Donald Trump's Cabinet, 2025

Prior to taking office on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump (R) will identify candidates for the positions that comprise the president's Cabinet. This tradition is rooted in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which states that the president "may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices."

A presidential Cabinet is a group of senior federal officials who advise the president on the issues and activities of their respective agencies. The number of officials in a Cabinet can vary across presidential administrations. While not explicitly identified in the Constitution, the Cabinet secretaries are the 15 agency heads who are in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also part of the Cabinet.

During Trump's first term, the following offices were also Cabinet-rank positions: White House chief of staff, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. trade representative, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the director of National Intelligence, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the ambassador to the United Nations during Nikki Haley's tenure in the position. Joe Biden (D) additionally included the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in his Cabinet.

Except for the vice president and White House chief of staff, these positions require Senate confirmation. Between November 7 and December 4, 2024, Trump announced nominees for all 22 of the Senate-confirmed Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions in his second term.

This page provides an overview of individuals appointed to Trump's Cabinet.

Recent hearings, votes, and nominations

The section below displays recent hearings, votes, and nominations related to Trump's Cabinet. Click here to view previous events.

• January 23, 2025: The Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will hold a confirmation hearing for Brooke Rollins for secretary of agriculture.
• January 22, 2025: The Senate Budget Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Russell Vought for director of the Office of Management and Budget.
• January 21, 2025: The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee will hold a hearing for Doug Collins for secretary of veterans affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing for Elise Stefanik for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
• January 17, 2025: The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing for Kristi Noem for secretary of homeland security.

Previous events (click to expand)

• January 16, 2025: The Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for Scott Bessent for treasury secretary, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the second half of a confirmation hearing for Pam Bondi for attorney general, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing for Scott Turner for secretary of housing and urban development, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing for Lee Zeldin for director of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing for Doug Burgum for secretary of the interior.
• January 15, 2025: The Senate Judiciary Committee held the first half of a confirmation hearing for Pam Bondi for attorney general, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing for Sean Duffy for secretary of transportation, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing for Marco Rubio for secretary of state, the Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing for John Ratcliffe for CIA director, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing for Chris Wright for secretary of energy, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing for Russell Vought for director of the Office of Management and Budget.
• January 14, 2025: The Senate Armed Services Committee held a confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense.
• December 4, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) as administrator of the Small Business Administration.
• November 26, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Jamieson Greer as U.S. trade representative.
• November 23, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Brooke Rollins for secretary of Agriculture.

• November 22, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Scott Bessent for secretary of the Treasury, Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of Labor.
• November 21, 2024
  • Matt Gaetz, Trump's first announced nominee for attorney general, withdrew from consideration for the position.
  • Trump announced former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) as his nominee for U.S. attorney general.
• November 19, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Howard Lutnick for secretary of Commerce and Linda McMahon for secretary of Education.
• November 18, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate former U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) as secretary of Transportation.
• November 16, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Chris Wright as secretary of Energy.
• November 15, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) for secretary of the Interior, .
• November 14, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services and former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) as secretary of Veterans Affairs.
• November 13, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State, former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general.
• November 12, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate John Ratcliffe as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) as secretary of Homeland Security.
• November 11, 2024: Trump announced he would nominate former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations.
• November 7, 2024: Trump announced he would appoint his 2024 co-campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as White House chief of staff.
• July 15, 2024: Donald Trump (R) selected U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his vice presidential running mate.

Overview

See also: Donald Trump's Cabinet, 2025

The following table provides an overview of the status, confirmation hearings, and committee and Senate votes for each of Trump's Cabinet and Cabinet-rank nominees in his second term. This list of positions is based on the Cabinet-level positions at the start of Trump's first term in 2017.

Overview of confirmation process for Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees in his second term
Nominee	Position	Announced	Senate committee	Confirmation hearing	Committee vote	Senate vote	Status
Marco Rubio	Secretary of State	November 13, 2024	Foreign Relations	January 15, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Scott Bessent	Secretary of the Treasury	November 22, 2024	Finance	January 16, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Pete Hegseth	Secretary of Defense	November 12, 2024	Armed Services	January 14, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Matt Gaetz	Attorney General	November 13, 2024	Judiciary	N/A	N/A	N/A	Withdrew on November 21, 2024
Pam Bondi	Attorney General	November 21, 2024	Judiciary	January 15-16, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Doug Burgum	Secretary of the Interior	November 14, 2024	Energy and Natural Resources	January 16, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Brooke Rollins	Secretary of Agriculture	November 23, 2024	Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry	January 23, 2025	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Howard Lutnick	Secretary of Commerce	November 19, 2024	Commerce, Science, and Transportation	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Lori Chavez-DeRemer	Secretary of Labor	November 22, 2024	Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.	Secretary of Health and Human Services	November 14, 2024	Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions / Finance	Pending / Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Scott Turner	Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	November 22, 2024	Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs	January 16, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Sean Duffy	Secretary of Transportation	November 18, 2024	Commerce, Science, and Transportation	January 15, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Chris Wright	Secretary of Energy	November 16, 2024	Energy and Natural Resources	January 15, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Linda McMahon	Secretary of Education	November 19, 2024	Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Doug Collins	Secretary of Veterans Affairs	November 14, 2024	Veterans' Affairs	January 21, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing scheduled
Kristi Noem	Secretary of Homeland Security	November 12, 2024	Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs	January 17, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Jamieson Greer	U.S. Trade Representative	November 26, 2024	Finance	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Tulsi Gabbard	Director of National Intelligence	November 13, 2024	Intelligence (Select)	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
Elise Stefanik	U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations	November 11, 2020	Foreign Relations	January 21, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing scheduled
Russell Vought	Director of the Office of Management and Budget	November 22, 2024	Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs / Budget	January 15, 2025 / January 22, 2025	Pending / Pending	Pending	One hearing held
Lee Zeldin	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	November 11, 2024	Environment and Public Works	January 16, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held
Kelly Loeffler	Administrator of the Small Business Administration	December 4, 2024	Small Business and Entrepreneurship	Pending	Pending	Pending	Nominee announced
John Ratcliffe	Director of the Central Intelligence Agency	November 12, 2024	Intelligence (Select)	January 15, 2025	Pending	Pending	Hearing held

Historical comparison of Cabinet confirmations

Comparison to Biden administration

The following chart displays how many days it took for the Cabinet secretaries of President Joe Biden (D) to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2021. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Comparison to Trump's first term

The following chart displays how many days it took for President Donald Trump's (R) first term Cabinet secretaries to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2017. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Comparison to Obama administration

The following chart displays how many days it took for the Cabinet secretaries of President Barack Obama (D) to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2009. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Historical comparison of Cabinet announcements

The following chart shows how long it took the projected winner of four recent presidential elections—Barack Obama (D) in 2008, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Donald Trump (R) in 2024—to announce their nominees for Cabinet and Cabinet-rank positions.

• White House chief of staff was the first position to be announced by all four with Obama and Trump ahead of his second term taking the shortest time (2 days after the election) and Biden the longest (8 days after the election).
• Trump had named all 23 Cabinet nominees as of December 4, 2024. At this point after election day, Biden had announced seven Cabinet-level positions in 2020, Trump had announced 13 in 2016, and Obama had announced nine in 2008. It took Trump 72 days to name all 23 of the nominees for these positions in 2016.
• Trump announced these nominees an average of 11.9 days after election day. Biden's average for the same positions was 39.6 days after election day, Trump's first term average for these positions was 30.9 days after election day, and Obama's average was 36.4 days after election day.

See also

• Donald Trump's Cabinet, 2025
• Donald Trump presidential transition, 2024-2025
• Presidential election, 2024
• Confirmation process overview for Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees, 2016-2017
• Donald Trump presidential Cabinet, 2017-2021

Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees

See also: Confirmation process for Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees, 2025

The following table shows the names of individuals announced as appointees for Cabinet and Cabinet-rank positions, along with the status of their nomination, where applicable. This list of positions is based on the Cabinet-level positions at the start of Trump's first term in 2017.

Donald Trump's Cabinet (2025)
Photo	Officeholder	Status
	Vice President (pending) J.D. Vance	November 5, 2024: Vance is the projected winner of the 2024 vice presidential election.
	White House Chief of Staff (announced) Susie Wiles	November 7, 2024: Trump announced the appointment of Wiles as White House chief of staff. This position does not require Senate confirmation.
	Ambassador to the United Nations (announced) Elise Stefanik	November 11, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Stefanik as his nominee for U.N. Ambassador.
	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (announced) Lee Zeldin	November 11, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Zeldin as his nominee for EPA administrator.
	Secretary of Defense (announced) Pete Hegseth	November 12, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of Defense.
	Secretary of Homeland Security (announced) Kristi Noem	November 12, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Noem as his nominee for secretary of Homeland Security.
	Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (announced) John Ratcliffe	November 12, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Ratcliffe as his nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
	Secretary of State (announced) Marco Rubio	November 13, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Rubio as his nominee for secretary of State.
	Director of National Intelligence (announced) Tulsi Gabbard	November 13, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Gabbard as his nominee for director of national intelligence.
	Secretary of Health and Human Services (announced) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.	November 14, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Kennedy as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
	Secretary of Veterans Affairs (announced) Doug Collins	November 14, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Collins as his nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs.
	Secretary of the Interior (announced) Doug Burgum	November 14, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Burgum as his nominee for secretary of the Department of the Interior.
	Secretary of Energy (announced) Chris Wright	November 16, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Wright as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Energy.
	Secretary of Transportation (announced) Sean Duffy	November 18, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Sean Duffy as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Transportation.
	Secretary of Commerce (announced) Howard Lutnick	November 19, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Lutnick as his nominee for secretary of Commerce.
	Secretary of Education (announced) Linda McMahon	November 19, 2024: Trump announced the selection of McMahon as his nominee for secretary of Education.
	Attorney General (announced) Pam Bondi	November 21, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Bondi as his nominee for Attorney General.
	Secretary of the Treasury (announced) Scott Bessent	November 22, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Bessent as his nominee for secretary of the Treasury.
	Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (announced) Scott Turner	November 22, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Turner as his nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
	Secretary of Labor (announced) Lori Chavez-DeRemer	November 22, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Chavez-DeRemer as his nominee for secretary of Labor.
	Director of the Office of Management and Budget (announced) Russell Vought	November 22, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Vought as his nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget.
	Secretary of Agriculture (announced) Brooke Rollins	November 23, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Rollins as his nominee for secretary of Agriculture.
	U.S. Trade Representative (announced) Jamieson Greer	November 26, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Greer as his nominee for U.S. Trade Representative.
	Administrator of the Small Business Administration (announced) Kelly Loeffler	December 4, 2024: Trump announced the selection of Loeffler as his nominee for administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Withdrawn nominees

The table below displays nominees who withdrew from consideration.

Donald Trump's withdrawn Cabinet nominees (2024-2025)
Photo	Officeholder	Status
	Attorney General Matt Gaetz	November 21, 2024: After his nomination was announced on November 13, Gaetz withdrew from consideration to serve as attorney general.

Historical comparison of Cabinet confirmations

Comparison to Biden administration

The following chart displays how many days it took for the Cabinet secretaries of President Joe Biden (D) to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2021. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Comparison to Trump's first term

The following chart displays how many days it took for President Donald Trump's (R) first term Cabinet secretaries to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2017. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Comparison to Obama administration

The following chart displays how many days it took for the Cabinet secretaries of President Barack Obama (D) to be confirmed after the inauguration in 2009. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Historical comparison of Cabinet announcements

The following chart shows how long it took the projected winner of four recent presidential elections—Barack Obama (D) in 2008, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Donald Trump (R) in 2024—to announce their nominees for Cabinet and Cabinet-rank positions.

• White House chief of staff was the first position to be announced by all four with Obama and Trump ahead of his second term taking the shortest time (2 days after the election) and Biden the longest (8 days after the election).
• Trump had named all 23 Cabinet nominees as of December 4, 2024. At this point after election day, Biden had announced seven Cabinet-level positions in 2020, Trump had announced 13 in 2016, and Obama had announced nine in 2008. It took Trump 72 days to name all 23 of the nominees for these positions in 2016.
• Trump announced these nominees an average of 11.9 days after election day. Biden's average for the same positions was 39.6 days after election day, Trump's first term average for these positions was 30.9 days after election day, and Obama's average was 36.4 days after election day.

Appointment confirmation process overview

See also: Appointment confirmation process

Nomination

See also: Advice and Consent

The process begins when the president provides a written nomination to the Senate, where it is read on the floor and assigned a number. This starts the Senate's procedure of "Advice and Consent" laid out in Article II of the U.S. Constitution for the appointment of high ranking officials by the president.

Committee hearings

After the president submits a written nomination to the U.S. Senate, the nomination is passed to the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the appointed position. Some positions require a joint hearing of two or more committees. Committee hearings allow a close examination of the nominee, looking for partisanship and views on public policy. They can also summon supporters and opponents to testify. Committees are permitted to conduct their own investigations into the nominees.

The following table outlines the jurisdiction of the Senate committees in terms of the presidential appointment confirmation process. The left column indicates the Senate committee, and the right indicates the federal departments and administrations over which the committee has jurisdiction.

Click here to learn more about the appointment confirmation process.

Jurisdiction of Senate committees in presidential appointment confirmation process
Committee	Jurisdiction
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry	U.S. Department of Agriculture
Armed Services	U.S. Department of Defense
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs	U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Securities and Exchange Commission Heads of Federal Banking institutions (e.g., FDIC)
Budget	All issues concerning the Budget (e.g., tax revenues, government expenditures)
Commerce, Science, and Transportation	U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Trade Commission U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Undersecretary for Science and Technology Federal Communications Commission
Energy and Natural Resources	U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Environment and Public Works	Oversight in any issue concerning the environment, public works, or federal buildings
Finance	U.S. Department of the Treasury Social Security Administration International Trade Commission
Foreign Relations	U.S. Department of State International Monetary Fund U.S. Agency for International Development Peace Corps
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Education U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs	U.S. Department of Homeland Security U.S. General Services Administration National Archives and Records Administration Circuit and Appeals Courts of District of Columbia United States Postal Service Inspectors General of all departments
Judiciary	Supreme Court Circuit Courts District Courts U.S. Department of Justice
Rules and Administration	Rules of the Senate General administration of congressional buildings Smithsonian Institution Botanic Gardens
Small Business and Entrepreneurship	Small Business Administration
Veterans' Affairs	U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs U.S. Department of Labor's Assistant Secretary for the Veterans Employment and Training
Intelligence (Select)	Central Intelligence Agency U.S. Department of Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Intelligence Analysis U.S. Department of Justice's Attorney General for National Security Director of National Intelligence

Senate vote

The nomination must be on the Executive Calendar for more than one day before it can make it to the Senate floor for consideration. Unanimous consent of the time and date for debate must be agreed upon by all senators. If even one senator does not agree, a hold is placed on the nomination.

Once the nomination is considered by the Senate, unlimited debate is allowed until a majority of the Senate votes to invoke cloture and close debate. Following a vote of cloture, the Senate conducts a simple majority vote on whether to confirm, reject, or take no action on the nomination. If a nomination is left pending at the end of a Congress, it must be sent back to the president who can then re-submit the nomination to the new Congress. The same procedure holds true with any nominee not considered before the Senate enters a recess of more than 30 days, unless there is unanimous consent to bypass the procedure.

Presidential notification

Finally, the Senate's action on the nomination is sent to the president. All results are recorded in the Congressional Record.

Recess appointments

A recess appointment is a temporary appointment made by the President of the United States to fill a vacant federal position while the United States Senate is in recess.

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires the president to seek the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate when appointing individuals to serve as federal judges, ambassadors, Cabinet secretaries, and other executive branch positions. Excluding federal judges, there are over 1,300 executive branch positions that require Senate confirmation. However, the constitution also gives the president the power to, "fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session."

The United States Supreme Court ruled in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company (2014) that a president can make recess appointments during the recesses between formal Senate sessions (inter-session) and recesses that take place during formal Senate sessions (intra-session). The court also ruled that a president can only make recess appointments during a Senate recess that is at least ten days in length, and that pro forma sessions, which are sessions where no business is expected to be conducted, qualify as in-session for the purposes of determining whether the chamber is in recess. Article I, Section 5 of the U.S Constitution requires both the House and Senate must consent to adjourn in order for either chamber to hold a recess lasting more than three days.

Recess appointments are temporary, and last through the end of the Senate's next session unless the Senate votes to confirm the official and make the appointment permanent. So, for example, if a president makes an inter-session recess appointment, it would last about a year through the end of the upcoming session. If a president makes an intra-session recess appointment, it would last through the rest of the current session and through the end of the next session, meaning it could last as long as about two years.

Ronald Reagan (R) made the most (240) recess appointments among presidents serving from 1981 to 2024, according to the Congressional Research Service. During this time period, Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D) made no recess appointments because the Senate was never in recess for ten consecutive days during either Trump's first term or Biden's term in office. The Senate used pro forma sessions to stay constantly in session.

See also

• Donald Trump presidential transition (2024-2025)
• Presidential election, 2024
• Appointment confirmation process
• Confirmation process overview for Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees (2017)