Widely known as a cultural warrior because of his hardline positions on religious freedom and abortion — Mike Pence is popular with social conservatives. He pursued a huge tax-cutting policy during his time as governor and anti-spending policies as a congressman.
Previously: Governor of Indiana
The ExxonMobil chief executive rose to the top of the global organisation he joined as a civil engineering graduate in 1975. He has no political experience, which is a first in modern history for a potential secretary of state, but is described as a “world class player” by Donald Trump. He received the Order of Friendship from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013 and his ties to Putin were probably a key factor in Trump’s choice.
Previously: Oil firm CEO
The veteran Wall Street banker and hedge-fund manager, who served as Trump’s campaign finance chairman, said his top priorities would be to hasten economic growth and job creation through tax cuts and a loosening of post-crisis financial regulations. Trump’s opponents have described him as one of the “biggest swamp dwellers” and claim he “managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street” during his lengthy career.
Previously: Goldman Sachs executive
The former senior military officer served in the Marine Corps for more than four decades and is regarded as one of the most influential military leaders of his generation. He favours a tougher stance against US adversaries abroad and has said that responding to “political Islam” is the major security issue facing the country. To get the job, Mattis will need Congress to bypass a law saying defence secretaries must not have been on active duty in the past seven years.
Previously: Senior military officer
Sessions was the first senator to back Trump's presidential bid. He has been described by Trump as a “world-class legal mind”. He is best known for his hardline immigration views and has previously questioned whether suspected terrorists should have the same legal rights as US citzens in court.
Previously: Senator for Alabama
Zinke, 55, a first-term Republican representative and a member of the House subcommittee on natural resources, has voted for legislation that would weaken environmental safeguards on public lands. He has taken stances favouring coal, which suffered during the Obama administration. The League of Conservation Voters, which ranks lawmakers on their environmental record, gave Zinke an extremely low lifetime score of 3 per cent.
Previously: US Congressman for Montana, former Navy SEAL commander
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The billionaire investor is known as the “king of bankruptcy” because of his ability to buy distressed or bankrupt companies at steep discounts and turn them around by shaving costs, including altering pay and benefits for workers. His firm’s investments have generally been profitable but not always trouble-free. In early 2006, the Sago coal mine Ross owned collapsed after an explosion, killing a dozen miners. Safety inspectors had found 208 violations at the mine a year earlier.
Previously: Investor
Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, which runs the Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s fast food chains, has been a vociferous critic of government regulation of the workplace and the National Labor Relations Board. Puzder, 66, has argued that higher minimum wages would hurt workers by forcing restaurants to close and praises the benefits of automation, so his appointment is likely to antagonise organized labour.
Previously: Fast food executive
Price is a prominent critic of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and opposses abortion. The former orthopaedic surgeon, who has been congressman for Georgia since 2004, describes himself as a “fierce opponent of government waste and devoted to limited government and lower spending”.
Previously: US Congressman for Georgia
The former neurosurgeon was a rival to Donald Trump during the Republican primaries before he withdrew from the race in March. He earned national acclaim during his 29 years leading the paediatric neurosurgery unit of Johns Hopkins Children’s Centre in Baltimore. He directed the first surgery to separate twins connected at the back of the head. His career was notable enough to inspire the 2009 film, Gifted Hands, with actor Cuba Gooding Jnr as Carson.
Previously: Retired surgeon
The Taiwan-born former banker served as secretary of labour during George W. Bush’s presidency. She was vice-president of syndications at BankAmerica Capital Markets Group and a banker with Citicorp in New York before entering public service. In June, Chao joined the Hudson Institute, Washington-based lobbyists, as a distinguished fellow focusing on topics including employment, labour mobility and trade.
Previously: Banker
Perry, 66, adds to the list of oil drilling advocates sceptical about climate change who have been picked for senior positions in Trump’s cabinet. The selections have worried environmentalists but cheered an oil and gas industry eager for expansion. Perry, who also briefly ran in the 2016 presidential race, would be responsible for US energy policy and oversee the nation’s nuclear weapons programme.
Previously: Governor of Texas
A Michigan billionaire, philanthropist and education activist, DeVos is a fierce advocate of alternatives to local public schooling. She has been elected chair of the Michigan Republican party four times and describes herself as being focused on “advancing educational choices” and a “pioneer in fighting to remove barriers”.
Previously: Michigan Republican Party chairwoman
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The final leadership role of Kelly’s 45-year military career was head of the US Southern Command, responsible for US military activities and relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 66-year-old retired Marine general differed with Obama on key issues and has warned of vulnerabilities along the United States’ southern border with Mexico.
Previously: US Marines general
Pompeo is a conservative Republican and a strong critic of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. A three-term congressman, he graduated from the Military Academy at West Point and from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Tea Party movement and previously said Muslim leaders are “potentially complicit” in terrorist attacks if they do not denounce violence conducted in the name of Islam.
Previously: US Congressman for Kansas
Flynn was one of Trump's most ardent supporters during the presidential campaign. The retired army lieutenant general and intelligence officer says “radical Islam” is an existential threat to the US and has called Islam a “cancer” and a “political ideology” that “definitely hides behind being a religion”.
Previously: Military intelligence chief
The daughter of Indian immigrants, the 44-year-old politician, who has been been governor of South Carolina since 2011, is a rising star in the Republican Party’s right wing. She rose to prominence after the former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed her in a primary during her campaign for governor in 2010. During the primaries in March she accused Trump of not repudiating the white supremacists backing his campaign and denounced his promise to ban Muslims from entering the US as “un-American” but later said she voted for him in the election and described him as a friend and supporter.
Previously: Governor of South Carolina
Branstad is the longest-serving governor in US history and "close friend" of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Their friendship dates back to 1985 when Xi was visiting Iowa as a young provincial official to learn about US agriculture.
Previously: Governor of Iowa
A former Goldman Sachs executive and early investor in the sitcom Seinfeld, he has in the past few years headed Breitbart News, a website known for its controversial right-wing views on immigration and globalisation.
Previously: Media owner
A fixture in Washington and Wisconsin politics since the mid-2000s. Priebus led the so-called autopsy report after Republicans failed to win the 2012 election, recommending efforts to win over Hispanic voters and women — two areas critics argue Trump sidelined completely during his election campaign.
Previously: Republican National Committee chairman
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Congressman Mick Mulvaney, 49, a South Carolina Republican, is a fiscal conservative. He was an outspoken critic of former House of Representatives speaker John Boehner, who resigned in 2015 amid opposition from fellow Republicans who were members of the House Freedom Caucus. Mulvaney was first elected to Congress in 2010.
Previously: US Congressman for South Carolina
An ardent opponent of President Barack Obama’s measures to stem climate change, Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt, 48, has enraged environmental activists. But he fits with the president-elect’s promise to cut the agency back and eliminate regulation that he says is stifling oil and gas drilling. Pruitt became the top state prosecutor for Oklahoma, which has extensive oil reserves, in 2011 and has challenged the EPA multiple times since.
Previously: Oklahoma attorney general
McMahon, 68, is a co-founder and former chief executive of the professional wrestling franchise WWE, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut. She ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a US Senate seat in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012 and was an early supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Previously: Sports entrepreneur
