Trump's Cabinet And Key Jobs: Scott Bessent Named As Treasury Secretary Pick, Russell Vought Tapped As OMB Head

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

75% : "Trump nominated former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisc., as secretary of transportation, lauding his time in Congress and his role as a member of the House Financial Services Committee.
69% : Trump announced Tulsi Gabbard will serve as his Director of National Intelligence, a role that puts her at the head of the U.S. intelligence community.
68% : Bessent donated about $3 million to Trump and other Republican causes this election season and previously said Trump was "very sophisticated on economic policy."
68% : He also reportedly said in secret camera footage published by the Centre for Climate Reporting that Trump "blessed" Project 2025 despite distancing himself from it on the campaign trail.
68% : Trump named his campaign co-manager Susie Wiles chief of staff two days after his election win, marking his first major administrative pick.
68% : Collins served as a congressman from 2013 to 2021, and was known as a vocal backer of Trump in the chamber during his first administration.
68% : Trump nominated GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., for the United Nations ambassador role.
67% : McMahon is also the America First Policy Institute's board chair, helping lead the think tank that has raised millions in support of Trump, according to CNN.
62% : Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department, making good on his promise to give Kennedy broad leeway over public health.
61% : Trump nominated Russell Vought as director of the Office of Budget and Management, potentially marking his second time in the role.
61% : Trump announced former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as his envoy to Israel last week, touting his military service as he served in the Army Special Forces for 27 years.
60% : She left the party in 2022 and became an independent, before endorsing Trump in August and announcing she had joined the Republican Party.
59% : Trump decamped to Mar-a-Lago after his win, holding meetings with his inner circle, administration hopefuls and transition team to craft his second term agenda and build out his staff.
58% : He is also a longtime friend of Trump's and one of the president-elect's golf partners.
58% : Trump is shaping his second-term agenda with the help of several right-wing groups, his closest allies and billionaire backers.
57% : Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state.
57% : Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump announced last week as his pick for Health and Human Services secretary.
57% : Trump tapped Steven Witkoff, a GOP donor and real estate investor, for special envoy to the Middle East.
56% : Trump appointed Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to serve as his national security adviser.
55% : Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for the role of secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
55% : Trump endorsed Oz in his 2022 Senate campaign.
55% : Trump nominated North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as secretary of the interior.
55% : Carr has served as one of the FCC's five commissioners since 2017, when Trump first appointed him to the agency.
54% : Trump tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., to lead the EPA, citing his "very strong legal background" and calling him "a true fighter for America First policies" in a statement.
54% : Trump announced on Wednesday Matthew Whitaker will serve as the official U.S. representative to NATO.
53% : Rubio frequently campaigned for Trump and was said to be in the running to be his vice presidential pick.
53% : Lutnick was previously under consideration for treasury secretary -- typically a more prominent Cabinet job -- and earned support from Musk and Kennedy, but Trump ultimately turned his attention to other candidates after he reportedly became annoyed with Lutnick's aggressive campaign for the treasury role.
52% : Trump picked his campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, to serve as his communications director at the White House.
51% : Bessent -- who spoke recently with Forbes -- had long been seen as a top choice for the role, especially as it was reported Trump was leaning toward someone with Wall Street experience.
51% : "Trump named former NFL player Scott Turner as his pick for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
49% : Trump announced Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, will run a new Department of Government Efficiency (or "DOGE") alongside investor and former Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
49% : If confirmed by the Senate, he'll be responsible for managing vast swaths of federally owned land, administering national parks and handling oil and gas drilling on federal property -- which Trump has vowed to ramp up.
49% : Trump also tapped Burgum as chairman of the new National Energy Council, which will cut down on regulations and "oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE," according to Trump.
47% : Trump announced Stephen Miller as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, plus the additional role of homeland security adviser.
46% : Trump named Brendan Carr to chair the Federal Communications Commission.
45% : The right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute is reportedly the primary driver of Trump's transition plans and has been crafting possible executive actions for Trump once he takes office.
43% : Trump tapped former WWE CEO Linda McMahon as secretary of the Department of Education in an announcement Tuesday.
43% : Trump picked former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as his secretary for veterans affairs.
42% : "Trump selected Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defense, praising his status as a combat veteran and role as a co-host on Fox & Friends Weekend.
42% : Kennedy, who ran for the Democratic nomination then as an independent candidate before dropping out and endorsing Trump, espouses debunked views on public health -- including skepticism about the efficacy of childhood vaccines and the Covid-19 vaccine.
42% : He has also advocated for removing fluoride from public water, an idea Trump said he as open to.
41% : Trump said in a statement the department -- which has not yet been created -- will offer "advice and guidance from outside of Government" and focus on "making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency," including through spending and regulatory cuts.
39% : He's known as a critic of big tech companies, writing a chapter of the controversial Project 2025 agenda -- which Trump has broadly disavowed -- that argued the FCC should narrow the immunity enjoyed by tech platforms and require companies to be transparent about their content moderation decisions.
38% : Musk, who has been spotted on numerous occasions alongside Trump since his election, is among those who appear to be influencing Trump's policy and personnel decisions.
37% : During his time as director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe declassified unverified Russian intelligence information that claimed Hillary Clinton approved a plan to link Trump to Russia and the Democratic National Committee cyberattacks in 2016.
35% : In a Truth Social post, Trump said Bondi will "refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.
35% : Miller was a senior adviser to Trump during his first administration and one of the architects of some of his most controversial immigration policies, including his family separation program.
32% : He's accused of espousing questionable medical claims, including promoting the debunked theory that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine could treat Covid-19, and pushing so-called miracle weight loss products unsupported by scientific research.
32% : He'll take over the FCC as Trump pushes the agency to revoke the licenses of broadcast TV stations whose coverage he claims is unfair -- though that could be very difficult in practice.
28% : Witkoff was with Trump during the apparent second assassination attempt on his life, telling NBC that Secret Service agents dived on Trump and got him off his Florida golf course in under 20 seconds.
27% : Howard Lutnick is Trump's pick for commerce secretary, Trump confirmed Tuesday -- picking him for the commerce role instead of treasury secretary.
25% : Some of Rubio's foreign policy stances break with Trump, including his co-sponsorship of legislation last year that would prohibit a president from exiting NATO without congressional approval.
25% : Trump announced Tuesday that Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor who lost his 2022 Senate bid to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., will fill the role.
25% : In recent months, Waltz -- a former Army Green Beret -- has frequently criticized China, urged NATO members to pay more for defense and said he expects Trump to push Ukraine and Russia toward a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.
24% : Trump announced former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his pick to lead the Justice Department -- elevating an ally shortly after former Rep. Matt Gaetz's withdrawal.
23% : Attorney general is one of the most high-profile and highly anticipated appointments, as Trump has fiercely criticized the Justice Department for prosecuting him and is expected to drastically change its makeup -- and possibly push for retribution against his opponents.
23% : Rubio and Trump feuded when they both ran for president in 2016, but the two smoothed over their relationship during Trump's most recent White House run.
22% : Trump, in a statement, called Lutnick "the embodiment of resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy," referencing his charitable contributions to 9/11 families after 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees, including Lutnick's brother, died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, while Lutnick was CEO.
21% : Democrats criticized Ratcliffe's decision to publicly release the information, alleging he was politicizing unverified information to aid Trump.
8% : First elected North Dakota governor in 2016, Burgum briefly ran against Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries, but dropped out and endorsed Trump.
8% : Whitaker frequently appears on Fox News as an advocate for Trump, defending his decision to tap Gaetz as attorney general last week and broadly criticizing the Justice Department over its various investigations into Trump's conduct.

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