Trump Cabinet Nominees

Author

Dusty Wilson
January 23, 2025

It’s Cabinet Confirmation Fortnight, which means it’s time to look into the nominees of Trump’s upcoming cabinet. But first, two quick things to note:

1) The odds of someone not getting enough confirmation votes are incredibly low. In our nation’s history, only nine people have not received enough votes, with the last being John Tower in 1989. Tower had been a Senator from 1961 to 1985, which is usually a slam dunk for the confirmation process. George H.W. Bush nominated him to be Secretary of Defense, but reports of “…drunkenness, womanizing, and ties to defense contractors…” led to an embarrassing 47-53 loss.

As psychoanalyst Theodor Reik wrote: “It has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.

Either way, in a year primed for heinous bills, it’s best not to put all your emotional well-being into hoping that even a few of these people don’t get confirmed.

2) Fascism is a frustrating spectrum of wants, needs, and motives. An argument could absolutely be made that anyone who accepts an appointment with the Trump administration is a fascist by default. I do think it’s also valuable to separate the opportunistic ladder climbers from the out-and-out true believers.

That being said, this article will look at and follow the confirmation process of all 22 Cabinet-level appointments. Not all of them will get a deep dive into which Democrats voted for them. That will be saved for the truest believers amongst the nominees. As for how each nominee is categorized, I’ll be using Dorothy Thompson’s incredible 1941 essay from Harper’s Magazine entitled Who Goes Nazi?

So, let’s begin with the entry level fascist: the one there out of pure opportunity.

As Thompson describes him, Mr. B is an affluent man with respectable success who has always found a way to climb the social and professional ladder. The problem though is that his secret to success is that he links himself to whatever ideology guarantees him his next boost of power. He doesn’t entirely believe in fascism, nor does he believe in much of anything. If an ideology will help him, then he has no problem being a joining or doing the required bidding.

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

Other than Ted Cruz, no one has done more to debase themself to Donald Trump than Little Marco. But despite Trump calling him a robotic, sweaty, choke artist and ruining any chance of Rubio ever becoming president, Marco has stayed loyal. As such, he has been rewarded with arguably the most powerful position in the Cabinet. Which is great for Trump since Rubio has proved himself willing to endure all kinds of humiliation and still voted in support of Trump 88.1% of the time.

  • Foreign Relations Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 22-0 on 1/20/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 99-0 on 1/20/25

Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior

The former governor and ‘24 presidential candidate from North Dakota fits here due to his fairly odd about-face following the election. He wasn’t a vocal anti-Trump candidate, but more often than not he presented himself as a traditional ‘00s Republican. Despite this, he was very quick to endorse Trump after dropping out. As Governor he was big on drilling, but also pledged to make the state carbon neutral by 2030. After dropping out of the presidential race with very minimal support, his political options for a promotion weren’t great. As far as I can find, it doesn’t look like Burgum is a full tilt fascist, but he is clearly fine with failing up into one’s Cabinet.

  • Energy and Natural Resources Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 18-2 on 1/23/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 79-18 on 1/30/25

Scott Bessent, Secretary of Treasury

For most of the people in this category, that range of philosophy rests between moderate and fascist. For Bessent, his history of beliefs are more in parallel with Mr. B. He has made his living as an investor and hedge fund manager (to be expected for this job), is gay & married (which some of his Cabinet cohort will not like), and previously worked for the babadook of conservative talk radio, George Soros. He is also a former Democrat. After supporting the campaigns of Al Gore, Hillary Clinton (‘08), and Barack Obama, he became a Trump fundraiser in 2016 right after Clinton lost. Knowing his past, this may seem like an abrupt shift, but it has clearly been just as beneficial for Bessent as it theoretically would be for Mr. B.

  • Finance Committee forwarded nominee by a vote of 16-11 on 1/21/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 68-29 on 1/27/25

Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce

Lutnick is fairly hard to figure out, but he does really like tariffs and 3rd string cryptocurrency. The only detail that makes me feel comfortable placing him here is that in 2016 he fundraised for Hillary Clinton before fully supporting Trump in 2020.

  • Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 16-12 on 2/5/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 51-45 on 2/18/25

    • No Democrats voted to confirm

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Labor

Grading on a curve, the former Congresswoman from Oregon seems to be one of the better selections. She has a history of being pro-union and came highly recommended by Teamsters president Sean O’Brien. Then again, The American Prospect noted that she has a history of talking a big game while either rarely voting on bills that would help unions or just fully skipping contentious committee hearings on labor. Most damning for this category is The Oregonian writing that Chavez-DeRemer has often changed her mind on major issues when politically convenient.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence

Former Congresswoman Gabbard has easily made the hardest pivot into the MAGA world. Once a rising star of the left, a lot has come to light since then. Such as her upbringing and continued ties to an anti-LGBTQ+ cult, constantly whitewashing the war crimes of dictator Bashir al-Assad, and now recently embracing full MAGA.

  • Intelligence Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 9-8 on 2/4/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 52-48 on 2/12/25

    • No Democrats voted to confirm

    • Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted against confirmation

Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the UN

If you’re looking for the best example of someone who took this path without having to publicly embarrass themselves, then look no further than Stefanik. Check out Charlotte Alter’s 2022 article in Time entitled “The Handmaiden of Trump: How Elise Stefanik Went from Moderate to MAGA” for more details.

  • Foreign Relations Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 19-3 on 1/30/25

John Ratcliffe, Director of the CIA

It feels a bit like cheating to put Ratcliffe here, because his politics have always remained the same. The thing that makes him unique is that during his first confirmation hearing to be Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump admin, he was outed as a liar. Trump rescinded the nomination in 2019, then resubmitted it in 2020, and Ratcliffe was confirmed despite worries he wouldn’t be. Embellishments of resumes do happen, but for a job as serious as Congressman or cabinet member, it speaks to someone willing to say whatever is needed in the moment to get ahead.

  • Intelligence Committee forwarded nominee by a vote of 14-3 on 1/20/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 74-25 on 1/23/25

Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Association

The very short term Senator from Georgia had initially been viewed as a moderate prior to Governor Brian Kemp appointing her to the seat. Shortly after, a set of shady stock sales were uncovered and she responded by shifting hard right. This led her to claim that her and Trump we’re 100% aligned and claimed to be more conservative “than Attila the Hun.” She also used her position as co-owner of a WNBA team to fight the Black Lives Matter movement.

For a quick intermission, we have some folks who seem to be motivated just by money or the prestige of the job and haven’t flip flopped on their basic beliefs in the process.

  • Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 12-7 on 2/5/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 52-46 on 2/19/25

    • Includes 1 Dem

      • Jacky Rosen (NV)

Scott Turner, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Turner served two backbench terms as a Texas State Representative. He spent this time mostly submitting bills that were requests to commemorate or honor this and that. He was a member of the America First Policy Institute, but his focus at the fascistic think tank seemed to be on traditionally conservative housing policies. Until more comes out, he just seems like a guy who got a job.

  • Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 13-11 on 1/23/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 55-44 on 2/5/25

    • Includes 2 Dems

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Peter Welch (VT)

Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy

Wright, a fossil fuel executive, doesn’t fit mainly because he seems to just want more money, but hasn’t seemed to care much about changing himself or his politics. He’s a huge climate skeptic, but said it is real during his confirmation hearing. As far as I can tell, this is the one time he has backed down on his beliefs to get ahead, but is also shittily expected in confirmation hearings. Wright sucks, but more in a corporate ghoul way than a fully fascist way.

  • Energy and Natural Resources Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 15-5 on 1/23/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 59-38 on 2/3/25

    • Includes 7 Dems

      • Michael Bennett (CO)

      • Ruben Gallego (AZ)

      • Maggie Hassan (NH)

      • Martin Heinrich (NM)

      • John Hickenlooper (CO)

      • Ben Ray Lujan (NM)

      • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education

The former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment has kept a pretty low profile, at least compared to many others on this list. The most illuminating article I could find about her past politics comes from a very recent piece by Maysoon Khan for WBUR. In the piece, Khan notes that McMahon’s previous political roles were bereft of firebrand moments or discord. Frankly, she seemed to approach her roles with a head down, do the work sort of attitude. Time might tell, but if the past is any indicator, her motivation is for the job, but she doesn’t appear to have changed her beliefs to get it.

  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 12-11 on 2/20/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 51-45 on 3/3/25

    • No Democrats voted to confirm

Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative

There is too little out there to really tell if he’s an opportunist or a true believer or just a guy who got a job. For now though, I’m putting him here with a big ole asterisk.

For the next level, we transfer from the opportunistic to the truly hateful.

  • Finance Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 15-12 on 2/12/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 56-43 on 2/26/25

    • Includes 5 Democrats:

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • John Hickenlooper (CO)

      • Gary Peters (MI)

      • Elissa Slotkin (MI)

      • Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)

    • Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against confirmation

Mrs. E has nothing but adoration for powerful men. She believes that while she may have power over certain things, there is no greater pride or accomplishment than directly serving a strongman. Thompson directly compares her to Mrs. F, an actress that I assumed with no evidence was Marlene Dietrich. Mrs. F cares for everyone, is hilarious, and, along with her husband, confidently mocks the men who think they have a chance at fucking her. Mrs. E despises Mrs. F. She hates her freedom, her carefree nature, but above all, she hates that Mrs. F will never adhere to her proper gender role. Mrs. E represents the traditional values fascists constantly strive to regain.

Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security

Whether serving as a Congresswoman or Governor, Noem has had a long history of pushing for “traditional values.” This has led to South Dakota being one of the first states to outright ban abortion in all cases, Noem accusing native communities of hiding cartel members on reservations, and signing a bill into law that allows businesses to refuse to serve LGBTQ+ people.

  • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee forwarded nominee 13-2 on 1/20/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 59-34 on 1/25/25

    • Includes 7 Democrats

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Maggie Hassan (NH)

      • Tim Kaine (VA)

      • Andy Kim (NJ)

      • Gary Peters (MI)

      • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

      • Elissa Slotkin (MI)

Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation

The former Congressman from Wisconsin and MTV’s Real World alum used his time in Congress to fully support Trump’s traditionalist proposals. He supported the Muslim ban (claiming that the faith inspired more people to commit terrorism) and referred to white supremacist terror as “one-off” events. He isn’t the most full chested as other Christian Nationalists who have been nominated, but Islamophopia and white exceptionalism are key tenets to those who espouse the need for ‘traditional values.’

  • Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 28-0 on 1/22/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 77-22 on 1/28/25

    • Includes 23 Dems

      • Angela Alsobrooks (MD)

      • Tammy Baldwin (WI)

      • Michael Bennett (CO)

      • Maria Cantwell (WA)

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Ruben Gallego (AZ)

      • Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)

      • Maggie Hassan (NH)

      • John Hickenlooper (CO)

      • Tim Kaine (VA)

      • Mark Kelly (AZ)

      • Amy Klobuchar (MN)

      • Alex Padilla (CA)

      • Gary Peters (MI)

      • Jacky Rosen (NV)

      • Brian Schatz (HI)

      • Adam Schiff (CA)

      • Chuck Schumer (NY)

      • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

      • Mark Warner (VA)

      • Raphael Warnock (GA)

      • Peter Welch (VT)

      • Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)

Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Compared to Duffy, this former Congressman from Georgia is more in line with what folks imagine when they think of a traditionalist. He’s supported legislation to require women to get an ultrasound before an abortion, to ban abortions after 20 weeks, and really he just wants to ban it outright. He’s called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and voted against the Violence Against Women Act, which would have expanded domestic violence laws to same-sex couples. His direct ire shifted in the last couple of years to trans people. While serving as chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Georgia chapter, he ensured the most prominent link was to the think tank’s work to outlaw all gender affirming care.

  • Veterans’ Affairs committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 18-1 on 1/23/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 77-23 on 2/4/25

    • Includes 22 Dems:

      • Michael Bennett (CO)

      • Richard Blumenthal (CT)

      • Catherine Cortez Masto (NV)

      • Dick Durbin (IL)

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Ruben Gallego (AZ)

      • Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)

      • Maggie Hassan (NH)

      • Martin Heinrich (NM)

      • John Hickenlooper (CO)

      • Tim Kaine (VA)

      • Mark Kelly (AZ)

      • Amy Klobuchar (MN)

      • Ben Ray Lujan (NM)

      • Jon Ossoff (GA)

      • Gary Peters (MI)

      • Jacky Rosen (NV)

      • Adam Schiff (CA)

      • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

      • Elissa Slotkin (MI)

      • Raphael Warnock (GA)

      • Peter Welch (VT)

Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Time for another former Congressman. This time, he comes from New York. Zeldin isn’t nearly as traditionalist as Collins or even Duffy. At one point he was adamantly against same-sex marriage, but by 2022 he voted in favor of a law making it the federal law of the land (granted, this was the initial version of the law and he didn’t vote on it when the Senate returned it to the House with amendments). That said, he remains anti-choice and in the past has pushed for a 20-week ban on the procedure and to defund Planned Parenthood.

  • Environment and Public Works Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 11-8 on 1/23/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 56-42 on 1/29/25

    • Includes 3 Dems

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Ruben Gallego (AZ)

      • Mark Kelly (AZ)

Finally we end with Young D, or as Thompson refers to him, the only Born Nazi. Young D is rich, handsome, and, frankly, a spoiled little bastard. He’s never wanted for anything, so he feels deserving of everything. He’s never faces consequences, due to his parents paying any fines or using their connections to ensure he never spends a second in jail, so he believes that consequences aren’t meant for him. He acts as a demigod among men and by the time he’s grown it just makes sense that he’s just naturally better. So why wouldn’t he be best suited to lead (and punish) people?

For this section I will mostly link to articles that cover all of the details that make these people so fuck awful.

Pam Bondi, Attorney General

Kim Wehle’s article for The Bulwark covering her confirmation hearing is just chock full of red fascist flags.

  • Judiciary Committee forwarded the nominee by a vote of 12-10 on 1/29/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 54-46 on 2/4/25

    • Includes 1 Dem:

      • John Fetterman (PA)

Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense

Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s transcription of “Pete Hegseth and the Autocratic Strategy of Engineered Incompetence” absolutely rules just as much as it is thoroughly depressing.

  • Armed Services Committee forwarded nominee 14-13 on 1/20/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 50-50 with JD Vance as the tie-breaking vote on 1/24/25

    • No Democrats voted to confirm

    • Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted against confirmation

Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture

It’s a bit difficult to place Rollins, but the ultimate reason she ends up here rather than with the traditionalists is that she is the co-founder & CEO of the America First Policy Institute. They might not be the skeleton of this new term’s fascism, but due to so many members joining the administration, the AFPI is all set to act as the muscles.

For further reading on Brooke Rollins, please check out Karen Perry Stillerman’s essay for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

  • Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee forwarded nominee 23-0 on 2/3/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 72-28 on 2/13/25

    • Includes 19 Dems

      • Tammy Baldwin (WI)

      • Michael Bennett (CO)

      • Cory Booker (NJ)

      • Catherine Cortez Masto (NV)

      • Dick Durbin (IL)

      • John Fetterman (PA)

      • Ruben Gallego (AZ)

      • Maggie Hassan (NH)

      • Martin Heinrich (NM)

      • John Hickenlooper (CO)

      • Amy Klobuchar (MN)

      • Jon Ossoff (GA)

      • Gary Peters (MI)

      • Jacky Rosen (NV)

      • Adam Schiff (CA)

      • Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

      • Elissa Slotkin (MI)

      • Raphael Warnock (GA)

      • Peter Welch (VT)

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services

RFK, Jr. has surrounded himself with health quacks, anti-vaxx weirdos, sex creeps, and LaRoucheites on his quest to become president and instead road that wave of support to the top of Health Fascism, aka MAHA. He has also never faced consequences for pushing his second wife to kill herself or killing nearly 100 kids in Samoa. He’s a man that thinks he knows all, but clearly knows nothing. His confidence is only rivaled by his contempt for people who fail to respect his clear genius.

  • Finance Committee voted to forward candidate 14-13 on 2/4/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 52-48 on 2/13/25

    • No Dems voted yay

    • Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted against confirmation

Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget

While Vought doesn’t come from an affluent background like Young D, he can justifiably be considered the architect of Trumpist 2.0 Fascism. Vought served as the co-chair of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a massive collection of plans to reshape the government as the far right sees fit. Vought goes beyond the achetype that Thompson has set. A traditionalist usually just has their few pet projects of hate. A man like Vought, with the patience to build something this severe, rightfully deserves a place in the worst echelon.

  • Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee forwarded nominee by a vote of 8-7 on 1/20/25

  • Budget Committee’s forwarded the nominee by a vote of 11-0 on 1/30/25

  • Confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 53-47 on 2/6/25

    • No Dems voted yay

Finally, as we have been doing with the various laws making their way through Congress, we’ll update this page as schedules are updated and votes are made.