For the next week or so I will be writing about the possibilities from the incoming administration…..mainly so people have an idea of what to expect.
I am a junkie so I am always interested in seeing who the new president will choose for his cabinet….this is a preliminary list of the considerations….
I expected in finding that all his loyal supporters would be in the race….and I was right in that thought….
Donald Trump is the president-elect, so now the question turns to his future cabinet. Multiple outlets are reporting on the biggest names in the mix:
- Secretary of State: According to the Washington Post‘s sources, Sen. Marco Rubio and former acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell are among the contenders. The Wall Street Journal has those names as well as former senior State Department official Brian Hook, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Sen. Bill Hagerty, and former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien.
- Secretary of Defense: Sources say former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a top contender. Other names in the mix include O’Brien, as well as former Rep. John Ratcliffe, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence, and Rep. Mike Waltz, a military veteran and former Pentagon official. Sen. Tom Cotton has also been floated by multiple outlets for either defense secretary, attorney general, or director of the CIA, but sources tell Axios Cotton plans to decline any administration role.
- Attorney General: In the running to head the Department of Justice, sources say, are Ratcliffe, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Eric Schmitt, state attorneys general including Missouri’s Andrew Bailey and Kansas’ Kris Kobach, Mark Paoletta (former general counsel of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget), and former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton.
- National Security Adviser: Grenell and O’Brien are also being considered here, as are Keith Kellogg, retired three-star Army general and former national security adviser, and former Defense Department official Elbridge Colby.
- Director of National Intelligence: Waltz is also reportedly being considered here.
- Secretary of the Treasury: Sources say Hagerty and Clayton are also in the mix here, as are billionaire hedge fund investor John Paulson, economic adviser Scott Bessent, Trump transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick, and Robert Lighthizer, Trump-era US trade representative. Reuters reports Larry Kudlow, Trump-era director of the National Economic Council, is also a possibility.
- Chief of staff: Sources say his top campaign adviser, Susie Wiles, is a top contender. Other names being considered reportedly include Brooke Rollins, former Trump aide who is now part of a Trump-aligned outside group; Lutnick; Russ Vought, Trump’s former budget chief; and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
- Commerce secretary: The other transition team co-chair, Linda McMahon, is reportedly being considered, as are Rollins, Atlanta businesswoman Kelly Loeffler, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
- Homeland Security Secretary: Contenders reportedly include Tom Homan, Trump-era acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Chad Wolf, Trump’s former acting Homeland Security secretary, and Chad Mizelle, former DHS acting general counsel.
- Press Secretary: Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt is seen as likely to transition into the White House version of her role.
- White House Counsel: Republican operative Mike Davis is being considered for this or another legal-related post.
- Other big names: Trump has made it clear Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have some sort of role related to health or possibly the Food and Drug Administration. Elon Musk is also believed to be set up in some sort of advisory role. The Guardian reports he suggested forming a Department of Government Efficiency, which would see Musk advising Trump on spending cuts. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also expected to join in some capacity, and Brendan Carr, who is affiliated with the controversial Project 2025, is said to be a contender for the post of FCC chairman. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson may be in the mix. And of course, Stephen Miller is expected to be back in some fashion.
Looking over this ‘maybe’ list and I see no confidence in my mind that the choices will keep the US as a champion of anything but appeasing Trump.
This will be a sad, sad chapter in this nation’s history and we can thank 51% of the electorate for that sadness.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Most of those names will be unfamiliar to non-Americans, but I feel sure we will get to know them once the circus arrives back in Washington.
Best wishes, Pete.
True….most names are war hawks which means more intervention and more cash thrown away. chuq
51% of America — lazy, mis-informed, gullible, hateful, unwashed, low information assholes. Deserve what they get. They are in for a rude awakening.
All I am trying to do is inform the public…..these will be deciding our future….anything about any of these folks? chuq
So far since the election don’t see that Trump has done anything to complain about. We will see how it goes from here.
I complain….he is putting a very interventionist cabinet together….wars will continue to be paid by you and me chuq
The national debt does concern me. I complain about that a lot.
It is a problem with no solution as the system is today…..neither Dems nor GOP have an answer….business as usual will not help. chuq
I think the only thing we can do is keep the increase in the debt lower than inflation. That will allow us to grow out of it. Inflation reduces the valve of the debt relative to GDP.
That is how Japan has dealt with their debt.
Tariffs will not do anything at all…..Japan does not finance every war on the planet…..chuq
I think tariffs on China will shift our imports to coming from Mexico and other countries mainly in southeast Asia. May increase manufacturing in the US also. No blg cost of living increase.
We should not be financing wars either. I think Trump will make reduce that and defense spending overall. That is the direction we should go.
We will see what happens.
Mexico will be at odds with Trump and that will retaliation to a new level…..SE Asia will be next on his hit list to try and bring back manufacturing…..chuq
Dear Ernest— how about the fact that he is hard at work to assemble the team that will make sure some of us will not have a future? Is that something to complain about?
Don’t think so. But we will see what happens once he is sworn in. Trump likes strength, but he does not like wars.
I sure pray that you are not on social security or medicare or medicaid.
It is quite likely the final chapter in this nation’s history because “This Nation” as we knew it already does not exist anymore since election day.
This nation will live on it is whether we will like it….and what to do if we do not. chuq
The continent on which our nation once rested will live on but the mish mash of chaos and confusion and terror that inhabits the continent from now on has nothing to do with the Constitutional Republic just murdered by the insane half of what was once the country.
The nation did it to itself….no one to blame but themselves. chuq
Nice one though you are playing a dangerous and unknowable game. Better to name the replacements to the replacements of these suck up cyphers. A few names on the list already outdated.
Since my focus is on foreign policy these picks show me there will be no working toward the end of US financing war. Thanx for the comment. chuq