First cabinet of 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.
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.
Cabinet-level officials
! Office! Designee
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Confirmation process
Confirmation votes
For comparison,Committee process
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 " 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 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, Ronald Reagan, and Dwight Eisenhower." 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 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. 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, 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.After the election on November 8, 2016, when the ticket formed by Trump and Pence defeated the Clinton and Kaine ticket as well as various third party opponents, the transition team was quickly reshuffled and expanded; Mike Pence was given the lead role, and several additional top-level transition personnel were added to the transition effort, most of them from the now-finished campaign effort. During the remainder of 2016, the team continued finding and vetting potential nominees for the various positions, as the Electoral College process was ongoing and before the presidential inauguration on January 20, 2017.
President-elect Trump announced his first post-election Cabinet nominee, Jeff Sessions for the role of United States Attorney General, on November 18, 2016. Although most positions were simultaneously under consideration by the transition team, the official announcement of offers, and the public acceptance of the offers, usually happens gradually as slots are filled.
For purposes of historical comparison, this chart includes only Cabinet roles, and not the cabinet-level positions. However, note that the number of Cabinet positions has varied from administration to administration: under Nixon there were twelve such roles in 1968, whereas under Trump in 2016 there are fifteen.
Formation
After Election Day, media outlets reported on persons described by various sources as possible appointments to senior positions in the incoming Trump presidency. The number of people which have received media attention as potential cabinet appointees is higher than in most previous presidential elections, partly because the Trump '16 campaign staff was significantly smaller and less expensive, thus there are not as many people already expected to receive specific roles in the upcoming Trump administration. In particular, "Trump ha a smaller policy brain trust than a new president normally carries" because as an anti-establishment candidate who began his campaign by largely self-funding his way to the Republican Party nomination, unlike most previous presidential winners "Trump does not have the traditional cadre of Washington insiders and donors to build out his Cabinet." An additional factor that tends to make the field of potential nominees especially broad, is that unlike most presidential transition teams who select politicians as their appointees, the Trump transition team "has started with a mandate to hire from the private sector whenever possible."Elected officials
President
Donald Trump defeated the former secretary of state and Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 presidential election, receiving 304 electoral votes compared to Clinton's 227 electoral votes in the election. The formal certification of the results took place on January 6, 2017. He assumed office on January 20, 2017.Vice President
The vice president is the only cabinet member to be elected to the position who does not require Senate confirmation, and the vice president does not serve at the pleasure of the president. There were dozens of potential running mates for Trump who received media speculation. Trump's eventual pick of the governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, was officially announced on July 15, 2016, and confirmed by acclamation via parliamentary procedure amongst delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016.Governor of Indiana Mike Pence was elected Vice President of the United States, receiving 305 electoral votes, compared to United States senator, Tim Kaine, who received 227 electoral votes in the election. The formal certification of the results took place on January 6, 2017. He assumed office on January 20, 2017.
Nominated candidates for Cabinet positions
The following cabinet positions are listed in order of their creation.Secretary of State
The nomination of a Secretary-designate is reviewed during hearings held by the members of the Foreign Relations committee, then presented to the full Senate for a vote.Thomas Shannon (acting)
Before Tillerson was sworn in, Tom Shannon served as the acting secretary from January 20 until February 1, 2017.Rex Tillerson (2017–2018)
President-elect Trump officially selected CEO of ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State on December 12, 2016. Tillerson was first recommended to Trump for the secretary of state role by Condoleezza Rice, during her meeting with Trump in late November. Rice's recommendation of Tillerson to Trump was backed up by Robert Gates three days later.Tillerson's confirmation hearing with the Foreign Relations committee was held on January 11, 2017. During the hearing, Tillerson voiced support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and opposed a Muslim immigration ban that has been proposed by Donald Trump in the past. Tillerson was approved by the Foreign Relations committee on January 23, 2017, by a vote of 11–10. On February 1, Tillerson was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 56–43 and was sworn in later that day.