Donald Trump is moving back into the White House and now must assemble a new Cabinet.
And after roughly a decade in the political spotlight, the 45th and soon-to-be-47th president will have no shortage of hopefuls to choose from, ranging from former rivals-turned-backers to elected officials -- and even the scion of one of the most iconic families in American politics.
While Tesla, X and SpaceX owner Elon Musk has campaigned for Trump and the two have discussed Musk having some role in Trump’s administration — such as leading a government-efficiency commission — Musk does not appear on this list, with Trump acknowledging Musk is probably too busy for a Cabinet-level role.
Here is a look at 10 people whose names are being floated for top roles in the president-elect’s administration.
Marco Rubio
The Florida senator was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate and is reportedly being considered now for secretary of state.
A Trump critic turned loyalist, Rubio, 53, has served on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees. He has taken hard-line positions on China, Cuba and Iran, and while he’s voiced more support for Ukraine than Trump has, the senator has found common ground with the incoming president by saying its war with Russia will end “with a negotiated settlement.”
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday morning, Rubio did not rule out taking a role in Trump’s administration.
“I haven't had any such conversations with anybody in the Trump administration, and either way, I plan to work with them, whether it's on in the Senate, which is an important place to be, or in some other capacity,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump has vowed to let Kennedy, who ended his independent presidential bid to support Trump, “go wild” with health and food policy. Kennedy, 70, has said Trump has promised him “control of the public health agencies,” including the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies.
Kennedy is an environmental lawyer anti-vaccine activist with no formal training or experience in medicine or public health. In 2022, Facebook and Instagram banned the accounts for Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense for spreading medical misinformation.
Trump said Sunday he’s open to implementing Kennedy’s proposals to ban certain vaccines and remove fluoride from drinking water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists fluoridation “as one of the “10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.” Vaccines recommended in the United States and mandated for many public school children are widely deemed to be safe and effective among the scientific community.
Doug Burgum
The North Dakota governor could be in line for a job leading the Interior, Energy or State departments.
Burgum, 68, ran against Trump for the GOP nomination but steered clear of any harsh of the former president. After ending his campaign, Burgum endorsed Trump and was later on his shortlist for VP.
Burgum told CNN in July that when Trump called to break the news that he wouldn’t be his running mate, the former president called him “Mr. Secretary,” a not so subtle hint that a Cabinet offer would be in Burgum’s future if Trump won.
Vivek Ramaswamy
A biotech entrepreneur, Ramaswamy also ran against Trump for president, but he remained a vocal cheerleader for the former president along the way. Like Burgum, Ramaswamy endorsed Trump and campaigned for him after he ended his own run for the White House.
Bloomberg reported in March that Trump told Ramaswamy, 39, he was considering him to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a key role in carrying out Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.
Ramaswamy shares Trump’s views supporting mass deportations and seeking to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
Mike Waltz
A Green Beret in the war in Afghanistan and an active colonel in the Army National Guard, Waltz, 50, not only has extensive military experience, but he also served as a defense policy adviser in the Pentagon under Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and in the White House under former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Waltz is now being mentioned as a candidate to be the next defense secretary.
He was reelected to his Florida congressional seat Tuesday. In the House, he has served on the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees.
“Anytime the president of the United States calls and asks you to serve, I think anybody should take it seriously,” Waltz said Wednesday when asked by CNN about the possibility of him working in the Trump administration.
Kevin McCarthy
The California Republican had an unceremonious exit from Washington in October 2023, when he became the first House speaker in history to be voted out.
The New York Post reported last month that McCarthy, 59, is widely seen as a top contender to be Trump’s chief of staff, in part because of his intimate knowledge of how Washington works.
Trump campaign co-manager Susie Wiles and former White House domestic policy adviser Brooke Rollins are also being mentioned for the chief-of-staff job, according to reports.
Mike Pompeo
There’s a chance Trump could again call on some members of his Cabinet in his first administration to rejoin him. Pompeo served as secretary of state under Trump. Before that, he led the CIA and was a three-term congressman.
One of Trump’s most trusted advisers and ardent supporters, Pompeo, 60, is now being floated as a possible pick for defense secretary or attorney general.
Mike Lee
The Utah senator is also in the mix for attorney general, Bloomberg reported in March.
Lee, 53, has done an about-face on Trump. In 2016, he expressed concerns about Trump and voted instead for independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin in protest of Trump.
But four years later, Lee worked behind the scenes on early efforts to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, text messages revealed.
A former federal prosecutor, Lee also has attacked what he calls the “political weaponization of our judicial system” amid the criminal cases against Trump. In response, he led a GOP effort to obstruct Democratic priorities in the Senate.
Trump’s attorney general will be tasked with squashing the two federal cases against the former and future president — one in Washington over his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results and the other in Florida over his retention of classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both.
Trump had considered Lee for a seat on the Supreme Court.
Aileen Cannon
A federal judge in Florida, Cannon is best known for presiding over — and dismissing — Trump’s classified documents case.
ABC News reported last month that Cannon’s name appeared on a document circulating within Trump’s campaign and transition operation that listed her as a possible attorney general. Cannon was added to the list well after she tossed out the case against Trump, sources told ABC.
Cannon, who was nominated by Trump, dismissed the case in July, ruling that the Justice Department illegally appointed special counsel Jack Smith to lead the prosecution. Smith has appealed the ruling, which is likely a moot point now that Trump has been reelected.
Legal experts have intensely criticized Cannon’s rulings in the Trump case, and a three-judge appeals court unanimously ruled she “abused” her “discretion” when she barred investigators from reviewing documents with classified markings seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
Betsy DeVos
DeVos, 66, served as Trump’s education secretary in his first term. In August, the billionaire philanthropist told The Detroit News she would like to serve in the role again with the “goal of phasing out the Department of Education,” which was one of Trump’s campaign promises.
DeVos, however, resigned on Jan. 7, 2021, citing the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters a day earlier. She also said she discussed the possibility of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
She conceded in her Detroit News interview that she didn’t think Trump would ask her to serve again, but Politico reported that some Republican lawmakers say they want Trump to pick her again or somebody like her because of her proposal on school choice tax credits.
Note: This article was updated to correct Elon Musk's role at X.
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