With Donald Trump’s upcoming return to the White House after his decisive victory in November, the former president has been hard at work selecting cabinet picks for his second term. Many of these picks have been extremely surprising and controversial, which has driven the left crazy over the last couple of months. So let us analyze the most interesting of these picks and understand Trump’s plan for each of them.
One of the highest ranking cabinet positions is Secretary of State, and this position’s nomination has been given to Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Although Rubio did face off against Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries, the two now plan to now work very well together, sharing interest in many policies. One of Rubio’s top priorities will be to strike down on foreign policies, specific in regard to China. This stems from Trump’s increased concern this term to make sure that foreign policy is equal and the United States isn’t unnecessarily giving money to other countries.
On a much more controversial note, Trump has chosen Pete Hegseth to be Defense Secretary. As a former Fox News host, Hegseth has been known to Trump as someone who will stand by his military policies. Hegseth plans to end the current “warped and woke” state of our military. He is such a controversial pick because of his unconventional background and how extremely partisan he is (as a former Fox News host).
Also quite controversial is Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi. However, this is only controversial because of Trump’s first pick for Attorney General: Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Gaetz had been barraged last summer by the Department of Justice with investigations over illicit drug use and sexual misconduct. Gaetz was never fully accused of these crimes, and with his new Attorney General position, planned to attack the DOJ full force. However, after these allegations recently resurfaced, Gaetz decided to step down from the Trump nominations. This led Trump to choose former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a long standing Republican ally, to be his Attorney General.
Another Trump cabinet pick that has everyone talking is his pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. During the late stages of the presidential election campaign in which he ran as an independent, Kennedy became a Trump ally and has been very vocal about his concerns with American health standards. He believes that some vaccines cannot be trusted and has linked them to increased cases of autism. He has also advocated for the removal of fluoride from drinking water. Many have concerns over this pick since Kennedy does not seem to have any health background, but Trump is most excited over this pick, telling Kennedy to “have fun” with this department.
Next up is the pick for Education Secretary, Linda McMahon. McMahon has mainly been criticized for having not a background in education, but for being a former wrestling executive along with her husband, Vince McMahon. Donald Trump has been a friend of the family for decades and plans for Linda to bring education “back to the States.” Trump’s aspirations have long been to completely shut down the Department of Education, claiming that its budget is too large and that they “hate our children.”
While these next few people are not in the cabinet, they are very important appointments for Donald Trump’s administration. The first is a new department, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. This department will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. They will be working immediately after Trump’s inauguration and their sole purpose will be to clean out “government waste.” This could be unneeded departments or unneeded people. The plan is for them to completely reform the efficiency of the government until it ends focusing on policies that are not orientated towards the good of the United States.
On a less controversial note, Trump has chosen Susie Wiles to be his White House chief of staff. Wiles had been the co-chair of Trump’s 2024 campaign. She will be the first woman ever to hold this position, which is a great and deserving accomplishment for her. This brings up another important point. This pick along with the many other female appointments by Trump disproves the common accusation that Donald Trump favors against women. Clearly, he has no problem with appointing very capable and intelligent women into his cabinet.
Finally, Donald Trump has chosen John Sauer to be his Solicitor General. Sauer was the former Solicitor General of Missouri and is a Priory alum, class of 1993! He has been one of Trump’s lawyers for a few years, putting him in line for this position. Should any members of the US Supreme Court retire in the upcoming years, Sauer would have a very good chance at being appointed by Trump to be the replacing justice. John Sauer is a great inspiration for all of us attending St, Louis Priory School.
After President-Elect Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the Senate will begin the process to approve these picks. Cabinet picks are rarely denied, and with the Senate currently being under Republican control it is even less likely. However, with many of these Trump picks being very controversial and unlike other presidents’ picks in the past, we could see some argument in the Senate this term about these picks. We must wait and see, but as for me, I think they will all get through and be approved to Trump’s administration.
DOGE heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
United States Solicitor General Nominee and Priory Alum John Sauer
Defense Secretary Nominee Pete Hegseth
