaning any Trump nominee can afford three GOP defections, assuming they get no Democratic support. Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio) would break any 50-50 ties.
Senators in particular often speak about the importance of the institution serving as a serious body and a check on the House and the executive. But Trump’s convincing victory in the election may increase the pressure on lawmakers to bend to the president-elect’s will.
Trump started the pressure campaign on Senate Republicans before even putting forward any names, pushing for whoever became GOP leader to approve of recess appointments, a procedure that would allow the president to essentially sidestep the confirmation process for any controversial nominees.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who was elected Republican leader this week, hasn’t ruled out recess appointments, but has also acknowledged they could be procedurally difficult to achieve if there is enough GOP opposition.
“All this is a process. But I don’t think any of those things are necessarily off the table. I think we have to have all the options on the table,” Thune told Fox News.
“And these nominees deserve their day in court. They deserve a hearing, a confirmation hearing, an opportunity to be vetted,” he added. “And the Senate will perform its constitutional role under advise and consent.”
Key positions still to come
While many of the highest profile nominees have already been announced, there are still several Cabinet-level positions and top White House jobs Trump is expected to fill in the coming days.
The most notable is his economic team. Trump must still announce picks for Treasury secretary, Commerce secretary and U.S. Trade Representative.
Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are viewed as the finalists for Treasury, while Robert Lighthizer, who served as Trump’s trade representative during his first term and is a strong advocate for the use of tariffs, is likely to land a job in the new administration.
There are also still openings for the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to shutter the Department of Education, but doing so would require congressional approval. It’s unclear if Trump intends to nominate a secretary for the department in the meantime.
