With the President and his Cabinet dominating most American news coverage, it’s difficult to keep track of who’s who. It is important, however, to know some names in Washington, even if they haven’t achieved a major legislative goal almost a year into the presidency. These are the people in Trump’s cabinet who’ve had the most media coverage around their position.
Vice President: Mike Pence
The former Governor of Indiana, Pence is somewhat of a token Republican. He is most noted for his anti-gay rhetoric but tends to take more moderate stances on issues like immigration, abortion, and gun-control as opposed to Donald Trump.
Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson
Tillerson is a millionaire chairman at energy giant Exxon Mobil. Despite his position, he supported agreements like the Paris Climate Agreement. He and Trump have butted heads on the way to deal with North Korea. Trump continues to humiliate him publicly, sparking debate on whether he should resign his post in the cabinet.
Attorney General: Jeff Sessions
Sessions used to be Alabama’s Attorney General and served in the Army Reserve for 13 years. Currently, he is under fire for his conduct in relation to the Russia investigation and for granting religious groups to discriminate against LGBT+ people. He has played a big part in rolling back on Obama-era legislation.
Secretary of Education: Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVos is a chairwoman of Windquest Group, an investment service. Ironically, DeVos sent all of her children to private school. She is in favor of for-profit colleges and student loans. She was widely criticized for, in a speech regarding sexual assault on college campuses, referring to the accused as “victims”.
White House Chief of Staff: John Kelly
Kelly is a Four-Star Marine general and is a supporter of Trump’s proposal of a wall on the US Southern Border. He recently denounced Florida representative Fredericka Wilson for leaking details of Trump’s conversation with the wife of deceased Army Sergeant, La David Johnson. Kelly falsely accused her of bragging about the funding of the Miami FBI office.
US Ambassador to the UN: Nikki Haley
Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants and used to be the governor of South Carolina. She favors strict immigration regulation, including those on Syrian refugees. She has been criticized for her lack of experience because she has never worked for the Federal Government until now. She is currently in South Sudan and has been evacuated from her camp because of the volatile conditions.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: Scott Pruitt
Pruitt was the Oklahoma Attorney General and used to be an Oklahoma Senate member. He is a Climate Change denier, had a lawsuit against the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, and opposes most EPA regulation.
Trump has been slammed for the lack of diversity in his cabinet as compared to that of the Obama or even Bush administrations.
Notwithstanding, dysfunctional cabinets are nothing new to the American public, but the Trump Administration has truly set standards as to how dysfunctional a cabinet can be.
Featured Image: Business Insider
