With only a month to go until Donald Trump‘s inauguration and second term in office, he announced some of his last cabinet appointments for key positions in federal government.
Deputy director of vehicles
Steven Gill Bradbury will become the Transportation Department’s deputy minister at the first opportunity, according to Trump. Trump cited Bradbury’s work in the same office in his first as basic guidance in a statement posted on Truth Social, saying “he helped restore our crumbling infrastructure, and cut rules that were killing work and our extraordinary Small Businesses.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bradbury even held positions in the DOT, including chair of the board of directors for the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, served in the Department of Justice in the early 2000s, and was also a secretary for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for one year in the 1990s.
In the office, he may add past Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, who Trump nominated as his secretary of vehicles and who needs to be confirmed by the Senate. Duffy’s assurance hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 15.
Deputy secretary of the interior
After that, Trump appointed Katharine MacGregor to the place of interior’s assistant secretary, which she had previously held for a year during his first term.
Before joining the House Committee on Natural Resources for five decades, MacGregor had a long history in power scheme and had previously held various positions in the Interior Department. She has been vice chairman of climate services at NextEra Energy, a Palm Beach-based clean electricity company, for the past two decades.
By a vote of 58-38 in 2020, the Senate had already approved her for assistant secretary of the interior.
Doug Burgum, a former governor of North Dakota who unsuccessfully applied for the Republican national election in 2024, will join her in the Senate confirmation hearing scheduled for January 14.
Deputy director of strength
Additionally, Trump made the announcement that James P. Danly, a former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, may be his deputy director of power.
Trump claimed in a statement that Danly’s operate at FERC “won many cases before the Federal Courts, and led to regulatory reform to maintain vast and reasonably priced energy for the American People.”
After then-Chairman Neil Chatterjee sparked outrage among Republican leaders who feared he was leaning too far to the returned, including on carbon prices, Danly was chosen to lead FERC in 2020. Dany left the position at the end of 2023.
He may join oil tycoon Chris Wright, whose Jan. 15 confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15. But, that day may change as a result of Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking part Martin Heinrich (D-NM)’s request for commission president Mike Lee (R-UT) to postpone the reading until all necessary documents is submitted.
Deputy secretary of veterans affairs
Paul R. Lawrence, who previously served in his first administration as the Department of Veterans Affairs ‘ undersecretary of benefits, was chosen by Trump as deputy secretary of veterans affairs.
In a statement, Trump said,” Paul was a great VA Under Secretary of Benefits in my First Term, implementing Legislation I signed to improve the GI Bill and Appeals Modernization. Paul also assisted us in accelerating the claims backlog to its LOWEST LEVEL in VA History.
Lawrence will join former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins, who Trump nominated to lead the agency. Collins’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.
EPA deputy administrator
Trump chose David Fotouhi as the Environmental Protection Agency’s deputy administrator in a second high-level nomination on Saturday.
In a statement, Trump listed some of the policies that Fotouhi and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee for head of the EPA, will work to implement.
” In our Second Term, David will work with our incredible EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, to advance pro Growth policies, unleash America’s Energy Dominance, and prioritize Clean Air, Clean Water, and Clean Soil for ALL Americans”, he said.
Fotouhi served in the EPA all four years of Trump’s first term in various legal positions, including as deputy general counsel. He has a lengthy legal background, and has worked at the law firm Gibson Dunn &, Crutcher for the past four years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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Zeldin’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Trump made one final pick Saturday, which was Casey Mulligan, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, as chief counsel for advocacy at the Small Business Administration.
