President Trump’s Cabinet Nominations - Process and Status

Last updated January 9, 2025.

In November, President-elect Donald Trump received a clear mandate from the American people. To deliver on his America-first agenda and bring reform to Washington, President Trump needs a strong team around him. That is why President Trump and his transition team are working to assemble a paradigm-shifting team of appointees to make up his Presidential Cabinet.

In the two months following his historic election night victory, President Trump announced his nominations for several White House and Cabinet-level Official positions.

Each position requires confirmation by the United States Senate.

Here is what Americans need to know about the positions that make up the Presidential Cabinet, and how the confirmation process will work.

Process:

>> NOMINATION SUBMITTED: First, the Senate refers each nomination submitted by the President-elect to the appropriate committee with relevant jurisdiction and that oversees the department/agency. (For example, the nominee for Secretary of the Treasury is a position referred to the Senate Finance Committee, Secretary of State to the Foreign Relations Committee, etc.). The committee will perform a preliminary review of the nominee, which may include background checks, ethics reviews, and other similar screenings. Nominees must also complete committee questionnaires, which differ in subject and length depending on the committee.

>> MEETINGS: Senators and/or committee staff may also want to meet individually with a nominee before they go into a confirmation hearing with the entire committee. This process starts long before the President is actually sworn into office. Many Trump Cabinet nominees have been on Capitol Hill meeting with Senators since December.

>> PUBLIC HEARINGS: The new Congress has been sworn in and Senate committees may now begin scheduling public hearings for the nominees. The nominee will appear before the committee to testify and answer questions. Senators may want to explore a nominee’s character, qualifications, policy views, and more. The committee may consider one or more nominees during a hearing, depending on the position.

>> COMMITTEE VOTE: A committee has three options in voting to send a nomination to the full Senate: Report it favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. But the committee may decline to act at several points—after it receives the nomination, after it investigates, or after it holds hearings.

>> SENATE VOTE: Finally, if a nominee is referred favorably by the committee, they will be placed on the Senate’s Executive Calendar and go to the full Senate floor for consideration. Only a simple majority is required to confirm a presidential nomination. Even if the committee does not act, the Senate may still bring the nomination to the floor for a vote in some cases.

Cabinet Positions:

The Presidential Cabinet consists of the Vice President, the heads (secretaries) of the 15 executive departments, and 10 other Cabinet-level officials.

Of these 26 Cabinet members, only the Vice President and White House Chief of Staff are not subject to Senate confirmation.

The tables below outline each of President Trump’s Cabinet Nominations subject to Senate confirmation (by position, organized alphabetically), the Senate committee(s) responsible for their confirmation, and the status of their approval process.

Executive Department Heads:

Cabinet-level Officials: