(Casey Harper, The Center Square) Former President Donald Trump continues to hold a lead in polling over President Joe Biden as Republicans gather Monday in Milwaukee for their convention, meaning Trump’s potential cabinet nominees could be running the government by January.
That raises the question: who would those appointments be, exactly, if he does win in November?
So far, Trump has remained largely mum on potential appointments, but there are some clues as to who could be put in charge of the nation’s most powerful government agencies.
First in consideration could be Trump’s primary opponents.
After winning in 2016, Trump went on to appoint two of his bested opponents to cabinet positions.
Renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson became director of Housing and Urban Development. This time around, Carson could be renamed to lead HUD or another agency, assuming he is not named the vice president candidate. His medical background could qualify him for a spot somewhere in the federal health apparatus.
Trump named another primary opponent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as chair of the Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission in 2017. Christie has since become an avid opponent of the former president.
President Joe Biden followed a similar pattern after the 2020 election, putting his former primary opponents in power. Then-Senator Kamala Harris became vice president, and Pete Buttigieg became transportation secretary.
For this primary, there are several options. Billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy has refrained from attacking Trump and largely backed the “America First” agenda. Ramaswamy’s loyalty plus his business acumen could send him to the Commerce Department, Treasury Department, Small Business Administration, or elsewhere.
Ramaswamy’s aggressive stance during the primary on cutting federal agencies’ size and power could make him fit for taking on leading the Department of Education or even the IRS, two agencies conservatives have long wanted to gut, if Trump decides to go that direction.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley both soured their relationship with Trump during the primary, but it’s still possible they could be nabbed for the administration.
DeSantis has fought the “woke agenda” hard, particularly in education in his home state.
Haley has boasted of her foreign policy chops. She served as ambassador to the United Nations during the previous Trump administration.
“I think she’s going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts,” Trump told News 12 New York in May after Haley publicly said she would vote for Trump. “I appreciated what she said. You know, we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty. But she’s a very capable person, and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form, absolutely.”
It’s unclear if Trump was referring to having Haley help with the campaign, the administration, or both.
Of course, Trump’s other potential vice presidential candidates could also reasonably make for potential cabinet positions. Some of those on the list are from the Republican primary race, while many of the other primary contenders may not have drawn enough attention to make the shortlist.
As The Center Square previously reported, the Trump campaign reportedly sent out formal requests in their VP search asking the following Republican leaders for more information: Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, New York U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Arkansas U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton as well as former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carson.
Donalds, Rubio, and Scott face Constitutional issues in pairing up with Trump on the ticket since they are all from Florida.
Several of these senators could reasonably be appointed to cabinet positions. Last time around, Trump pulled then-Sen. Jeff Sessions from the Senate and made him attorney general.
Cotton has military experience in the Army and serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Intelligence Committee, possibly putting him in the conversation to lead at the CIA, State Department, Veterans Affairs, as well as other military-related roles. Cotton also sits on the Judiciary Committee
Rubio could fill a similar slot given his defense-related chops, considered an area of focus for the lawmaker. Rubio’s committee assignments include the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations. On the latter committee, he serves on the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
Burgum, who faced off against Trump in the primary, is a wealthy businessman who could qualify for similar cabinet positions as Ramaswamy.
