Americans Approve of Trump’s Cabinet Picks

Over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump made a host of new cabinet picks. After a chaotic week of news coverage over his selection of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) for Attorney General, Gaetz finally withdrew his name from consideration. And having resigned from his seat, Gaetz will no longer be a member of Congress. Many speculate that the content of the House ethics report into him will be damning.

To replace Gaetz, Trump selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom the president-elect praised as “very tough on violent criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida families.”

After the Bondi selection, Trump filled most of the remaining major roles in his upcoming administration:

• Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary. Bessent is a billionaire hedge fund manager who was previously George Soros’ chief investment officer. Trump claimed that he is “widely respected as one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists.”

• Brooke Rollins for Agriculture Secretary. Rollins was involved in several key roles in the first Trump administration.

• Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) for Labor Secretary. Chavez-DeRemer is considered to be pro-union and pro-working class, and the head of the Teamsters Union celebrated her selection.

• Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as the US Surgeon General. Some conservatives are not happy with this pick because of her past stances during the COVID-19 pandemic of supporting masking kids in schools and having praised social media companies for censoring anti-vaccine posts. Trump has promised that his administration will fight online censorship.

• Dr. Dave Weldon as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While a member of Congress, Weldon was vocal about the need for further research into the links between vaccines and autism. Trump called Weldon a “respective conservative leader on fiscal and social issues” and said that he would help to improve trust in the CDC.

• Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Makary of Johns Hopkins University was very outspoken during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing back against many of the mask and vaccine mandates, and took seriously the dangers of the vaccine to young men.

• Sebastian Gorka as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism. The popular media personality and former White House adviser will serve as a close confidante to the president on national security.

A CBS/YouGov poll was released over the weekend, showing the extent to which Americans approve of Trump’s cabinet selections. The pick with the highest approval was Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for Secretary of State with a +19 percent approval. After him was RFK Jr. as health secretary with a +14 percent approval. Tulsi Gabbard has a +9 percent approval, and Pete Hegseth has a +5 percent approval.

Overall, 59 percent of Americans said that they approve of how Trump has handled the presidential transition, despite media articles portraying his nominees as scandalous or unqualified.