Washington — Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for his Cabinet include some historic firsts, though women and people of color make up less of the overall number than they did when Democratic President Joe Biden first took office. 

Historic firsts 

Florida political operative Susie Wiles, who ran Trump’s 2024 campaign, is set to be the first woman to hold the high-profile position of White House chief of staff. 

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, would be the first person of Hispanic origin to hold that role if confirmed by his fellow senators. 

Hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, nominee for Treasury secretary, could become the first openly gay Republican Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate. The investor lives in South Carolina with his husband and two children.  

Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, with roots in both Samoan and Hawaiian cultures, would be the first director of national intelligence from the Pacific Islander community, according to Inclusive America, a nonprofit that tracks diversity in government. 

Gender gap 

Trump has chosen eight women so far for his Cabinet, doubling the number from his first-term cabinet selection. This is less than Biden’s first Cabinet, made up of 11 women, which then rose to 13, a historic high for women serving concurrently, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.  

That compares with eight women during Barack Obama’s presidential cabinet, five for George W. Bush and nine for Bill Clinton, according to the center’s data.  

Race breakdown 

Trump has so far picked four people of color for his Cabinet, representing about a fifth of it. That number is in line with his first term but trails the roughly 40% share of minorities in the full U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census. 

The number is also well below Biden’s Cabinet, which included 13 people of color, as well as Obama’s with 10, Bush’s with six and Clinton’s with eight, according to Inclusive America. 

Generational breakdown 

While Trump will be the oldest president to take office at age 78 — about five months older than Biden was at his Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration — the president-elect has chosen millennial and Gen Z women for top roles.  

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, 40, the nominee for United Nations ambassador, will be the youngest person to hold this position if confirmed by the Senate. 

Karoline Leavitt, 27, is also set to be the youngest White House press secretary ever, taking the highly visible job after working on Trump’s 2024 campaign.  

Experience 

At least 16 of Trump’s cabinet picks so far have experience in state or federal government, but not all in the direct field or department that they could oversee. 

Three of the picks come from the industries that the secretaries will regulate: Bessent, Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright.  

Sexual misconduct claims 

Two of Trump’s cabinet picks have been accused of sexual misconduct. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary nominee, was accused by his family’s live-in babysitter of groping her in 1999, when she was 23. Kennedy has said he does not recall the incident. No charges were filed. 

Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a conference in California in 2017. No charges were filed, and Hegseth’s attorney has said the encounter was consensual. Hegseth and the woman entered into a confidential monetary settlement afterward to avoid a lawsuit. 

Linda McMahon, the nominee to run the Department of Education, is a defendant in a sexual abuse lawsuit that alleges that as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, she failed to stop a former ringside announcer from sexually grooming and abusing five boys who worked for him. McMahon has denied the allegations, and she herself is not accused of sexual abuse. 

Didn’t I see you on TV? 

Many of the cabinet selections have been TV regulars in recent years advocating on air for Trump’s agenda. But for at least four high-level selections, television has been their recent day job.  

This includes Dr. Mehmet Oz, who used to have his own medical talk show and has now been tapped to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Trump’s picks also include three recent Fox News employees: Hegseth, Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Trump’s pick for U.S. Surgeon General.  
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