President-elect Donald Trump has announced several of his picks to lead major Federal agencies with extensive technology profiles, including:
Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – an eventual nomination that will require Senate confirmation. Noem is governor of South Dakota and a former Republican member of Congress representing her state. “She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries,” the president-elect said in a social media post.
Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, an eventual nomination that also will require Senate confirmation. He is a veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard and has been a host and commentator at Fox News since 2014. “Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country,” President-elect Trump said in a social media post. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said.
John Ratcliffe to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe’s eventual nomination for the position after President Trump takes office in January will require Senate confirmation. He is a former Republican congressman from Texas who was the director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. Currently, Ratcliffe is co-chair at the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our nation’s highest intelligence positions,” Trump said in a Nov. 12 social media post.
Separately, President-elect Trump said he is naming Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to a new Department of Government Efficiency – which at the present time does not exist as an organization within the Federal government. Trump said they will “pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” He said the department will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform.”
