Sevan Sinton
Associate News Editor
President-elect Donald Trump has begun appointing his cabinet at a record pace, but not without backlash and controversy.
The President-elect appointments include notables such as former rival Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, independent turned Trump-backer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health & Human Services, as well as billionaire tech-mogul Elon Musk and former Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created “Department of Government Efficiency.”
“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,” wrote Trump in a statement.
Trump has also appointed Tom Homan, a former ICE official under Trump’s first term, to the position of overseeing border control under the unofficial “border czar” title.
“Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” Trump wrote in a statement, “there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders.”
Homan has recently gone viral on social media platforms in a video featuring him fending off fierce questions from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Homan is credited for being an architect for the controversial family separation policy and Project 2025.
Trump has also appointed Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, who will be the first woman to ever hold the position. The full list of appointees includes:
- Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
- Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
- Matt Gaetz, Attorney General
- Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health & Human Services
- Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security
- Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor
- Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
- Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations
- Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff
- Elon Musk, Department of Government Efficiency
- Vivek Ramaswamy, Department of Government Efficiency
- Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
- John Ratcliffe, CIA Director
- Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East
- Tom Homan, Border czar
- Dan Scavino, Deputy Chief of Staff
- Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor
Certain appointees will need Senate confirmation, but with Republicans firmly in control of 53 seats, it is expected that most if not all of the appointees will be confirmed.