The fast-moving process has ended. Look for shake-ups on energy, health, and more, along with battles in the Senate absent recess appointments.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has chosen the men and women who will likely play leading parts in his administration.
Transition chief of staff Susie Wiles announced the Cabinet was complete on Nov. 26.
Trump’s Cabinet picks are generally expected to require confirmation from the Senate, though talk of recess appointments has not abated.
The faces of Trump 2.0 are young, with heavy representation from the business world. They also show less influence of the pre-Trump GOP establishment than his first Cabinet.
Here’s what you need to know.
The Trump-Vance transition has moved fast, picking all or virtually all Cabinet-level positions within roughly three weeks of Election Day.
It stands in contrast to the transition process after Trump’s first victory in 2016. It took months for that first Cabinet to be assembled.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for example, was only announced on Dec. 13, 2016, and multiple positions were not named until the new year.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin was not announced until Jan. 11, 2017, while Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was publicly tapped a few days later. Trump’s choices for director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, also came in 2017.
Past presidents also took longer to name Cabinet members than Trump this time around.
Barack Obama was still picking Cabinet officials in late December 2008. The same was true of George W. Bush in 2000.
The incoming Trump administration will be confronted with world challenges, from the Middle East to Ukraine to the Pacific.
The outgoing Biden administration gave Ukraine the go-ahead to launch long-range, American-made missiles into Russia. Russia, meanwhile, has fired a new hypersonic missile into Ukraine.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has escalated tensions between Israel and Turkey, the latter a key member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The NATO’s military committee chair, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, told businesses on Nov. 25 that they must prepare for a wartime scenario, stressing the West’s reliance on Chinese goods.
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