To Open The Sky
The Front Pages of Christopher P. Winter
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| Trump in charge |
Trump's Choices for Cabinet and other High-Level Officials
7/23/2019
Update 1/10/19
At the time of my previous update in November, I found no information on the progress toward confirmation of the science advisor. I guess it wasn't considered newsworthy enough. But on 3 January, the Senate finally completed the process, confirming Kelvin Droegemeier by voice vote. A spokesman for OSTP was not available to comment because of the government shutdown.
Just after my previous update on 6 July 2018, Trump finally got around to nominating a Science Advisor on 31 July. He is meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier, who specializes in extreme weather. Although he demurred on questions about climate, saying that was not his field of study, he is looked on by scientists as a reasonable choice. He breezed through his hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, but as far as I could learn has not yet been confirmed by the full Senate.
I've finally gotten around to filling in the holes in this list (including the resignations of Reince Priebus in July 2017 and Tom Price in September 2017, which I somehow missed.) I can't really call it complete; there are many other names that could be added. Two examples are Steven Miller and Omarosa Manigault (one down; one to go.) I'm just not motivated to add them. I also added Scott Pruitt, who resigns today under pressure from 13 investigations of his extravagant spending practices.
There are benefits to delay. We now know of several removals and resignations of Trump officials (and the indictment of one: Michael Flynn.) We also know that he has appointed some real darbs — like the candidate for a judgeship who couldn't answer the most basic legal questions. And we know he has simply neglected appointing anyone to long lists of important positions at State, among other agencies.
I want to focus on just one such omission. Every president since Eisenhower has appointed a science advisor. Trump has not. This table, due to the Washington Post, shows the number of days each took to make a nomination. I'm updating Trump's number at intervals.
| Kennedy | 64 |
| Nixon | 28 |
| Carter | 136 |
| Reagan | 196 |
| Bush 41 | 163 |
| Clinton | 51 |
| Bush 43 | 230 |
| Obama | 46 |
| Trump | Almost 600 |
There's a clear pattern: Republican presidents take longer to propose a science advisor than Democratic presidents do. The reason is equally clear: Republicans distrust scientists because few scientists can be made to follow the party line. They present the truths their work reveals without fear or favor. This is antithetical to the authoritarian mindset modern Republicans exhibit to some degree. Trump will not select a science advisor unless he is forced to.
See also: Trump Still Hasn't Chosen A Science Adviser — After 390 Days In Office (Dominique Mosbergen, Huffington Post, 2//14/2018)
Donald Trump is in the process of selecting officials for his cabinet and certain other high-level staffers, a portion of the 4,000-odd positions in his administration that must be filled. Here is a table describing the cabinet officials proposed by Trump, listed in order of succession. I give brief backgrounds, net worth (if known), and confirmation status.
Below this list are the appointed positions, which do not require Senate confirmation. Given in alphabetical order by last name (replacements excepted.)
| Position | Nominee | Background | Confirmed | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vice President | Michael Pence | Former governor of Indiana | 1/20/2017 | $0.5M |
| Secretary of State | Mike Pompeo | Transitioning from CIA Director. | 4/25/2018 57-42 |
> $77,000 |
| Rex W. Tillerson | Former CEO of ExxonMobil, where he spent his entire career. On good terms with V. Putin. Fired by Trump 3/13/2018. | 2/01/2017 56-43 |
> $239.5M | |
| Secretary of the Treasury | Steven Mnuchin | Former hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs partner | 2/13/17 53-47 |
> $154.1M |
| Secretary of Defense | Mark Esper | Former Army secretary, former lobbyist for the Raytheon company. Thus ends the longest period the Pentagon has been without a permanent leader. | 7/23/2019 90-8 |
Dunno |
| Patrick Shanahan | Former Boeing executive, serving as Deputy Secretary of Defense when Mattis was fired. Never was confirmed. Stepped down 18 June 2019 after news of an assault by his son on Shanahan's wife broke. | 5/09/2019 N/A |
Dunno | |
| James Mattis | Retired USMC general, commander of U.S. Central Command in Middle East. Supports two-state solution for Israel-Palestine conflict. Tendered his resignation, effective 28 February 2019, after Trump abruptly decided to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. Trump, incensed, forced him out at the end of 2018. | 1/20/2017 98-1 |
> $3.563M | |
| Attorney General | William Barr | Served as Attorney General in G. W. Bush administration, 1991-1993, and previously in other Justice Department positions. Has a number of interesting policy views, including that Trump cannot be guilty of obstructing justice for firing James Comey — as explained in an unsolicited memo he sent to Justice Department officials in June 2018.1 | 2/14/2019 54-45 |
Dunno |
| Matthew Whitaker | Former chief of staff to Sessions; served as "acting" pending Trump's nomination and Senate confirmation of a permanent AG. | Appointed 11/07/2018 |
Dunno | |
| Jeff Sessions | Former Senator for Alabama; forced out 11/07/2018 after a contentious term. | 2/08/2017 52-47 |
> $2.938M | |
| Secretary of the Interior | David Bernhardt | Former oil industry lobbyist | 1/11/2019 56-41 |
Dunno |
| Ryan Zinke | Former Navy SEAL and Montana congressman | 3/01/17 68-31 |
> $1.812M | |
| Secretary of Agriculture | Sonny Perdue | Former governor of Georgia | 4/24/17 87-11 |
> $11.269M |
| Secretary of Commerce | Wilbur Ross | Dunno | 2/27/17 72-27 |
> $326.2M |
| Deputy Secretary of Commerce | Todd Ricketts | A finance-industry businessman, Ricketts sits on the boards of directors of the Chicago Cubs and TD Ameritrade. He withdrew 19 April 2017, citing his inability to divest from his financial affairs to the degree required to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics. | Withdrew | $5.3B |
| Secretary of Labor | R. Alexander Acosta | Served on the National Labor Relations Board under George W. Bush and later Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and as federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida. The only son of Cuban immigrants, Acosta clerked for Samuel Alito and was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Resigned under a cloud 12 July 2019 after controversy over his 2008 plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein. | Acosta 4/27/17 60-38 |
> $431,000 |
| Andrew Puzder | CEO of CKE Restaurants. Opposes raising minimum wage & expanding eligibility for overtime pay. Had hired an undocumented maid. Withdrew on 2/15, the day before his vote. Alexander Acosta nominated to replace him. | Withdrew | > $25M | |
| Secretary of Health and Human Services | Alex Azar | Azar served as Deputy Secretary of HHS, being twice confirmed unanimously by the Senate. He subsequently led the U.S. division of Eli Lilly, a major pharmaceutical firm. He sat on the board of a lobbying group, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. He was nominated by Trump on 13 November 2017 to replace Price. He has spoken against the PPACA (aka "ObamaCare".) | 1/24/2018 55-43 |
> $8.7M |
| Tom Price | Orthopedic surgeon and member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which is anti-vax (thinks vaccination is a cause of autism), into evolution and HIV/AIDs denialism. A Tea Party member, he would replace the ACA and overhaul Medicare and Social Security. In September 2017, Price resigned under pressure over expensive airplane trips. |
2/10/2017 52-47 |
> $8.026M | |
| Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Dr. Ben Carson | Former neurosurgeon, 2016 candidate for president. | 3/02/17 58-41 |
> $8.114M |
| Secretary of Transportation | Elaine L. Chao | Wife of Mitch McConnell and former Labor Secretary | 1/31/2017 93-6 |
> $11.572M |
| Deputy DoT Secretary | Jeffrey A. Rosen | A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Roseen previously was a senior partner with Kirkland & Ellis. | 5/16/17 56-42 |
> $9.086M |
| Secretary of Energy | Rick Perry | Former governor of Texas, 2016 candidate for president. During campaign, vowed to abolish Energy Department. | 3/02/17 62-37 |
> $891,000 |
| Secretary of Education | Betsy DeVos | Heir to the Amway fortune and charter schools advocate. Major contributor to Republicans in Michigan, where charter schools are poor. | 2/07/2017 51-50 |
> $579.8M |
| Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Robert Wilkie | A former Pentagon official, Wilkie is a veteran of USAF and Navy. | 7/23/2018 86-9 |
Dunno |
| Peter O'Rourke | Appointed acting 29 May 2018. Served until 30 July 2018. | Withdrew 7/30/18 |
Dunno | |
| Robert Wilkie | Appointed acting 28 March 2018. Served until 29 May 2018. | Withdrew 5/29/18 |
Dunno | |
| Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson | Was White House physician. Withdrew from consideration after 23 witnesses disclosed various types of misconduct. | Withdrew 4/25/18 |
Dunno | |
| Dr. David J. Shulkin | Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs under Pres. Obama. Fired by Trump on 3/28/2018. Robert Wilkie is acting director. | 2/13/17 100-0 |
$170,000/yr. | |
| Secretary of Homeland Security | Kevin McAleenan | By law, Undersecretary for Management Claire Grady would have become acting, but Trump forced her to resign on 9 April 2019 after naming McAleenan to the position. He had been commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement. | Appointed 4/07/2019 |
Dunno |
| Kirstjen Nielsen | Nominated to replace John Kelly after being his deputy, as he moves to Chief of Staff position. Resigned under pressure on 7 April 2019, effective 10 April. | 12/05/2017 62-37 |
Dunno | |
| Gen. John F. Kelly | Led U.S. Southern Command for four years, with oversight of Guantánamo. Lost his son to combat in Afghanistan. | 1/20/2017 88-11 |
> $181,000 | |
| Environmental Protection Agency | Andrew Wheeler | Pending confirmation of a new EPA director, Pruitt's deputy is acting. | 2/17/17 52-46 |
> $210,000 |
| Scott Pruitt | As attorney general of Oklahoma, sued EPA to block regulation of power plants. At EPA, eagerly backed Trump in rolling back Obama-era environmental rules like the Clean Power Plan, CAFE standards, and many others. Also spent money w/o good reason, leading to him resigning under the pressure of 13 ethics probes on 6 July 2018. | 2/17/17 52-46 |
> $210,000 | |
| Office of Management & Budget | Mick Mulvaney | Former member of South Carolina General Assembly and U.S. House of Representatives | 2/15/2017 51-49 |
> $3.239M |
| United States Trade Representative | Robert E. Lighthizer | Former lawyer with Covington & Burling; later staff director and chief of staff for Senate Committee on Finance | 5/11/17 82-14 |
> $18.627M |
| United States Mission to the United Nations | Nikki R. Haley | Former governor of South Carolina; set to step down by 1 January 2019. She will be replaced by Heather Nauert, a State Dept. spokeswoman and former Fox News presenter. | 1/24/2017 96-4 |
> $66,000 |
| United States Mission to China | Terry Branstad | Former governor of Iowa | 5/22/17 82-13 |
Dunno |
| Chair, Council of Economic Advisors | Kevin Hassett | Worked at AEI; advised McCain & Romney | 9/12/17 81-16 |
Dunno |
| Small Business Administration | Linda McMahon | Former head of World Wrestling Enterprises | 2/14/2017 81-19 |
$500M |
| Director of National Intelligence | Dan Coats | Former Senator from Indiana, ambassador to Germany | 3/15/17 85-12 |
> $8.770 |
| CIA Director | Gina Haspel | Nominated 3/13/2018, she moved up from the position of deputy director. A 30-year veteran of the agency, she oversaw the "enhanced interrogation" program at a base in Thailand and was involved in the destruction of the tapes of Abu Zubaydah. | 5/17/18 54-45 |
Dunno |
| Mike Pompeo | Former Army officer and Kansas state rep. | 1/23/2017 66-32 |
> $77,000 | |
| Air Force Secretary | Heather A. Wilson | Former U.S. Representative from New Mexico's 1st district and president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. | 5/08/17 76-22 |
> $2.150M |
| SENATE CONFIRMATION NOT REQUIRED | ||||
| Chief Strategist | Stephen K. Bannon | Former investment banker at Goldman Sachs; former Hollywood producer; former acting director of Biosphere 2. Thrice divorced; second wife accused him of domestic violence. He left the White House on 4 August 2017 to return to Breitbart. | Appointed | > $11.850M |
| Homeland Security Adviser | Thomas P. Bossert | Deputy Homeland Security Adviser for GW Bush. Resigned on 4/10/2018. | Appointed | > $140,000 |
| Director, National Economic Council | Gary Cohn | An investment banker, Cohn was formerly the president and COO of Goldman Sachs. He is a registered Democrat but makes contributions to both major political parties. He resigned on 4/02/2018 after Trump, against his advice, imposed tariffs on steel & aluminum imports. | Appointed | > $253.0M |
| Larry Kudlow | Kudlow was a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and served on the OMB during the Reagan administration. More recently he was chief economist at Bear Sterns and hosted a series of shows on CNBC. | Appointed March 2018 | Dunno | |
| Counsellor | Kellyanne Conway | A pollster, political consultant, and pundit, she managed Trump's presidential campaign. | Appointed | > $11.015M |
| Special Assistant for Intragovernmental & Technology Initiatives | Reed Cordish | A real estate developer and former professional tennis player, Cordish is a personal friend of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. | Appointed | > $197.3M |
| NSC Legal Advisor | John Eisenberg | From 2006 to 2009, Eisenberg served as a senior national security official at the Department of Justice. He is a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis and holds a B.S. in mathematics from Stanford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. | Appointed | > $2.951M |
| National Security Advisor | Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn | Former director of Defense Intelligence Agency Resigned under pressure on 2/13/2017, having lied to the Vice President. Further investigation pending. First replacement candidate declined the position. |
Appointed | Dunno |
| H. R. McMaster | An Army officer known for his roles in the Gulf War and Operation Enduring Freedom, Gen. McMaster wrote the book Dereliction of Duty which is widely read by military personnel. He replaced Michael Flynn in February 2017 and resigned on 3/22/2018. | Appointed | Dunno | |
| John R. Bolton | Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute and Fox News Channel commentator. Was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations 2005-2006 and foreign policy advisor to 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran and advocates regime change there. | Appointed 4/09/2018 | Dunno | |
| Deputy Assistant | Sebastian Lukácz Gorka | Born in Britain to Hungarian parents, Gorka is an intelligence analyst who served in the White House from January to 25 August 2017, when he resigned claiming other White House officials were undermining Trump's agenda. Others report he was asked to leave; reasons given include his ties to the Order of Vitéz, a quasi-Nazi organization, and his questionable academic credentials. | Resigned | > $78,000 |
| Deputy Policy Strategist | Julia Hahn | A writer and former editor at Breitbart News, Hahn was an aide to Steve Bannon during his tenure in the White House. | Appointed | > $1.006M |
| Regulatory Czar | Carl Icahn | A wealthy businessman and philanthropist, Icahn became known as a "corporate raider" after his hostile takeover of Trans World Airlines and liquidation of its assets. | Appointed | $16.6B |
| Senior Adviser | Jared Kushner | A real-estate developer and investor, Kusher holds a broad portfolio in the Trump administration. He also holds Trump's daughter Ivanka, being her husband. | Appointed | > $241.0M |
| Director, WH Strategic Development Group | Chris Liddell | A U.S. citizen born in New Zealand, Liddell had a varied business career which included posts as Vice Chairman and CFO of General Motors and CFO of Microsoft. | Appointed | > $75.262M |
| White House Counsel | Donald F. McGahn II | McGahn is a campaign finance lawyer and political operative, and was formerly a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. | Appointed | $2.4M |
| Associate Counsel | Bill McGinley | A former partner at the law firm Jones Day, McGinley specialized in campaign finance and other political areas of practice. | Appointed | > $1.331M |
| Trade Czar | Peter Navarro | A former professor of economics and public policy at the University of California, Irvine, Navarro is the author of a dozen books. | Appointed | > $516,000 |
| White House Chief of Staff | John F. Kelly | Took over from Priebus on 31 July 2017. Kelly is a retired Marine Corps general who formerly headed the U.S. Southern Command. Left on 2 Jan. 2019; Mick Mulvaney will step in. | Appointed | Dunno |
| Reince Priebus | Former counsel and chairman of RNC. Resigned on 27 July 2017, returning to private practice at Michael Best and Friedrich LLP. | Appointed | > $604,000 | |
| Press Secretary | Sean Spicer | A political operative who served as communications director and chief strategist for the Republican National Committee. | Appointed | > $3.900M |
| Sarah H. Sanders | The only daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Sarah Sanders had an extensive career as political consultant. She was Deputy Press Secretary until July 2017, when she replaced Sean Spicer on his resignation. | Appointed | > $8M | |
Notes:
1 What Bill Barr doesn't understand about obstruction of justice (Nick Akerman, New York Daily News, 15 January 2019)
2 Per the sources, this is status as of 30 December 2017, except net worth per the New York Times on 3 April 2017.
3 Net worth estimates are drawn from the New York Times, which relied on the officials' financial disclosure statements. The Times article dates from April 2017. Figures in shaded boxes come from other sources.
Sources
- Donald Trump's Cabinet Is Taking Shape. Here's the Latest List. (New York Times)
- The Donald Trump Cabinet Tracker (Russell Berman, The Atlantic)
- The Status Of Trump's Cabinet: Where Everyone Is In The Process And How It Works (Domenico Montanaro, NPR)
- Who's Worth What at the White House: The Financial Disclosures (New York Times)
- How much people in the Trump administration are worth (New York Times)
- Trump White House Lawyers: How Much Are They Worth? (Part 3) (David Lay, Above the Law, 5 April 2017)
- Donald Trump's $14 billion Cabinet) (CBS News)
- Trump has taken longer to name a science adviser than any modern president (Chris Mooney, Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2017)
- The Evisceration of the Trump Administration, by the Numbers (Philip Bump, Washington Post, 10 April 2018)
- Trump's Science Adviser Pick: Extreme Weather Expert With Climate Credentials (Marianne Lavelle, Inside Climate News, 1 August 2018)
- Trump's pick to head White House science office gets good reviews (David Malakoff, Science, 31 July 2018)
- Senate confirms Trump's science and tech adviser after lengthy vacancy (Tony Romm and Ben Guarino, Washington Post)
