Gay trump nominees

The Partnership for Public Service and The Washington Post track nominees for roughly 800 critical leadership roles. 

Launched in 2016, the political appointee tracker has been following roughly 800 of the more than 1,300 political appointed positions that require Senate confirmation, including Cabinet secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsels and ambassadors.

The tracker provides the most comprehensive data and analysis about the political appointments process and provides the public with up-to-date information about the nomination and confirmation status of nominees for critical roles in the federal government.

Most recently was vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright

• CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy.
• Vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key piece of Trump’s goal to achieve U.S.

  “energy dominance” in the global market.

• One of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin

• Mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022.
• He left Congress in January 2023 and was a surprising pick for the role.
• His public appearances both in his own campaigns and on behalf of Trump often had him speaking about issues such as the military, national security, antisemitism, U.S.-Israel relations, immigration and crime.

AWAITING FINAL VOTES/HEARINGS UNDERWAY

Pam Bondi - Attorney General

• Florida’s first female attorney general, serving from 2011 to 2019.
• On Trump’s legal team during his first Senate impeachment trial in 2020 and has been critical of the criminal cases against him.
• Served with the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-allied group that has helped lay the groundwork for his second administration.

Doug Collins - Secretary of Veterans Affairs

• Former Republican congressman from Georgia and a Baptist minister.
• Served in the Navy and Air Force Reserve and is a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command.

Brooke Rollins - Secretary of Agriculture

• President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping lay the groundwork for Trump’s second administration.
• Texas attorney who was Trump’s domestic policy adviser and director of his office of American innovation during his first term.

Elise Stefanik - U.S.

But putting aside any nepotism concerns, the younger Benton’s nomination is troubling on its own, particularly for her many connections to Republican politics and the anti-abortion movement. While at Jones Day, Lea represented South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham when he was subpoenaed as part of a grand jury investigation into Trump’s attempts to interfere with Georgia’s vote-counting in the 2020 presidential election.

30 (88 percent) of the nominees are white, and 26 (77 percent) are male—both increases from Trump’s first term. Ambassador to the United Nations

• Congresswoman from New York who served as House Republican Conference Chair, the third-highest position in House leadership.
• One of Trump’s most loyal allies in the House.
• Was among those discussed as a potential Trump running mate.

Scott Turner - Housing and Urban Development Secretary

• Former NFL player who ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term.
• Served in the Texas House of Representatives.

Russell Vought - Director of the Office of Management and Budget

• Held the position during Trump’s first presidency.
• Was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign.
• Founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank whose mission is to “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.”

Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. - Secretary of Health and Human Services

• Ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent, then endorsed Trump.
• Son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy.
• Vocal skeptic of vaccines, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.

Tulsi Gabbard - Director of National Intelligence

• Former Democratic House member from Hawaii.
• Sought 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and left the party in 2022.
• Served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait.
• Has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda.

Kash Patel - FBI Director

Kelly Loeffler - Administrator of the Small Business Administration

• Former Georgia senator and a top donor to Trump.
• Was chief executive of Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading platform.
• Co-chair of Trump's inaugural committee.

Howard Lutnick - Commerce Secretary

• A billionaire who heads the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast.
• Co-chair of Trump’s transition operation, charged along with Linda McMahon with helping the president-elect fill key jobs in his second administration.

AWAITING HEARINGS

Lori Chavez-DeRemer - Labor Secretary

• Republican U.S.

  House member from Oregon narrowly lost her reelection bid in November but had received strong backing from union members in her district.

• Endorsed legislation that would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns, penalize companies that violate workers’ rights and weaken “right-to-work” laws.

Jamieson Greer - United States Trade Representative

• International trade attorney and partner at King & Spalding, a Washington law firm.
• Previously was chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, who was the trade representative in Trump’s first term.

Linda McMahon - Education Secretary

• Billionaire professional wrestling mogul.

  Brooke Rollins rounds out nominees

  As is true for any cabinet nomination, Trump’s picks still need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before they can assume their posts in his administration. By a unanimous consent agreement, Western District of Louisiana nominee Alexander Van Hook’s nomination will remain with the Senate until lawmakers return in January, but all other nominees—Nicolas Ganjei, David Fowlkes, Aaron Peterson, John Guard, Lea, Benton, and Olson—will by rule be returned to Trump.

  Scott Bessent 

  Trump appointed 62-year-old Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and billionaire, to become the new Treasury secretary and advise the president on financial, economic and tax policy. Some are young enough that they won’t reach the statutory retirement eligibility age until the 2050s.

  Lea has also represented various religious employers in their challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandates.