Donald Trump's team is forming a new administration and the president-elect is expected to draw top advisers and cabinet secretaries from a pool of Wall Street and business executives including officials from his first term — at least the ones who stuck by him.
Republicans are on track to win total control of government, gaining not just the White House but also the Senate. And as of Thursday, they were leading to control the U.S. House.
That means Trump's nominees for 4,000 government posts, including more than two dozen cabinet officials, could sail through the confirmation process in the Senate.
Trump's transition work was formally launched in August, with Howard Lutnick, chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, and Linda McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, serving as co-chairs.
Both have been spending time at Mar-a-Lago with Trump, where interviews for cabinet jobs are expected to take place.
On Thursday, Trump named campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold one of the most powerful jobs in Washington. She will likely have direct control over the president's schedule, and is in a position to drive high-priority policy coordination within the administration and Congress.
She was widely credited with bringing order and discipline to the chaotic world that Trump often cultivates, and helped him navigate both the general election and the Republican primaries.
Trump has also suggested he might tap Elon Musk or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to drive some of his agenda.
Trump's transition team is far more organized than in 2016 as the team aims to avoid repeating the early, chaotic days of the 2017 White House. Before the end of November, he could name the leaders of the Treasury and State departments.
Trump himself had not weighed in on personnel matters before Election Day.
What follows is a list based on who has advised and promoted him during the campaign, helped raise money, and who people familiar with the matter say have been floated over the past few months.
Treasury Secretary
This job comes with enormous responsibility over the global economy. Treasury chiefs serve as the key spokesperson for the world's reserve currency, economic cheerleader, financial market regulator, signatory of the almighty buck.
They wade through political thickets, spearhead international economic diplomacy, and bring Wall Street know-how to crisis situations that require them to get into the financial system's plumbing. At the same time, they must exude predictability and stability — sometimes through their own personal gravitas — that keeps investors at peace.
Scott Bessent: He runs macro hedge fund Key Square Capital Management and caught the attention of Trump's inner circle early this year. He's helped craft key economic policy speeches, raised money for the campaign and gone on TV to promote Trump's second-term agenda.
Over the past few months, Bessent has accused Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen of political interference in debt issuance, slammed the Federal Reserve over September's half-point rate cut, and floated ideas to rev up US currency policy to fit a protectionist agenda.
Jay Clayton: As SEC chair, Clayton had a partisan mandate to help public companies by relaxing rules and enforcement. Still, as SEC chair — an independent regulator — he often moved cautiously on rules changes and frequently sided with Democrats.
He has made television appearances to promote the impact of his time at the top Wall Street regulator, while questioning the effectiveness of current SEC Chair Gary Gensler's aggressive stance against industry.
Senator Bill Hagerty: A Tennessee native, Hagerty is on the Senate Banking Committee that oversees regulatory matters and monetary policy, among other issues. He was an economic adviser to President George H.W. Bush and then went into private equity.
He was elected to the Senate in 2020. Republicans have a majority in the Senate, but it's questionable whether with that narrow a margin Trump would remove a Republican from the chamber.
Robert Lighthizer: He is among few Cabinet-level advisers from Trump's first term who has not only remained loyal through Trump's post-presidency controversies, but has also been a close adviser this year. He was the U.S. Trade Representative in the first term, serving as an architect of the adversarial U.S. posture with China.
Investors are wary of Lighthizer for Treasury because of what it might mean for markets if the proud China hawk steers Trump toward hefty tariffs. He may also be considered to run the Commerce Department, or as a trade advisor in the White House.
Howard Lutnick: The CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald has quickly become Trump's transition co-chair and top cheerleader on Wall Street. From the Hamptons to the heartland, he's cultivated donors — raising $15 million in one event alone.
While Cabinet officials and other high-ranking political appointees are required to publicly disclose their assets and divest any that could cause a conflict of interest, Lutnick could serve as a special government employee.
Those positions, which can be unpaid, allow an individual to work up to 130 days for a federal agency or the White House, and do not require divestment or public disclosure.
