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Who might fill Trump’s Cabinet?
With Republicans taking control of the Senate, many of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees are likely to face an easy path to confirmation, even some who may be controversial.
Here are some of the possible people Trump is considering or has chosen for critical Cabinet posts and top White House jobs.
White House chief of staff
Susie Wiles
Alex Brandon / AP
The day after he was declared president-elect, Trump announced his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles would be his chief of staff. Wiles, an experienced political operative based in Florida, will be the first woman in U.S. history to fill the role. Chief of staff is not a Senate-confirmed position, but it is a prestigious position often considered to be part of the Cabinet.
By Kathryn Watson
Secretary of State
A source with knowledge of the discussions says GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee is under consideration for secretary of state, but so are a number of other candidates.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
Hagerty was the U.S. ambassador to Japan under Trump from 2017 until 2019, when he stepped aside to run for his current Senate seat.
By Margaret Brennan
Secretary of Defense
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 60, has been floated as a contender to lead the Defense Department, according to two sources familiar with the process.
/ Getty Images
Pompeo already has extensive experience in the Trump administration and in dealing with Trump himself. He was both secretary of state and CIA director in the first Trump administration. He served as a cavalry officer patrolling the Iron Curtain prior to the Berlin Wall falling, before enrolling in Harvard Law School. He also served in Congress from 2011 to 2017.
By James LaPorta and Robert Costa
Treasury secretary
Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Scott Bessent, the founder of a Connecticut-based hedge fund, Key Square Group, is a leading contender for Treasury secretary, and he’s been making a full-court press for the post, according to a source deeply involved in transition planning. Bessent has outside advocates building the case for him to Trump.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Trump’s former U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer is also being floated for treasury secretary.
By Bob Costa, Major Garrett and Olivia Rinaldi
Commerce secretary
Linda McMahon, who served as small business administrator in Trump’s first term and is a former WWE CEO, is a top contender to lead the Department of Commerce, multiple sources familiar with discussions about the role say.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“It is hers if she wants it,” one senior Trump official said, adding that she is close to Trump and he trusts her.
McMahon also is co-chairwoman of the pro-Trump super PAC America First Policy Action, and is helping run the transition team with Trump’s friend, Howard Lutnick.
By Major Garrett and Fin Gomez
CIA Director
ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, the former Director of National Intelligence under the first Trump administration, is a top name being floated for CIA director, according to several sources familiar with the discussions.
By Major Garret and Robert Costa
RFK Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being floated by some Trump allies to serve as the next head of the Department of Health and Human Services, multiple people close to the president-elect’s campaign say. Kennedy is scheduled to meet with Trump’s senior team next week, but a role in the administration is still unclear, according to a Trump source familiar with the discussions.
REBECCA NOBLE / Getty Images
The hope among Kennedy’s backers that he could be nominated to lead the department has grown in recent days after Republicans cemented control of the Senate.
Kennedy ran for president as an independent but dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump.
By Fin Gomez and Alex Tin
Trump’s family members
As of yet, it’s unclear whether any of Trump’s family members will work in his administration. In his first term, both daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner worked in the White House, but they’ve taken a step back from involvement in their father’s political work.
The House Ethics Committee, which has been conducting an investigation into sexual misconduct and obstruction allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, scheduled a vote for Friday on whether to release its report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee’s work.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Gaetz to be attorney general, Gaetz resigned his congressional seat, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter obtained by CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that there was about an eight-week period during which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting the date for a special election.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
There is precedent in Congress on the Senate side for an ethics committee report to become public after a member resigns from Congress, however. In 2011, this happened when Sen. John Ensign of Nevada resigned amid allegations that he tried to hide an extramarital affair.
But it’s not clear that that would apply to the House, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz would not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement saying it was investigating a range of allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and bribery.
Multiple sources at the time told CBS News that four women had informed the House Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz had also attended. The committee has Gaetz’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has called the committee’s investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the allegations of sexual misconduct under review by the committee were also the subject of a previous Department of Justice probe into Gaetz. Federal investigators sought to determine if Gaetz violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws, but no charges were filed.
The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation into Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the probe. And Gaetz later led the movement to sack McCarthy as speaker.
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