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Trump’s Nominees: The Final List
With so many names floating around, it’s been hard to keep track of Donald Trump’s cabinet and cabinet-level nominees. I created a table with all of the President-elect’s choices.
Cabinet
| Agriculture | Sonny Perdue |  |
| Attorney General | Sen. Jeff Sessions |  |
| Central Intelligence | Rep. Mike Pompeo |  |
| Commerce | Wilbur Ross |  |
| Defense | Gen. James Mattis |  |
| Education | Betsy DeVos |  |
| Energy | Gov. Rick Perry |  |
| Health and Human Services | Rep. Tom Price |  |
| Homeland Security | Gen. John Kelly |  |
| Housing and Urban Development | Ben Carson |  |
| Interior | Rep. Ryan Zinke |  |
| Labor | Andrew Puzder |  |
| State | Rex Tillerson |  |
| Transportation | Elaine Chao |  |
| Treasury | Steven Mnuchin |  |
| Veterans Affairs | David Shulkin |  |
Cabinet-level officials
| Ambassador to the United Nations | Gov. Nikki Haley |  |
| Chief of Staff | Reince Priebus |  |
| Chief Strategist | Steve Bannon |  |
| Director, National Economic Council | Gary Cohn |  |
| Director, National Intelligence | Dan Coats |  |
| Environmental Protection Agency | Okla. AG Scott Pruitt |  |
| National Security Advisor | Gen. Michael Flynn |  |
| Office of Management and Budget | Rep. Mick Mulvaney |  |
| Press Secretary | Sean Spicer |  |
| Small Business Administration | Linda McMahon |  |
| Trade Representative | Robert Lighthizer |  |
| White House Counsel | Donald McGahn II |  |
The only ones I’m really excited about are Sessions and Bannon. Tillerson is intriguing. Perry is a good choice, and he’ll make all the right heads explode. Most of the rest are either “Well and good, solid picks”, or “Meh, they don’t matter anyway”. I’m concerned about the Goldman Sachs picks. I do think some of this is Trump executing the Godfather principle (“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer“), and some of it is just practical. But I’m also very wary of GS and it’s influence. If you’ve ever read the old Sci-Fi classic Dune, I’d compare GS to the Spacing Guild, the commercial interests so powerful that sometimes it even gives the Emperor orders. They have wayyyy too much influence. Trump should beware.
She’s merely rumored at this point for Director of National Intelligence.
Looks like a good lineup.
Willis Eschenbach of Watts Up With That has a new blog, including an explication of the Trump’s Energy Department transition team’s memo to the Department:
RTWT.
Any truth to the rumor that he is about to name @exjon as Official Mine Inspector?
I read through that list. The Obama team is probably upset that they will have to work these last few weeks actually getting together the responses.
Mulvaney is a great choice. I hate to lose him in the House and hope his district has another one like him to vote in. If you want to know more, like him on Facebook and read his online townhalls.
I’ll only accept it if the graft possibilities exceed $1 billion.
Very happy about this pick – I managed to interview him back in 2010 when he just announced to run against John Spratt
I don’t know much about the thinking of most of these nominees (except for Gen. Mattis, who has done a lot of public speaking). But whether you’re happy with most of Trump’s choices or not, I have a feeling that he will not hesitate to make personnel changes whenever he sees fit, which could be often. Don’t get too attached.
Bloomberg says it may be my friend Larry for Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
The Rex Tillerson Secretary of State tanker took a torpedo today. The UK Guardian reports that Tillerson has been outed by the Panama Papers leak as the director of an offshore US/Russian oil firm located in the Bahamas:
I can’t imagine that he’s going to pass Senate confirmation when this new factoid gets around, in what already appeared to be a contentious confirmation process due to his perceived close relationship with Putin’s Russia. Your comments?
Just looking at the names here it looks as if Tillerson, a lifetime employee of ExxonMobil (a company with global operations) and in recent years the CEO, has been identified as a Director of ExxonMobil’s Russian subsidiary Exxon Neftegas. It looks as if ExxonMobil just might have a substantial investment in the Russian subsidiary so I would fully expect some representation on the board of the company. Why is this thought to be a problem?
I don’t care about companies responding to confiscatory taxation by moving offshore. What better way to motivate the government to change policy.
Thanks again !
Since Pantex is in Texas, he already was familiar with it.
Concretevol for Chairman of the Council of Concrete Advisors……..it’s like the COEA but more important.
If Trump picks Rep. Miller for VA, there will be an open revolt of Veterans and VA employees. It’ll be the one thing they can agree on.
I still want VDH for Agriculture.
Was kind of hoping for a rap artist for head of the NEA.
I’d nominate Andrew Klavan or Larry Correia for head of the NEA.
Make it happen, Universe.
Make it so.
Seawriter
It will be viewed as too white and too male – but some darn good picks!!!
Some are still fussing about Tillerson’s lack of experience. Actually Tillerson has more and deeper experience as an oil man than almost any potential State appointee. Oil folks serve abroad, supervise foreign operations, negotiate access and terms, deal with nationalizations and terror, with foreign governments and foreign companies all the time, and have more in common with our Diplomatic service than any other profession in the US. He’s supervised global operations of the most political, technical and challenging business that exists. The criticism lacks seriousness. Goldman Sachs offspring on the other hand must be watched because the most important deregulation that must be done is the financial sector which has been constructed over the years to line the pockets of it’s professional managers rather than it’s investors or depositors. The new USTR is being portrayed as a tough guy on trade. He was Deputy under Reagan. USTR was tough and aggressive under Reagan which is appropriate. NAFT got its start then so he’ll know it’s strange history. This will be interesting.
Jon Gabriel declares his support for the man who defeated Joe Arpaio and “calls illegal immigrants guests.”
Can we have one non open-borders contributor on this website? Thank you.
Yes. That’s anonymous
Thanks for the update.
I find it confusing to track who has been confirmed and who has not (I know only the first list requires senate confirmation).
Also, will not yet confirmed candidates start acting in some kind of interim capacity tomorrow or will the current Democrat stay in place or will that particular department be operating with a vacancy at the top until someone is confirmed.
To my knowledge, at this moment, none have been confirmed. Mattis got waivered through the Senate committee, but hasn’t been approved by the entire Senate.