The faces of Team Trump

Donald Trump’s surprise election in November drew predictions that only loyalists would populate his Cabinet. But the first month of his transition revealed a more nuanced picture of the man who vowed to “drain the swamp” in Washington. Among the emerging themes: Trump values life experience above political experience.

Trump summoned former critics, election bystanders, and Democrats for interviews at Trump Tower as he assembled a mix of fellow wealthy businessmen, military generals, and baby boomers to fill key positions. If personnel is policy, Trump’s early picks sent a clear message and quickly diffused Republican concerns that his administration wouldn’t be sufficiently conservative.

Many Democrats blasted Trump’s choices as reckless and irresponsible—but their party has limited options for blocking nominations. In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules to make Cabinet and most judicial nominations subject to a simple majority vote, rather than the historic 60 votes that required bipartisan agreement. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority after winning a December runoff election in Louisiana.

Some Democrats have already expressed regret over the decision, but outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., isn’t one of them, according to a Politico interview: “You can’t have a democracy decided by 60 out of 100, and that’s why changing the rules is one of the best things that has happened to America in a long time.”

Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s early picks to lead the federal agencies.

Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson

Days after the CIA reportedly concluded Russia intervened in the presidential election on Donald Trump’s behalf, the president-elect nominated as secretary of state an American who is a business friend of Vladimir Putin: Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson. Trump praised Tillerson’s relationships with global leaders and deal-making ability, but critics said the CEO’s record shows he often put profits above U.S. interests. Tillerson, whose company has billions of dollars at stake, opposes sanctions against Russia.

Tillerson faces the real possibility of not gaining Senate confirmation, since it would take only three Republicans (joining all 48 Democrats) to defeat him. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., expressed concerns over his Russian ties. Pro-family groups oppose Tillerson because he is pro-abortion (Exxon Mobil gives to Planned Parenthood) and spearheaded the Boy Scouts’ decision to open troops to gay leaders.

Secretary of the Treasury: Steven Mnuchin

Mnuchin, 53, is a former Goldman Sachs banker who became a top Hollywood financier. His hit movies included American Sniper and Avatar, the highest-grossing U.S. film ever. He doesn’t have any public policy experience, but he was the finance chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign. He’s been a fixture in Manhattan social circles, contributed to Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and ran an investment fund set up by George Soros.Mnuchin will face attacks during his confirmation process for, among other things, earning tens of millions of dollars off the sale of OneWest Bank, which made billions off taxpayer bailouts and admitted to filing false foreclosure documents. Critics said the nomination conflicted with Trump’s campaign promises.

Secretary of Defense: James Mattis

Retired Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, 66, led Marines into Afghanistan in 2001 and into Iraq in 2003. He remains well-respected, even after the Obama administration pushed him into retirement in 2013—following a three-year stint as the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mattis clashed with the White House over Iran, which he saw as the top threat in the Middle East, and could find himself in the same situation with Trump regarding Russia.

Journalist Thomas Ricks, who wrote about Mattis in multiple books, describes him as an avid reader, a fiscal conservative, and a realist who told Marines in Iraq, “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”The appointment should give Trump’s Defense Department credibility in the eyes of those who may have been wary about serving under Trump—and foreign powers who might not have taken threats of force seriously. In December Congress exempted Mattis from the required seven-year gap between military service and a defense secretary appointment, paving the way for him to become the first retired general to hold the position since 1950.

Attorney General: Jeff Sessions

Sessions, 69, a U.S. senator from Alabama, served as Alabama’s attorney general in the 1990s—a decade after the U.S. Senate rejected his nomination as a federal judge, due largely to accusations that he had made racist comments. Sessions will face tough questions on race, immigration, and other controversial issues, but key senators have already signaled their support for confirmation.

Sessions is best-known for wanting to reduce both legal and illegal immigration, but since joining the Senate in 1997, he has also remained a reliable vote for pro-life causes, traditional marriage, and Second Amendment rights. He has opposed marijuana legalization, and has opposed most forms of criminal-justice reform—a disappointment to Christian groups that have advocated reworking of mandatory minimum sentencing and other controversial practices.

“As they say, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” Sessions once told PBS.

Secretary of Commerce: Wilbur Ross

Ross, 79, is known as a risk-taking investor who built his $2.9 billion fortune on buying companies others left for dead. Those reclamation projects included several troubled, Trump-owned casinos that Ross helped either delay or avoid bankruptcy.

Like Trump, Ross is a former Democrat whose views do not fully align with either party. He served as an economic adviser during Trump’s campaign and favors lower business taxes, fewer regulations, and Obamacare repeal.Ross has no political experience, but his former wife from his second marriage, Betsy McCaughey, served as New York’s lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1998. Most observers expect Ross to win Senate confirmation, but he will likely face tough questions over his handling of a West Virginia mining accident that left 12 dead in 2006—an event that also produced criticism of then-Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Secretary of Labor: Andrew Puzder

Since 2000 Puzder, 66, has served as CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. Puzder is credited with turning around Hardee’s, but CKE has settled numerous lawsuits for alleged labor violations and faced criticism for raunchy commercials featuring supermodels in bikinis. “I think our ads are very responsible,” Puzder told CNNMoney last year. “There’s no nudity. There’s generally not even men and women in the ads, so there’s certainly no sex acts.”Puzder has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, including the Labor Department’s overtime rule and Obamacare. He opposes raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage to $15 but told the Los Angeles Times he would support increasing it with inflation.

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Price

Price, 62, is an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia who has served in the U.S. House since 2005, including stints as chairman of the budget committee and the conservative Republican Study Committee.

Price has been a leading Republican voice on healthcare and would spearhead GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Price authored a detailed Obamacare replacement bill that would eliminate Medicaid expansion, create high-risk pools for those with pre-existing conditions, encourage the use of health savings accounts, and give tax credits to buy insurance on the private market.Pro-life groups give Price a 100 percent rating. He played a leading role in efforts to reallocate Planned Parenthood funding to community health centers that do not perform abortions.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Ben Carson

Trump’s onetime campaign rival is poised to take over an agency with a $49 billion budget and more than 8,000 employees. Critics point out that Carson’s well-known success story doesn’t include housing or government experience, and some civil rights activists went so far as to call on Trump to rescind the nomination. But Carson said his upbringing in inner-city Detroit helps him well understand the challenges facing low-income communities, and Senate Republicans lauded the retired neurosurgeon as an excellent choice to lead HUD.

Carson, 65, has made limited public statements related to housing policy, but he preached personal responsibility on the campaign trail: “I’m interested in getting rid of dependency, and I want us to find a way to allow people to excel in our society,” Carson said at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference.

Carson would have a chance to convert that philosophy into policies at HUD, which could mean reforms for the 4.5 million Americans who will receive a combined $38 billion in rental assistance this year.

Secretary of Transportation: Elaine Chao

Trump’s selection of Chao, 63, is a nod to the Republican establishment. Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., served as labor secretary for George W. Bush’s entire presidency—the first Taiwanese-American woman ever appointed to a Cabinet position. She served as deputy transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush before two stints as a distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation.Chao received bipartisan praise upon her nomination and would be in position to implement a major infrastructure bill Trump said would be a top priority in 2017. Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats would work with Trump and Chao “to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of good-paying jobs along the way.”

Secretary of Energy: Rick Perry

Perry, 66, easily has the most political experience of any Trump nominee, including three decades in elected office and a record 14 years as Texas governor. Perry waged two failed presidential bids, including in 2011, when during a GOP debate he famously forgot the name of the agency he’s now set to lead. (At the time, Perry said he wanted to eliminate the agency.) Last year Perry called Trump a “cancer on conservatism,” but he will likely sail through confirmation to Trump’s inner circle.

Secretary of Education: Betsy DeVos

Trump reiterated his plans to overhaul the Department of Education when he announced DeVos as his choice to lead an agency that vastly expanded its power during the Obama years. DeVos, 58, is a staunch school choice advocate and a graduate of Calvin College, one of the founding schools of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. She was once a Common Core supporter, but she said she no longer backs what became “a federalized boondoggle.” Conservative education groups hailed DeVos as a reformer, while teachers unions blasted her as someone who has never attended or sent her children to public schools. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, predicted Trump administration policies “will focus on privatizing, defunding, and destroying public education in America.”

Secretary of Homeland Security: John Kelly

Kelly, who did not endorse Trump during the election, served in the U.S. Marines for 45 years before retiring as a four-star general last February. He became the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat when his son, Marine Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, died in Iraq in 2010.

Kelly, 66, opposed Obama administration efforts to close the military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and questioned the wisdom of opening combat roles to women. His final assignment was leading U.S. Southern Command, giving him extensive knowledge of Latin America and the challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border. Upon confirmation, Kelly would assume the lead role in implementing some of the most controversial aspects of Trump’s agenda—including a border wall and deportations—while in command of nearly a quarter million Department of Homeland Security employees.

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt

The EPA is not technically a Cabinet pick, but the agency became more influential as it implemented Obama’s sweeping climate agenda. Trump wants Pruitt, 48, to roll back both EPA power and policies, which he said have destroyed millions of jobs.

“I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses,” Pruitt said. In his current role as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt has sued the EPA to block regulations on numerous occasions.

Pruitt’s nomination enraged environmental activists and will likely garner strong opposition from Senate Democrats. Dan Pfeiffer, a former top adviser to Obama, tweeted, “At the risk of being dramatic. Scott Pruitt at EPA is an existential threat to the planet.”