Senate confirmation hearings are under way for Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations.
All cabinet-level positions require a majority vote of senators to be approved. With a current 53-seat Republican majority, Trump’s more fraught nominees can only afford to lose three Republican senators, assuming Democrats are uniformly opposed.
Marco Rubio was the first cabinet appointee to win confirmation in a unanimous vote in his favor. Controversial picks including Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy Jr have also secured confirmation for key roles in the cabinet.
Confirmed
Kash Patel
Role offered: FBI director
Confirmed by the Senate on 20 February
After being nominated by Trump, the “deep state” critic Kash Patel was confirmed as FBI director, a role that handles oversight of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. He has declined to explicitly say whether he would use his position to pursue the US president’s political opponents.
Patel was confirmed in a 51-49 vote, a reflection of the polarizing nature of his nomination.
Kelly Loeffler
Role offered: administrator of the Small Business Administration
Confirmed by the Senate on 19 February
Trump named former senator Kelly Loeffler to head the Small Business Administration. He said she will use her business experience to “reduce red tape” and “unleash opportunity” for small businesses.
Loeffler was confirmed in a 52-46 vote.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
Role offered: Secretary of health and human services
Confirmed by the Senate on 13 February
Robert F Kennedy Jr was Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, a choice that sparked outrage and concern over RFK Jr’s vaccine skepticism.
RFK Jr was confirmed in a 52-48 vote in the Senate, with all Republicans other than the Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell voting in support. He will now oversee the country’s vast federal health infrastructure, giving him oversight of the very agencies he has spent years battling through lawsuits and public campaigns.
Brooke Rollins
Role offered: Agriculture secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 13 February
As agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins will lead a 100,000-person agency that would carry out an agenda with implications for American diets and wallets, both urban and rural.
Rollins was president of America First Policy Institute, a group helping lay the groundwork for Trump’s second administration.
The Senate confirmed Rollins in a 72-2 vote.
Tulsi Gabbard
Role offered: National intelligence director
Confirmed by the Senate on 12 February
Tulsi Gabbard is a former Democratic member of Congress and was Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence.
Gabbard, who has been publicly questioned over her affinity for foreign dictators and promoting conspiracy theories, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote.
Russell Vought
Role offered: Office of management and budget chief
Confirmed by the Senate on 6 February
Russell Vought, the OMB chief during Trump’s first term in office, has been deeply involved in Project 2025.
During a 15 January hearing, Vought declined to fully commit to distributing congressionally approved funds, specifically US military aid to Ukraine.
Vought was confirmed in a 53-47 vote on 6 February.
Scott Turner
Role offered: Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 5 February
Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term.
Turner was confirmed in a 55-44 vote.
Pam Bondi
Role offered: Attorney general
Confirmed by the Senate on 5 February
Pam Bondi, the first female attorney general of Florida and a lawyer for Trump during his first impeachment trial, replaced the president’s first pick, Matt Gaetz, to head the justice department.
At her 15 January hearing, Bondi, 59, insisted she would ensure the justice department would remain independent. At the same time, she failed to say that Trump lost the 2020 election.
Bondi was confirmed by the Senate in a 54-46 vote.
Doug Collins
Role offered: Veterans affairs secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 4 February
Doug Collins, the former Georgia representative who defended Trump during his first impeachment trial, was nominated by Trump to be secretary of veterans affairs.
During his 22 January hearing, Collins pledged to “take care of the veterans” should he succeed in the confirmation process.
Collins was confirmed on 4 February in a 77-23 vote.
Doug Burgum
Role offered: Interior secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 30 January
Trump named Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota, as his pick for secretary of the interior. His directive from Trump is to make it even easier for energy companies to tap fossil fuel resources, including from public lands, which has alarmed environmentalists.
Burgum was confirmed in a 79-18 vote with more than half of Senate Democrats joining Republicans.
Lee Zeldin
Role offered: Environmental Protection Agency administrator
Confirmed by the Senate on 29 January
Trump named the former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin said he would work to “restore American energy dominance”.
Zeldin was confirmed on 29 January in a 56-42 vote.
Sean Duffy
Role offered: Secretary of transportation
Confirmed by the Senate on 28 January
Trump named Sean Duffy, a former Republican congressman and co-host on Fox Business, to serve as the secretary of transportation. Duffy will oversee billions of dollars in unspent infrastructure funds and has promised safer Boeing planes, less regulation and help for companies developing self-driving cars.
Duffy was confirmed in a 77-22 vote.
Scott Bessent
Role offered: Treasury secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 27 January
Trump named Scott Bessent, a prominent Wall Street investor and Trump fundraiser, to be his nominee for treasury secretary. He has praised Trump for using tariffs as a negotiating tool.
The Senate voted 68-29 to confirm Bessent as treasury secretary on 27 January.
Kristi Noem
Role offered: Homeland security secretary
Confirmed by the Senate on 25 January
Trump selected South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem – a staunch ally who has little experience on the national security stage – to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She will oversee everything from border protection and immigration to disaster response and the US Secret Service.
Noem was confirmed on 25 January.
Pete Hegseth
Role offered: Secretary of defense
Confirmed by the Senate on 24 January
Trump nominated the former Fox News host and army veteran Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary, a surprise decision that stunned the Pentagon.
During his hearing, Democrats asked Hegseth pointed questions about allegations of sexual misconduct and claims that he was frequently intoxicated in the workplace when he led two different non-profit organizations. Democratic senators and several Republicans expressed concerns that he was not qualified to lead the country’s largest government agency.
He was confirmed in a late-night vote on 24 January, with a tie-breaking vote from JD Vance.
John Ratcliffe
Role: CIA director
Confirmed by the Senate on 23 January
Trump loyalist John Ratcliffe previously served as director of national intelligence during the final months of the president’s first term.
Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate on 23 January in a 74-25 vote, with 20 Democrats and one independent joining Republicans in backing the nomination.
Marco Rubio
Role: Secretary of state
Confirmed by the Senate on 20 January
Senator Marco Rubio, 53, was confirmed as the first Latino to serve as secretary of state on 20 January. It was widely expected Rubio would secure confirmation, as senators largely viewed him as one of the least controversial of Trump’s cabinet picks.
Rubio received 99 votes, becoming the first member of Trump’s cabinet to win Senate approval.
Not yet confirmed
Elise Stefanik
Role offered: UN ambassador
The New York representative Elise Stefanik was selected by Trump to be the ambassador to the UN. Floated as a possible Trump running mate, Stefanik is the highest-ranking woman in the Republican conference in the House of Representatives.
During her confirmation hearing, Stefanik endorsed Israeli claims of biblical rights to the entire West Bank, aligning herself with positions that could complicate diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.
Chris Wright
Role offered: Energy secretary
Trump named Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive with no political experience, to lead the US Department of Energy.
During a 15 January confirmation hearing, Wright faced criticism for disputing the ties between climate change and more frequent or severe wildfires, and for calling wildfire concerns “hype” and dismissing their connection to climate policies.
Howard Lutnick
Role offered: Commerce secretary
Trump nominated Howard Lutnick, co-chair of his transition team, to be his commerce secretary. Lutnick has uniformly praised the president-elect’s economic policies, including his use of tariffs.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Role offered: Labor secretary
Trump tapped the Oregon Republican for labor secretary, a position that would oversee the department’s workforce and its budget, and would put forth priorities that affect workers’ wages, health and safety, the ability to unionize and employers’ rights to fire workers, among other responsibilities.
Linda McMahon
Role offered: Education secretary
Trump named Linda McMahon, co-chair of his transition team, his pick for education secretary. Trump, who previously promised to dismantle the Department of Education, said McMahon would work to “expand ‘choice’” across the US and send education “back to the states”.
Jamieson Greer
Role offered: US trade representative
Trump lauded Jamieson Greer for his role enacting the USMCA, a revamped trade pact between the US, Mexico and Canada, and imposing tariffs on China. If confirmed, Greer will be tasked with reining in the trade deficit and opening up “export markets everywhere”.
Mehmet Oz
Role offered: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator
Trump tapped Dr Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, adding that he would work closely with Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Brendan Carr
Role offered: Chair of the Federal Communications Commission
Trump tapped Brendan Carr to be the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, the independent agency that regulates telecommunications.
In a statement, Trump said Carr “is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy”.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
