President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is one of the most ideologically diverse in U.S. history, a mishmash of conflicting worldviews and varied backgrounds that will bring a broad range of perspectives to his MAGA agenda.
If Mr. Trump’s nominees are confirmed, Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose family is American Democratic royalty, would work alongside Vice President J.D. Vance, who was born into poverty by a drug-addicted mother. Homeland Security head Kristi Noem, who was heavily criticized for her record on LGBTQ issues as South Dakota’s governor, would attend Cabinet meetings with openly gay Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Mr. Kennedy has a strong pro-abortion stance, which clashes with the beliefs held by Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters. Labor Secretary nominee Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon Republican, is so pro-union that her views align more closely with President Biden than her future boss.
“This Cabinet reflects the new coalition that sent him to the White House,” said historian Craig Shirley. “They are from all different walks of life. Kennedy is from a society of culture and privilege, while J.D. Vance is not, and even [Defense nominee] Pete Hegseth represents a different portion of American society.”
Mr. Trump’s assembling of so many different ideological rivals into a team resembles a European-style coalition government in which those with various viewpoints partner to run the country.
The new administration will have plenty of establishment conservatives who’ve been around the GOP for a long time, such as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for Secretary of State and Rep. Michael Waltz, also of Florida, to serve as national security adviser.
But it will also include a new breed of Republicans who are strong supporters of Mr. Trump’s MAGA movement, such as Mr. Hegseth, border czar Tom Holman, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and dissatisfied former Democrats including Mr. Kennedy, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, nominated for Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Bessent raised money for Democrat Al Gore’s campaign in 2000 and served as chief investment officer for the investment firm run by progressive billionaire and campaign donor George Soros.
Traditional conservatives have bristled at some of the picks. Mr. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, said Mr. Kennedy’s abortion views are “deeply concerning to millions of Pro-Life Americans,” and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley blasted Ms. Gabbard as a “Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer.”
The selection of Mr. Kennedy, a former Democrat who launched an independent bid for the White House, marks the first time a president chose a member of the opposite party in their Cabinet since President Kennedy had Republicans Robert McNamara as defense secretary and C. Douglas Dillon as treasury secretary.
“Since Kennedy’s death and over the years, Cabinets have become less and less bipartisan just as Congress itself has become less and less bipartisan,” Mr. Shirley said.
Mr. Trump’s picks also include some notable firsts. Susie Wiles, his former campaign manager, will become the first female White House chief of staff; Mr. Bessent will become the highest-ranking openly gay official in U.S. history, and Kash Patel will be the first person of color to run the FBI.
Some fear that the assortment of outlooks means arguments are inevitable. Mr. Kennedy, for example, has called for major changes to the farming industry, but Agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins worked at think tanks that advocate for agricultural interests. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s pro-union views may not find much support with Mr. Bessent and Russ Vought, the incoming director of the Office of Management and Budget, who are fiscal conservatives.
MAGA influencers have chafed over the selection of Mr. Rubio, blasting him as a neocon who supports overseas intervention.
Christopher Whipple, who has authored books about presidential chiefs of staff, said the ideology of Cabinet secretaries is overblown because, ultimately, Mr. Trump sets the agenda. He said President Nixon was the last administration in which Cabinet secretaries showed major influence.
“Cabinet secretaries are important, but the notion that you are going to sit around the Cabinet room cross-pollinating and sharing ideas about how to govern is a fantasy. That doesn’t happen,” he said.
Mr. Whipple said the Cabinet members’ diverse ideology is overshadowed by their overwhelming loyalty to Mr. Trump.
After years of being condemned by some of his first-term officials, who sparred with Mr. Trump and ultimately denounced him, the president-elect is prioritizing loyalty over experience.
For example, Mr. Hegseth, who served during the Iraq war, will be tasked with running the Defense Department and its $850 billion budget. Another career television personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz, was picked to run Medicare and Medicaid. Mr. Trump picked two of his former defense attorneys for high-level Justice Department positions.
“Trump’s rewarding loyalty, but none of them will last past the day they decide to buck Trump,” Mr. Whipple said, pointing to several officials from Mr. Trump’s first administration who were quickly fired after challenging him.
Another theme that runs through Mr. Trump’s picks is his embrace of people who share his contempt for government bureaucracy and mismanagement. Mr. Hegseth, for example, has blasted the military as “woke,” while critics of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic will lead the major health agencies.
Mr. Trump and his allies have talked about abolishing entire agencies, including the Education Department, which has been in the crosshairs of Republicans for decades. Mr. Musk, along with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, are searching for $2 trillion to cut out of the federal budget. Mr. Ramaswamy told Fox News that this could be done through “mass reductions” of employees and that some government agencies could be “deleted outright.”
Perhaps no one symbolizes the different ideological camps in the Trump Cabinet than Ms. Chavez-DeRemer. A Republican, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer is an outlier within her party because of her strong union support.
Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s selection was championed by the Teamsters Union, whose president, Sean O’Brien, spoke at the Republican National Convention amid rank-and-file members abandoning the Democratic Party for Mr. Trump’s coalition. During her run for reelection this year, she won the support of about 20 labor unions, though her bid was unsuccessful.
She was one of three Republicans who sponsored a 2023 bill that would have protected workers seeking to organize union representation from retribution or firing.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federal of Teachers and a villain to many GOP voters, lauded the selection of Ms. Chavez-Deremer, saying her support for workers was “significant.” The conservative Job Creators’ Network, which often voices support for Mr. Trump’s policies, called her “unfit” and accused Republicans of selling out to labor unions.
Mr. Shirley said the selection of Ms. Chavez-DeRemer shows that Mr. Trump is willing to listen to opposing points of view.
“Cabinets tend to reflect the character of the president, and Trump’s picks appear to say a lot about his security in himself to pick people who are going to challenge him,” Mr. Shirley said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.