President-elect Donald Trump capped off a topsy-turvy week with a slew of new nominees, including a key Project 2025 architect and another Fox News contributor, for top posts in his government.
Trump has already recorded a loss this week after his pick for U.S. attorney general, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name for consideration following immense pressure and allegations of sexual misconduct made his nomination virtually untenable.
Trump quickly announced former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his backup pick, which received much more support and acclaim, even from critics.
Friday saw the president-elect follow up with several new nominees for positions, including secretaries of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Treasury and Labor; director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC); and Surgeon General, among others.
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Trump announced Alex Wong as assistant to the president and principal deputy national security advisor, and Dr. Sebastian Gorka as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.
He also announced Scott Turner as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Perhaps the most important nomination was Scott Bessent, founder of investment firm Key Square Group, as the secretary of the Treasury. Bessent has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s tariff plan and also served as an economic adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
During an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo earlier this month, Bessent said that Trump would herald a “golden age in the economy for the next four years.”
Trump highlighted Bessent as a “strong advocate of the America First Agenda” and “a lifelong Champion of Main Street America and American Industry” in a statement emailed to Newsweek.
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The most headline-grabbing appointment, however, was Russell Thurlow Vought, a key Project 2025 architect, as the director of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought had served in Trump’s first administration, which Trump highlighted in his announcement.
“We will restore fiscal sanity to our Nation, and unleash the American People to new levels of Prosperity and Ingenuity. I look forward to working with you again, Russ,” Trump wrote in his statement.
Vought would head up the White House’s budget office, where he worked during Trump’s first term, but this time his appointment is likely to raise concerns due to his central role in creating the controversial Project 2025, which Trump repeatedly disavowed and dismissed during his campaign.
Project 2025 was crafted by the conservative Heritage Foundation and would seek a total transformation of the federal government.
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The ambitious plan calls for a drastic expansion of presidential powers and several highly controversial social policies, such as withdrawing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market, stripping tech companies of some free-speech protections and banning pornography.
Following Pete Hegseth as his pick for secretary of defense, Trump named another Fox News personality, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, as his pick for U.S. Surgeon General. Nesheiwat is a practicing doctor who was on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic treating thousands of Americans.
Trump praised her “expertise and leadership,” citing his collaboration with her as part of Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. plan to develop and deliver the COVID-19 vaccine – something Trump had shied away from discussing in his 2024 campaign after repeatedly taking credit for it after he left the White House in 2021.
Nesheiwat’s sister, Julia Nesheiwat, had served during the previous Trump administration as the Homeland Security advisor.
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Trump made another healthcare-related pick by nominating former Florida Representative Dr. Dave Weldon as the director of the CDC, citing Weldon’s 40 years of experience in healthcare as well as service in the Army.
Weldon served on the Labor/Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee and worked for Accountability on HHS and CDC policy and budgeting and Government Oversight and Reform Committee hearings during his time in Congress.
“Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease,” Trump said in announcing Weldon, indicating what he expects from the former representative.
Additionally, Trump announced Dr. Marty Makary, a doctor and frequent medical commentator who has written for Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and Time and appeared on CNN, NBC and Fox News.
Makary has supported the Lab Leak theory for COVID-19’s origins, testifying before Congress that it was a “no-brainer” that the virus came from a Chinese laboratory. Makary increased his prominence as a pundit during the pandemic despite having no background in virology.
“The reason this is even an issue is that it’s embarrassing we funded the lab,” Makary told House representatives in March 2023. “If we had not funded the lab, 100 percent of Americans would say this is obvious, this is a no-brainer.”
Trump nominated Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor, which would have continued to shrink the already narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives had she not already lost reelection to Representative-elect Janelle Bynum, a Democrat.
Trump said in a statement that Chavez-DeRemer “has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America.”
