Trump's Cabinet Members Doing the Most
What does it mean that some are pulling double, triple, and quadruple duty?
Oh, hi. It’s been a week in my life. Chad has been out of town for work almost all week. We are fully in back-to-school mode: homework, extra-curricular activities, early family dinner, bedtime-but-for-real-real. I was ready for this adjustment. It’s also taken the very life out of me.
Which is relevant to today’s topic:
Here in my little life, I am struggling to juggle everything, despite being a highly motivated, positive, capable human being. And I am not responsible for national policy on anything.
Maggie has assembled for us a “just the facts” overview of the current cabinet. You’ll see that our country’s highest-ranking officials are pulling double-, triple-, and in Marco Rubio’s case quadruple-duty. Their duties pertain to the key aspects of running this country. These are stressful jobs. In past administrations, many folks who had just one of these jobs didn’t make it through an entire year, let alone a term.
I wonder, this Friday afternoon, if Secretary/National Security Advisor/Administrator/Archivist Rubio is as worn out as I am. I wonder, this Friday afternoon, what it says about a vision of government when positions are gathered and scrambled and staffed this way. I wonder what is gained and lost in this configuration. I wonder what you think about it.
- Beth
We usually think of the Executive Branch of the United States Government as the President and Vice President. However, 15 executive agencies are responsible for our exceptionally large and expansive federal government. If you’d like an overview of executive branch agencies, Beth’s series on Project 2025 is a great place to start.
One notable feature of the first Trump administration was the prevalence of people serving in acting and temporary capacities. In Trump 2, all 15 executive branch agencies have Senate-confirmed secretaries. Progress.
And those secretaries are doing the most. As in, multiple very large jobs.
Department of State: Marco Rubio
Additional official roles in this administration:
The Secretary of State is the chief diplomat for the United States of America. They represent the United States’ interests to the world. The National Security Advisor sits on the Homeland Security Council, meets with the Secretaries of State and Defense, and advises the president on national security issues. The administrator of USAID provides foreign aid, disaster relief, and supports economic development around the world. The National Archivist preserves original government material and facilitates public access to the records.
Department of the Treasury: Scott Bessent
Additional official roles in this administration:
Scott Bessent, a former partner at Soros Management Fund, was nominated to serve as President Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury in January and confirmed. He is the first openly gay Treasury Secretary. The Treasury Secretary is tasked with recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy. Additionally, Bessent is the 7th individual to lead the IRS in 20251. Roughly 25% of the IRS’s staff has left the organization since January.
Department of Defense: Pete Hegseth
Department of Justice: Attorney General Pam Bondi
Department of the Interior: Doug Burgum
Additional official roles in this administration:
National Security Council (since that official link doesn’t work, here’s more)
As Secretary of the Interior and Energy Czar, Secretary Burgum is at the center of US climate and energy policy. If you’d like to know more about the Secretary of the Interior, Beth talked about the work of the previous Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, in this episode. In the Biden administration, John Kerry held the role of Energy Czar. Burgum is overseeing private investment and deregulation in energy, along with serving on the National Security Council.
Department of Agriculture: Brooke Rollins
Department of Commerce: Howard Lutnick
Department of Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Department of Health and Human Services: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Scott Turner
Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard
Department of Transportation: Sean Duffy
Additional official roles in this administration:
Sean Duffy, who some of us may know from his time on the reality TV show The Real World: Boston, served as a district attorney in Ashland County, Wisconsin, and, later, as the US Representative from Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District from 2011-20192. He was confirmed as Secretary of Transportation on January 28. The Secretary of Transportation oversees the formulation of the National Transportation Policy and sets safety regulations for all major modes of transportation. The NASA administrator is responsible for providing clarity to the agency’s vision and leadership.
Department of Energy: Chris Wright
Department of Education: Linda McMahon
Department of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins
Department of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem
White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles
Environmental Protection Agency: Lee Zeldin
Office of Management and Budget: Russ Vought
Additional official roles in this administration:
The Office of Management and Budget oversees the performance of federal agencies and administers the federal budget. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau supervises banks, lenders, and credit reporting agencies. It works to make credit card, mortgage, and loan disclosures clear, so consumers can reasonably understand their rights and responsibilities.
US Trade Representative: Jamieson Greer
Additional official roles in this administration:
The US Trade Representative negotiates with foreign governments to craft trade agreements and resolve disputes3. The US Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. Its mission is to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees from prohibited practices, reprisal for whistleblowing, enforcing the Hatch Act, and protecting the employment rights of military service members. The Office of Government Ethics is an independent agency that provides guidance, training, and administrative support to agency and department ethics offices on ethics, financial disclosure, and conflict of interest provisions of federal law and executive orders.
Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations: Dorothy Shea (Mike Waltz has been nominated but not yet confirmed)
Council of Economic Advisors Chair: Steve Miran
Small Business Administration: Kelly Loeffler
Further Reading: A Half Dozen Trump Officials Hold More Than One Big Job (The New York Times)4
Next Week on Pantsuit Politics:
The country gave its citizens the right to die. Doctors are struggling to keep up with demand. (The Atlantic)
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For emphasis: Yes, he is serving as the 7th IRS Administrator this year.
Somewhere in there, he was also a competitive lumberjack, but not at the same time.
Think: Tariffs (which feel important for reasons)
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Thank you Maggie; its hard to keep track of these multi tiered appointments and this is a good reference
It is rather odd that the Archivist of the United States is also the Secretary of State. However, many moons ago I worked for the National Archives, and I have the utmost confidence that the staff there can do the work with a hands-off leader. (Heck, many appointed Archivists have been hands off.) That is, if they are left to to their job. They are responsible for declassifying things - like, the actual process of decalssfying and making recommendations, not actually determining what is declassified - and for making sure public records are made public. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if a heavy hand comes into play in the agency at some point.