Win Sets Off Scramble to Fill New Administration’s Top Jobs
WASHINGTON—Presidentelect Donald Trump and his senior advisers are privately assembling shortlists of candidates for top jobs in the incoming administration, from national security adviser to Treasury secretary.
The Republican’s victory in Tuesday’s election sets off a roughly 10-week scramble to vet and sign off on top staffing picks before Inauguration Day, after which the soon-tobe GOP-controlled Senate can consider nominations. The party’s majority in the chamber will ensure a smoother confirmation process for many of Trump’s picks, whose fate will be decided by a simple majority vote.
Trump’s transition team, led by co-chair Howard Lutnick, who is overseeing personnel, has put together spreadsheets with names for the former president to consider. The transition team is working with outside firms to vet early frontrunners, people briefed on the matter said. Trump on Thursday tapped Susie Wiles, the Florida political strategist who helped run his campaign, for the highly influential role of White House chief of staff.
Here is The Wall Street Journal’s list of leading candidates for crucial government jobs:
National Security Adviser
Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, is seen by people close to Trump as a top candidate for the job.
Other potential candidates include Keith Kellogg, an octogenarian retired three-star Army general and former national security adviser to Mike Pence when he was vice president; former Defense Department official Elbridge Colby; and Robert O’Brien, who served as the last of four national security advisers during Trump’s first term.
Treasury Secretary
Trump has publicly and privately discussed a pair of finance veterans for the job: Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent, and billionaire investor John Paulson. Lutnick, the transition co-chair, also has been discussed by Trump allies for the job.
Some of Trump’s allies have also discussed Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative during Trump’s first term. Several people close to Trump also have said that former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton and Republican Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, Trump’s former ambassador to Japan, were seen as contenders.
Secretary of State
Hagerty and Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have been discussed by the former president’s allies as contenders for the job.
Other potential candidates include O’Brien, the former Trump national security adviser; Grenell; and former senior State Department official Brian Hook. New York Rep. Elise Stefanik has been discussed by Trump allies for the job, as well as for the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Defense Secretary
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who received a shout out from Trump early Wednesday morning in his victory speech in Florida, is seen by the president-elect’s allies as a top contender to lead the Pentagon.
Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence, also has been put forward as candidate by some Trump allies. Other names that have been floated by Trump’s allies include Rep. Mike Waltz, a military veteran and former George W. Bush administration Pentagon official, and O’Brien.
Homeland Security
The Homeland Security chief will help oversee Trump’s mass-deportation plans as well as his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Tom Homan, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, is a leading candidate for the job, people close to Trump said.
Others who have been discussed by Trump allies include Chad Wolf, a former acting Homeland Security secretary, and Chad Mizelle, former DHS acting general counsel.
Attorney General
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah; Ratcliffe and Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, a former state attorney general, are possibilities.
Trump is also fond of some state attorneys general, including Andrew Bailey of Missouri and Kris Kobach of Kansas, who have filed lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies.
Advocates of Mark Paoletta, former general counsel of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, have personally pitched him to Trump, according to people familiar with the talks.
