US President Elect Donald Trump is about to take over the whitehouse from Barack Obama and planning for the presidential transition has been on top gear with top cabinet positions in the incoming government already filled in.
Billionaire business mogul, Donald J Trump was elected president of the United States of America on November 8, 2016 and formerly elected by the US Electoral College on December 19, 2016, with 304 electoral votes
Planning for the Donald Trump presidential transition began far back in April, 2016 in accordance with the US Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010. At that time, representatives from the Trump campaign, as well as the campaigns of four other then-running Republican candidates, met in New York with representatives of the Partnership for Public Service to receive a two-day briefing and overview of the transition process. The Trump campaign shortly thereafter began implementing the recommendations provided at the meeting. In early May 2016, after Trump became the presumptive nominee, campaign officials announced they would name the members of a presidential transition team within the “upcoming weeks”. On May 6, The New York Times reported that Trump had asked Jared Kushner to begin work on putting a transition team together. Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort worked with Kushner in the selection of a transition chief. Three days later, Trump announced that New Jersey Governor (and former rival Presidential candidate) Chris Christie had agreed to head the effort.
Fast forward to November 9 after Trump had won the presidential election, outgoing president Barack Obama made a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House in which he announced that he had spoken, the previous evening, with Trump and formally invited him to the White House the next day, November 10, for discussions to ensure “that there is a successful transition between our presidencies”. President Obama said he had instructed his staff to “follow the example” of the George W. Bush administration in 2008, whom he said could “not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition”. The same day, United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter issued a memo to the United States armed forces informing them of the pending transfer of National Command Authority to a new administration. Also on November 9, the U.S. Intelligence Community offered the full President’s Daily Brief to Trump and Mike Pence, with Trump receiving his first brief on November 15 in his office at Trump Tower. By the afternoon of November 9, a transition website (greatagain.gov) had been launched. The website provided information on transition procedures and information for the media.
Donald Trump Presidential Transition Team.
The Trump transition team is currently led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. It originally had six vice-chairs, which was expanded on November 29, 2016 to thirteen vice-chairs: Ben Carson, Chris Christie (previously head of the transition from May 2016 through election day), Michael Flynn (incoming National Security Advisor), Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Jeff Sessions (incoming Attorney General), with the addition of K. T. McFarland (incoming Deputy National Security Advisor), Gov. Mary Fallin, Sen. Tim Scott, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (previously on the executive committee), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Rep. Tom Reed, and outgoing Rep. Cynthia Lummis.
The transition team also has an Executive Committee which includes:
Steve Bannon, Trump campaign CEO; named Counselor to the President on November 13.
Rep. Lou Barletta.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (moved to vice-chair).
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Rep. Chris Collins.
Rep. Tom Marino.
Rebekah Mercer – director of the Mercer Family Foundation and daughter of major Trump (and Cruz) .donor Robert Mercer.
Steven Mnuchin — former partner at Goldman Sachs, incoming Secretary of the Treasury.
Rep. Devin Nunes.
Reince Priebus — Republican National Committee chairman; named incoming White House Chief of Staff on November 13.
Anthony Scaramucci — Hedge-fund manager and founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, formerly at Goldman Sachs.
Peter Thiel – Co-founder of PayPal, now a venture capitalist involved in several groups including Clarium Capital and Founders Fund.
Donald Trump Jr.
Eric Trump.
Ivanka Trump.
Jared Kushner, businessman; husband of Ivanka Trump.
Additional executive committee members since November 29, 2016:
Rep. Sean Duffy.
Rep. Trey Gowdy.
Rep. Dennis Ross.
Pastor Darrell Scott.
Kiron Skinner.
President-Elect Donald Trump Cabinet Positions.
Who is on the Trump cabinet? has arguably been the biggest question during this transition period. With about 4,000 government positions to fill, cabinet positions require Senate confirmation, but other key posts are completely up to the discretion of the President. Below is a complete list of all the appointments and proposed cabinet of President-elect Donald J. Trump so far, including some of the most important posts in the US government.
- Secretary of State – Rex Wayne Tillerson (CEO of ExxonMobil).
- Attorney General – Jeff Sessions (US Senator from Alabama).
- Secretary of the interior – Ryan Zinke (U.S. Representative for Montana’s at-large congressional district).
- Secretary of Defense – Gen. James Mattis (Retired Marine general).
- Secretary of Energy – James Richard “Rick” Perry (Former Governor of Texas)
- Chief of Staff – Reince Priebus (Republican National Committee chairman).
- Secretary of the Treasury – Steven Mnuchin (Co-chairman and CEO of Dune Capital Management).
- Secretary of Commerce – Wilbur Ross (Investor worth an estimated $3 billion).
- Secretary of Labor – Andrew Puzder (CEO of CKE Restaurants).
- Secretary of Education – Betsy DeVos (Republican donor, education activist from Michigan).
- Secretary of Health and Human Services – Tom Price (Chairman, House Budget Committee).
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development – Ben Carson (Retired surgeon, author, and politician).
- Secretary of Transportation – Elaine Chao (Republican politician).
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs – David Shulkin (Former President of Beth Israel Medical Center NY).
- Secretary of Homeland Security – John F. Kelly (retired United States Marine Corps general).
- National Security Adviser – Michael Flynn (Retired US Army Lieutenant General).
- Ambassador to the United Nations – Nikki Haley (Governor of South Carolina).
- Communications Director – Jason Millerr.
- Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency – Scott Pruitt (Lawyer, Politician).
- United States Trade Representative – Robert Lighthizer (Lawyer, Politician).
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget – Mick Mulvaney (U.S. Representative for South Carolina).
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration – Linda McMahon (professional wrestling magnate and politician).
- Press Secretary – Sean Spicer (Chief Strategist and Communications Director at the Republican National Committee).
As the count down to the January 20 handover day continues, we wish the incoming president and his administration all the very best with piloting the affairs of the great United States of America.
