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US President-elect Donald Trump already appears to be on a collision course with the new Republican-led Senate on his staff and cabinet appointments.
He did not get involved in the Senate’s Republican leadership election from which Senator John Thune was victorious despite Trump allies supporting Florida Senator Rick Scott.
But Trump did demand that the next Republican Senate leader agree to “recess appointments” in which the chamber would adjourn and allow his appointments to be temporarily approved without a confirmation process.
Then he named Democrat-turned-Republican Tulsi Gabbard as his nominee for director of national intelligence, Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defence and Florida House Representative Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
US media reports say there is already Republican opposition to some of his picks.
Gaetz would lead the Department of Justice if he becomes attorney general; the same agency that investigated him in a sex-trafficking case involving a 17-year-old girl, which he strongly denied.
That investigation ended without charges though the House Ethics Committee continued a separate investigation until Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday (US time), days before the panel was set to release a critical report about him.
SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped to lead efforts to downsize the federal government. Their appointments have also caused widespread dismay as has Stephen Miller and Kirsti Noem’s nominations.
OTHER HIGH-PROFILE PICKS
- Robert F Kennedy Junior as Health Secretary.
- Susie Wiles, 67, has been chosen for White House Chief of Staff. She was a senior advisor to Trump’s 2024 presidential election.
- Mike Waltz, 50, as National Security Advisor, reporting to the Secretary of Defence.
- Tom Homan, 62, to oversee border control again, reporting to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
- Elise Stefanik, 40, US Ambassador to the United Nations, reporting to the Secretary of State.
- Stephen Miller, 39, as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.
- Lee Zeldin, 44, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Kristi Noem, 52, as secretary of Homeland Security.
- Pete Hegseth, 44, as Secretary of Defence. An Army veteran, he is co-host of Fox & Friends Weekends.
- John Ratcliff, 59, as CIA director. He served as Director of National Intelligence in the first Trump administration.
- Mike Huckabee, 69, as US Ambassador to Israel.
- Elon Musk, 53, co-serve along Vivek Ramaswamy as leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency.
- Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, to co-serve with Musk as leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency.
- Tulsi Gabbard, 43, as Director of National Intelligence. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to eventually join the Republican party.
- Matt Gaetz, 42, to be attorney general.
- Marco Rubio, 53, to be Secretary of State.
The Cabinet includes the Vice President and 15 executive departments — Agriculture, Commerce, Defence, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and Attorney General.
