U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump has now selected 11 out of 15 Cabinet Department heads. Each of these individuals must be confirmed by the Senate. The Senate confirmation process can begin when the newly elected 115th Congress convenes on January 2, 2017. The remaining Cabinet picks not yet announced include Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and the State Department.
The following picks were announced this week.
Department of Labor Secretary: Andy Puzder. Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. burger chains. CKE owns or franchises more than 3,250 restaurants in the United States and 26 other countries, generating $1.3 billion in annual revenue. The company employs more that 70,000 people in the United States. He is an advisor and contributor to Trump’s campaign. Puzder has argued for the need for low-skilled immigrant workers in his industry and others. He was a strong supporter of the Senate’s 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have offered illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. He also supports E-Verify. The Labor Department oversees OSHA, enforces wage rules, and manages guest-worker programs.
Environmental Protection Agency Secretary: Scott Pruitt. Pruitt is a United States lawyer and Republican politician from Oklahoma. He is the current Oklahoma Attorney General. Pruitt was a State Senator, representing Tulsa and Wagoner counties from 1998 until 2006. Pruitt has been a key architect of the legal battle against Mr. Obama’s climate change policies. Pruitt joined a coalition of state attorneys general in suing the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the principal Obama-era policy aimed at reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector. He has also sued, with fellow state attorneys general, over the EPA’s recently announced regulations seeking to curtail the emissions of methane from the oil and gas sector.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary: Ben Carson. Carson, a 65-year-old retired neurosurgeon, ran against Trump in the wide field of Republican presidential candidates. Carson has never held political office and a presidential candidate. The housing secretary is charged with carrying out the nation’s fair housing laws, overseeing thousands of public housing apartments and distributing grants to support community development and home ownership. If confirmed, Carson will be enlisted to serve as Trump’s unofficial envoy to African Americans and to lead the charge to repair what Trump called America’s blighted inner cities.
Homeland Security Secretary: John F. Kelly: Kelly is a four-star Marine general. He retired in February as chief of U.S. Southern Command. Homeland Security was formed after the attacks of September 11, 2001. If confirmed, Kelly will inherit an often troubled department as DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, with more than 240,000 employees who do everything from fight terrorism to protect the president and enforce immigration. His son was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2010.
In addition, President-elect Trump has asked Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (R) to serve as ambassador to China. Branstad is reported to be a longtime friend of Chinese president Wi Jinping–they first met in 1985. The 70-year-old Branstad is the longest serving governor in U.S. history. He was Iowa’s governor from 1983 to 1999, then began his second stint in 2011. Branstad would need to be confirmed by the Senate. If confirmed, Branstad would face challenges with China over trade policy, state-sponsored computer hacking and territorial disputes over China’s build up in the South China Sea.
