Donald Trump assumed office as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017, and his first term ended on January 20, 2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Before confirmation and during congressional hearings a high-level career member of an executive department heads this pre-confirmed cabinet on an acting basis. The cabinet's creation was part of the transition of power following the 2016 presidential election.
This article documents the nomination and confirmation process for any successful or unsuccessful cabinet nominees of the first Trump administration. They are listed in order of creation of the cabinet position (also used as the basis for the United States presidential line of succession).
Cabinet Cabinet officials on January 20, 2021
All permanent members of the cabinet of the United States as heads of executive departments require the advice and consent of the United States Senate following appointment by the president before taking office. The vice presidency is exceptional in that the position requires election to office pursuant to the United States Constitution. Although some are afforded cabinet-level rank, non-cabinet members within the Executive Office of the President, such as White House chief of staff, National Security Advisor, and White House press secretary, do not hold constitutionally created positions and most do not require Senate confirmation for appointment.
The following were the final members of President Donald Trump's first cabinet on January 20, 2021.
First cabinet of President Donald TrumpSource:OfficeDesigneeOfficeDesignee–Vice PresidentMike Pence –Secretary of State Mike Pompeo –Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin –Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller –Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen –Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt –Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue –Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross –Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia –Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar –Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson –Secretary of Transportation Steven G. Bradbury –Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette –Secretary of Education Mick Zais –Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie –Secretary of Homeland Security Pete Gaynor Cabinet-level officials Office Designee Office Designee – White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows – United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer – Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe – Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel – Administrator of theEnvironmental Protection Agency Andrew R. Wheeler – Administrator of theSmall Business Administration Jovita Carranza – Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought
Confirmation process
Confirmation votes For comparison,
Committee process Cabinet confirmation processOfficeNomineeStateAnnouncementHearing dateSenatecommitteevote dateSenatecommitteevote Full Senatevote dateConfirmationHearingsSecretary of State Rex Tillerson TX December 13, 2016 January 11, 2017 January 23, 2017 11–10February 1, 201756–43 Mike Pompeo KS March 13, 2018 April 12, 2018 April 23, 2018 11–9 April 26, 2018 57–42 Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin CA November 30, 2016 January 19, 2017 February 1, 201714–0 February 13, 201753–47 Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis WA December 1, 2016 January 12, 2017 January 18, 201726–1 January 20, 201798–1 Patrick Shanahan WA May 9, 2019 Nomination withdrawn on June 18, 2019 Mark Esper VA June 24, 2019 July 16, 2019 July 18, 2019 Voice vote (26–1) July 23, 201990–8 Attorney General Jeff Sessions AL November 18, 2016 January 10, 2017 February 1, 2017 11–9 February 8, 201752–47 William Barr VA December 7, 2018 January 15, 2019 February 7, 2019 12–10 February 14, 201954–45 Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke MT December 15, 2016 January 17, 2017 January 31, 201716–6 March 1, 201768–31 David Bernhardt CO February 4, 2019 March 28, 2019 April 4, 2019 14–6 April 11, 201956–41 Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue GA January 18, 2017 March 23, 2017 March 30, 2017Voice vote (19–1) April 24, 201787–11 Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross FL November 30, 2016 January 18, 2017 January 24, 2017Voice vote February 27, 201772–27 Secretary of Labor Andrew Puzder TN December 8, 2016 Nomination withdrawn on February 15, 2017 Alex Acosta FL February 16, 2017 March 22, 2017 March 30, 201712–11 April 27, 201760–38 Eugene Scalia VA July 18, 2019 September 19, 2019 September 24, 2019 12–11 September 26, 2019 53–44 Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price GA November 29, 2016 January 18, 2017 February 1, 201714–0February 10, 201752–47 Alex Azar IN November 13, 2017 November 29, 2017 January 17, 201815–12 January 24, 201855–43 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson FL December 5, 2016 January 12, 2017 January 24, 201723–0 March 2, 201758–41 Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao KY November 29, 2016 January 11, 2017 January 24, 2017Voice voteJanuary 31, 201793–6 Secretary of Energy Rick Perry TX December 14, 2016 January 19, 2017 January 31, 201716–7 March 2, 201762–37 Dan Brouillette TX October 18, 2019 November 14, 2019 November 19, 2019 16–4 December 2, 2019 70–15 Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos MI November 23, 2016 January 17, 2017 January 31, 201712–11February 7, 201751–50 Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin PA January 11, 2017 February 1, 2017 February 7, 201715–0 February 13, 2017100–0 Ronny Jackson TX March 28, 2018 Nomination withdrawn on April 26, 2018 Robert Wilkie NC May 18, 2018 June 27, 2018 July 10, 201814–1July 23, 201886–9 Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly MA December 7, 2016 January 10, 2017 January 18, 2017Voice vote (14–1) January 20, 201788–11 Kirstjen Nielsen FL October 12, 2017 November 8, 2017 November 14, 201711–4 December 5, 201762–37 Chad Wolf VA August 25, 2020 September 23, 2020 September 30, 20206–3 Nomination withdrawn on January 7, 2021 Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer FL January 3, 2017 March 14, 2017 April 25, 201726–0 May 11, 201782–14 Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats IN January 7, 2017 February 28, 2017 March 9, 201713–2 March 15, 201785–12 John RatcliffeTX July 28, 2019 Nomination withdrawn on August 2, 2019 February 28, 2020 May 5, 2020 May 19, 20208–7 May 21, 202049–44 Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo KS November 18, 2016 January 12, 2017 January 20, 2017Voice vote January 23, 201766–32 Gina Haspel KY March 13, 2018 May 9, 2018 May 16, 201810–5 May 17, 201854–45 Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt OK December 7, 2016 January 18, 2017 February 2, 201711–0February 17, 201752–46 Andrew R. Wheeler VA November 16, 2018 January 16, 2019 February 5, 201911–10February 28, 201952–47 Small Business Administration Linda McMahon CT December 7, 2016 January 24, 2017 January 31, 201718–1 February 14, 2017 81–19 Jovita Carranza IL April 4, 2019 December 11, 2019 December 18, 201917–2 January 7, 2020 88–5 Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney SC December 16, 2016 January 24, 2017 February 2, 201712–11, 8–7 February 16, 201751–49 Russell Vought VA March 18, 2020 June 2, 2020June 3, 2020 June 10, 2020June 11, 20207–4, 11–10 July 20, 202051–45 Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley SC November 23, 2016 January 18, 2017 January 24, 2017Voice vote (19–2)January 24, 201796–4 Heather Nauert IL December 7, 2018 Nomination withdrawn on February 16, 2019 Kelly Craft KY February 22, 2019 June 19, 2019 July 25, 2019 15–7 July 31, 2019 56–34
Analysis Due to Trump's lack of prior government or military experience, and his political positions, much interest was expressed in the media over his cabinet nominations, as they were believed to show how he intended to govern.
Trump's proposed cabinet was characterized by the media as being very conservative. It was described as a "conservative dream team" by Politico, "the most conservative cabinet [in United States history]" by Newsweek, and "one of the most consistently conservative domestic policy teams in modern history" by the Los Angeles Times. The Hill described Trump's potential cabinet as "an unorthodox team" popular with conservatives, that more establishment Republicans such as John McCain or Mitt Romney likely would not have chosen. CNN agreed, calling the proposed cabinet "a conservative dream team of domestic Cabinet appointments." On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal stated that "it's nearly impossible to identify a clear ideological bent in the incoming president's" cabinet nominations. The Wall Street Journal also stated that Trump's nominations signaled a pro-deregulation administration policy. Several of his cabinet nominees politically opposed the federal departments they were selected to lead.
In terms of total personal wealth, Trump's cabinet was the wealthiest in modern American history. The cabinet was largely made up of nominees who had business experience but minimal or no experience in the government when compared to the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The Pew Research Center also noted that Trump's cabinet was one of the most business-heavy in American history: "A third of the department heads in the Trump administration (33%) were people whose prior experience had been entirely in the public sector. Only three other U.S. presidents are in the same range: William McKinley (three out of eight Cabinet positions, or 37.5%), Ronald Reagan (four out of 13 positions, or 31%), and Dwight Eisenhower (three out of 10 positions, or 30%)." There were no economists in President Trump's cabinet. There were also significantly fewer lawyers in Trump's cabinet compared to previous presidents' cabinets.
Confirmation delays Despite being nominated promptly during the transition period, most cabinet members were unable to take office on Inauguration Day because of delays in the formal confirmation process. By February 8, 2017, President Trump had fewer cabinet nominees confirmed than any prior president two weeks into his mandate, except George Washington. Part of the lateness was ascribed to opposition by Senate Democrats and part to delays in submitting background-check paperwork. The final initial Cabinet member to take office, Robert Lighthizer, took office as U.S. Trade Representative on May 11, 2017, more than four months after his nomination.
History
Choosing members of the presidential Cabinet (and other high-level positions) is a complicated process, and began before the November 2016 general election results were known. In the case of the Trump 2016 campaign, his former rival for the Republican nomination Chris Christie was appointed to lead the transition team in May 2016, shortly after Ted Cruz and John Kasich suspended their campaigns (thus making Trump the presumptive nominee of the party). In addition to various other responsibilities, the transition team is responsible for making preliminary lists of potential executive branch appointees—at least for the several dozen high-level positions if not for the several thousand lower-level positions—and doing some early vetting work on those people. The transition team also hires policy experts (more than a hundred in the case of the Trump transition team by October 2016), using primarily federal funds and federal office space, to help plan how a then-hypothetical Trump administration would implement their policy-goals via the various federal agencies and departments.