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President-elect Donald Trump has already begun building out a team to serve in his second term.

Trump’s new administration is expected to look different from his first—he said in an October interview that the “biggest mistake” of his first term was choosing “bad, disloyal people” to join his administration. Many of the roles will need to be confirmed by the Senate—though Trump has demanded that Republican leadership bypass the typical confirmation process.

Here are the key appointments, nominations, and staffing decisions announced by the Trump administration, in a list that will continue to be updated during the transition.

Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security
Trump picked a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog to lead an agency crucial to the President-elect’s hardline immigration agenda.

Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics.

South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic.

She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. —Associated Press

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-heads of ‘Department of Government Efficiency’
Trump said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency”—which is not, despite the name, a government agency.

The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added that the move would shock government systems.

It’s not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.

Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.

Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election.

The President-elect has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission that would recommend ways to slash spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings—nearly a third of total annual government spending.

Trump had made clear that Musk would likely not hold any kind of full-time position, given his other commitments.

“I don’t think I can get him full-time because he’s a little bit busy sending rockets up and all the things he does,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan in September. “He said the waste in this country is crazy. And we’re going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter.”

Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump.

Trump said in his statement the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” —AP

Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Weekend and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises—ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is also the author of The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, published earlier this year. —AP

John Ratcliffe, CIA director
Trump said he will name John Ratcliffe to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pending confirmation by the Senate. Ratcliffe served as a Texas congressman from 2015 to 2020, before joining the first Trump Administration as Director of National Intelligence. While in Congress, he served as a member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees and as Cybersecurity Chairman on the Homeland Security Committee. Ratcliffe, who received a National Security Medal from Trump in 2020, testified in front of a grand jury as part of a criminal probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election, and warned White House staffers against following through with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to a former White House staffer.

William Joseph McGinley, White House counsel
William Joseph McGinley, who served as White House Cabinet secretary in the first Trump Administration, will serve as Trump’s White House counsel. McGinley most recently worked as an outside counsel for the Republican National Committee’s election integrity team during the 2024 election.

“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement,” Trump said in a statement announcing the decision.

Mike Waltz, national security adviser
Mike Waltz, a Republican congressman from Florida, was tapped to serve as Trump’s national security advisor. Waltz, a Green Beret veteran who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, has been a member of Congress since 2019. He is a member of the House’s China Task Force, along with the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees. Waltz, widely known for his aggressive stance on China and Iran, will step into the role amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Last year, he wrote an op-ed for Fox News in which he argued that “the era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress is over.” He, like Trump, has also called for European countries to contribute more to NATO. The role does not require Senate confirmation.

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength,” Trump said in a statement.

Elise Stefanik, U.N. ambassador
Trump nominated New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik has been a critic of the U.N., in particular over the organization’s stance on Israel, saying last month that the Biden Administration should consider a “complete reassessment” of U.S. funding of the U.N. given the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to expel Israel from the General Assembly. Stefanik has been a vocal supporter of Trump, during both of his impeachment trials and as he contested the results of the 2020 election. She has ascended the party’s ranks, serving as chair of the House Republican Conference, the fourth highest position in House GOP leadership. Stefanik’s appointment will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Lee Zeldin, EPA administrator
Trump has picked Lee Zeldin, a former New York representative, to serve as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The position is subject to Senate confirmation. Zeldin said he would “restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,” while committing to clean air and water, in a statement posted on X.

Zeldin represented a district spanning from Long Island to the Hamptons while in Congress from 2015-2023 and previously served as a major in the Army Reserve. Zeldin was a staunch defender of Trump during his first term and sided with him during both impeachments. Zeldin most recently ran against New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the state’s 2022 gubernatorial race.

Tom Homan, ‘border czar’
Tom Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was appointed as “border czar,” a role that will likely be involved in Trump’s plan for mass deportations of millions of undocumented migrants. Homan, a former police officer, will be in charge of the southern and northern U.S. borders, as well as “all Maritime and Aviation Security,” according to Trump’s post on Truth Social. Homan also served in Trump’s first term—acting as ICE director from January 2017 to June 2018—and played a role in Trump’s crackdown on immigration, as one of the architects of the administration’s controversial child separation policy. The role will not require Senate confirmation.

Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
Longtime Trump advisor Stephen Miller was named deputy chief of staff for policy, Trump’s Vice President-elect J.D. Vance confirmed in a post on X. The role does not require Senate confirmation.

Miller worked with Trump on his 2016 campaign and then joined him in the White House as a senior adviser. He orchestrated some of the first Trump Administration’s controversial immigration policies, including the “zero tolerance” family separation policy. Upon leaving the White House, he started America First Legal, a conservative legal nonprofit, which targeted many Biden Administration initiatives.

Susie Wiles, chief of staff
Susie Wiles, Trump’s 2024 campaign manager, was named White House chief of staff soon after Election Day, in the first major staffing decision. A longtime Republican strategist and campaign staffer, Wiles worked on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign and managed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ winning gubernatorial campaign in 2018. Wiles, who Trump referred to as the “ice maiden” in his election night victory speech, will be the first woman to serve as chief of staff