Political appointments of Donald Trump

This is a list of political appointments of current officeholders made by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Links to lists of announced positions from which candidates have withdrawn or appointees who have resigned or have been terminated, as well as lists of appointments to other independent agencies and of holdovers from previous administrations are below.

Following President Trump's election, there were around 4,000 political appointment positions which the incoming Trump administration needed to review, and fill or confirm, of which 1,212 required Senate confirmation. ''The Washington Post'' has identified 757 key positions requiring U.S. Senate confirmation. , 531 of Trump's nominees for key positions had been confirmed, 97 were awaiting confirmation, and 13 had been announced but not yet formally nominated, a total of 639 positions. Trump has said he intends not to fill many of the positions. The rules of the Senate require that when the term of the Senate expires (in the case of the 115th Congress, at noon on January 3, 2019), nominations then pending lapse and are returned to the president, who can resubmit them to the new Congress.

All members of the Cabinet require confirmation by the United States Senate following nomination by the president prior to taking office. The vice presidency is exceptional in that the position requires election to office pursuant to the United States Constitution. Although some positions are of Cabinet-level rank, non-cabinet members within the Executive Office of the President, such as White House chief of staff, national security advisor, and White House press secretary, do not hold constitutionally created positions and most do not require Senate confirmation for appointment. Persons appointed on an acting basis do not require Senate confirmation before they begin to act in their position, even if a permanent appointment to that position would require confirmation. Appointments to judgeships on federal courts and of ambassadors require nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate. Acting appointments to these positions are not permissible.

Analysis

Certain news organizations, such as Politico and ''Newsweek'', called Trump's incomplete cabinet a "conservative dream team" or "the most conservative cabinet n United States history. On the other hand, ''The Wall Street Journal'' stated that "it's nearly impossible to identify a clear ideological bent in the incoming president's" cabinet nominations. ''The Wall Street Journal'' also stated that Trump's nominations signaled a pro- deregulation administration policy.

Among Donald Trump's appointments there have been several former Goldman Sachs employees, such as Steven Mnuchin, Steven Bannon, and Gary Cohn, as well as several generals, such as Michael T. Flynn, James Mattis, and John F. Kelly. These appointments have generated some criticism, including allegations of violations of the principle of civilian control of the military and allegations of regulatory capture. The Democratic senator from Missouri, Claire McCaskill, has criticized Donald Trump's cabinet stating; "I call it the three 'G' Cabinet: Goldman, generals and gazillionaires."

On January 18, 2017, two days before Trump's inauguration, it was reported that Trump had by then nominated only 28 people to fill 690 positions requiring Senate confirmation. In particular, there had been no nominations below the Cabinet level for the departments of State or Defense, and the staff for the National Security Council was incomplete, while none of the NSC leadership had any NSC experience.

On February 28, 2017, Trump announced he did not intend on filling many of the numerous governmental positions that were still vacant, as he considered them unnecessary. According to CNN on February 25, there were nearly 2,000 vacant government positions.

Color key

Executive Office of the President

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Education

Department of Energy

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of the Interior

Department of Justice

Department of Labor

Department of State

Department of Transportation

Department of the Treasury

Department of Veterans Affairs

Independent intelligence agencies

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Central Intelligence Agency

Other independent agencies

Environmental Protection Agency

Small Business Administration

Federal Reserve System

NASA

Independent banks

Independent boards

Independent commissions

Independent committees

Independent councils

Independent offices

Independent miscellaneous

Appointees who have resigned or have been dismissed

Announced positions from which candidates have withdrawn

Pace of appointments and approvals

While President Trump tweeted on February 7, 2017, dissatisfaction – "It is a disgrace my Cabinet is not yet in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country"—the assertion was ruled false by the BBC
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