Donald Trump’s Cabinet: Members, Confirmations, and Succession

Donald Trump’s cabinet members in his second term include Vice President JD Vance, the heads of all fifteen executive departments, and several additional officials given cabinet-level rank. The full group is more than twenty people, seated through Senate votes that ran from unanimous approval to a single 50–50 tally broken by the Vice President.¹

The Fifteen Department Heads

Federal law establishes fifteen executive departments, each led by a Senate-confirmed secretary, with the Justice Department led by the Attorney General.² Trump’s confirmed department heads, in the order their departments were created:

Secretary of State: Marco Rubio, confirmed 99–0
Secretary of the Treasury: Scott Bessent, confirmed 68–29
Secretary of Defense: Pete Hegseth, confirmed 51–50 with the Vice President breaking the tie
Attorney General: Pam Bondi, confirmed 54–46
Secretary of the Interior: Doug Burgum, confirmed 80–17
Secretary of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins, confirmed 72–28
Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick, confirmed 51–45
Secretary of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, confirmed 67–32
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed 52–48
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Scott Turner, confirmed 55–44
Secretary of Transportation: Sean Duffy, confirmed 77–22
Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright, confirmed 59–38
Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon, confirmed 51–45
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins, confirmed 77–23
Secretary of Homeland Security: Markwayne Mullin, confirmed 54–45

Two of these seats deserve a note. Mullin was not the original pick at Homeland Security. Kristi Noem held that post at the start of the term after a 59–34 confirmation vote, and Mullin replaced her in 2026.¹ And the White House refers to Hegseth’s title as “Secretary of War,” reviving the department’s pre-1947 name. The statutory title under federal law is still Secretary of Defense.³

All fifteen serve at the President’s pleasure. The Supreme Court held in Myers v. United States that the President’s authority to execute the laws carries with it the power to remove officials who do that execution, so a secretary can be dismissed without any Senate role.

Cabinet-Rank Officials Outside the Departments

Trump gave cabinet rank to several officials whose agencies were not created by Congress as executive departments. They sit at cabinet meetings and report directly to the President.³

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Russ Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative
Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Administration

The White House Chief of Staff also carries cabinet-level status, as has been common across administrations. One traditional seat is empty: the Ambassador to the United Nations, a role that has often carried cabinet rank. Trump nominated Elise Stefanik for that post and later withdrew the nomination.

What DOGE Is Not

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is not a cabinet department despite the name. It was set up as a temporary organization inside the Executive Office of the President, run by a USDS Administrator who reports to the White House Chief of Staff.⁴ Only Congress can create an executive department by statute, so DOGE sits outside the formal cabinet structure.

Which Confirmations Were Close, and Which Sailed Through

Rubio’s 99–0 result reflects the courtesy the Senate traditionally extends to a sitting senator taking a cabinet post. Burgum drew only 17 opposing votes at Interior. Duffy at Transportation and Collins at Veterans Affairs also cleared with wide margins.¹

The Hegseth vote was the tightest of the term. The Senate split 50–50, with three Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition, and Vice President Vance cast the deciding vote to confirm him at Defense. Kennedy at Health and Human Services and Bondi as Attorney General also drew narrow margins, with opposition on both sides of the aisle.¹

One department has an uncertain future even with its secretary confirmed. Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to begin winding down operations, but dissolving a cabinet department takes an act of Congress. The department continues to operate under Secretary McMahon while the administration works with legislators on a possible transition.

Where the Cabinet Fits in Presidential Succession

Cabinet members stand in the presidential line of succession behind the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. The order among secretaries follows the date each department was created, beginning with the Secretary of State and ending with the Secretary of Homeland Security.⁵ For events that gather most of the government in one room, such as the State of the Union, one cabinet member is designated to stay at a separate, undisclosed location as the designated survivor.

The cabinet also has a role under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. If the Vice President and a majority of cabinet members jointly declare in writing that the President cannot discharge the duties of the office, presidential powers shift to the Vice President as Acting President. If the President contests that finding, the Vice President and cabinet have four days to reassert their position, and Congress then decides the question by a two-thirds vote in both chambers.⁶ That provision has never been invoked against a sitting president, but it gives the group around the cabinet table a constitutional lever well beyond giving advice.

How Members Get the Seat

The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate cabinet officers and gives the Senate the authority to confirm or reject those choices.⁷ After nomination, the relevant Senate committee holds public hearings, votes on whether to send the pick to the floor, and the full Senate then decides by a majority of those present and voting.⁸ When the chamber is tied, the Vice President breaks it, as Vance did for Hegseth. The confirmed appointee then takes the oath and assumes control of the department.

1
U.S. Senate. Donald J. Trump Cabinet Nominations
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 5 Section 101
3
The White House. The Cabinet
4
The White House. Establishing and Implementing the Presidents Department of Government Efficiency
5
USAGov. Order of Presidential Succession
6
Congress.gov. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Sections 3 and 4 Presidential Disability
7
Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 2
8
Congress.gov. Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations