The leadership team of US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is starting to take shape with the world’s richest person Elon Musk to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential contender and fellow tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Mr. Trump announced the non-Cabinet posts by saying: “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
Mr. Musk wrote that the department’s findings will be published online “for maximum transparency,” and will feature a “leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.”
The billionaire’s political action committee spent around A$300m to help the Trump presidential campaign, and he promises to continue to fund the group’s efforts to advance the president-elect’s agenda and help Republican candidates in upcoming congressional elections.
As the Republicans were projected to control both houses of Congress, the next president confirmed his Secretary of State will be Senator Marco Rubio who was also an early contender for the Republicans in the presidential race.
CBN News reports he is a hardliner on foreign policy, “often butting heads with Republicans about interventions abroad.”
The son of Cuban immigrants sides with Mr. Trump about bringing a “conclusion” to Russia’s war with Ukraine and has been outspoken on the need for the US to be more aggressive on China.
A surprise choice for Secretary of Defense is 44-year-old Fox News host and former National Guard soldier with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pete Hegseth.
The President-elect described him as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice. Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Florida Congressman and retired army colonel Mike Waltz will be the next National Security Advisor, a highly influential post that doesn’t require Senate confirmation.
He will oversee all national security agencies and will brief the president and execute his policies.
Mr. Waltz is the first retired Green Beret to serve in Congress and was one of Donald Trump’s most visible campaign surrogates, often making an appeal to military members. He also helped with the Veterans For Trump coalition.
One of four women named in the Trump Cabinet so far, is Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat congresswoman from Hawaii from 2013 to 2021, who will serve as Director of National Intelligence.
Mr. Trump declared the convert to the Republican Party “has fought for our country and the freedoms of all Americans who has broad support in both parties. She is now a proud Republican!”
John Ratcliffe, who was Director of National Intelligence during the first Trump Administration is slated to take over as CIA Director.
He’s considered a trusted ally of the president and a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s Israel policy.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem takes over as Secretary of Homeland Security overseeing US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Governor Noem has sent troops from the South Dakota National Guard to serve along the US southern border with Mexico on multiple occasions.
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan has been appointed Border Czar, responsible for securing the border and rounding up and deporting immigrants who came to the US illegally.
“I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen,” he declared earlier this year.
Critics have warned that the mass deportation plan could cost upwards of A$450 billion. The incoming president said cost is not an issue.
40-year-old New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik will be the President-elect’s US Ambassador to the United Nations which is a Cabinet post.
She has accused China of “blatant and malicious election interference” amid reports that China-backed hackers attempted to gather information from Mr. Trump’s phones.
Her questioning of Ivy League university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile.
Former Arkansas governor and one-time presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will move to Jerusalem as the next US Ambassador to Israel.
The former Baptist Minister is a staunch defender of the Jewish State where he has led American pilgrims for decades. His daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the current Governor of Arkansas and President Trump’s White House spokesperson in his first term.
Real estate investor Steven Witkoff has been named Special Envoy to the Middle East despite his limited direct experience for the role.
Donald Trump said his 67-year-old golf partner “is a highly respected leader in business and philanthropy. Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”
Another long-time supporter of the incoming president, 44-year-old New York Representative Lee Zeldin, will lead the Environmental Protection Agency with minimal experience in environmental issues.
Mr. Zeldin proclaimed: “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalise our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz will be Attorney General, heading up the Justice Department.
Mr. Trump said his appointee “has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
The first appointee to the Trump Cabinet was 67-year White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles who is said to have earned the next president’s trust by guiding what was the most disciplined of the three Trump presidential campaigns.
William McGinley, a lawyer who served in the previous Trump presidency will be White House Counsel.
Many of the nominations need to be confirmed in the Senate before they’re official.
The appointment of several Republican lawmakers to the administration is likely to complicate the party’s slim majority in both chambers of Congress, especially the House of Representatives.
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