Trump drops flurry of leadership picks over the weekend

President-elect Donald Trump nominated research non-profit CEO Brooke Rollins to serve as the U.S. secretary of agriculture on Saturday, after naming nearly a dozen other leadership appointments the day before.

Rollins served during Trump’s first term as director of the Domestic Policy Council, director of the Office of American Innovation, and assistant to the president for strategic initiatives. Trump also commended her work on his 2016 Economic Advisory Council in the Saturday announcement. After leaving the White House, Rollins served as CEO of the nonpartisan research nonprofit America First Policy Institute. Rollins will spearhead the fight to protect American farmers, who are foundational to the country, according to Trump’s Saturday statement. He specifically highlighted her passion for making the U.S. food supply self-sufficient and reviving agrarian-centered small towns.

Who was Trump’s pick for secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department?  Trump intends Key Square Group founder and CEO Scott Bessent to run the U.S. Treasury Department during his administration, according to a statement released Friday night. Trump said Bessent would help bring about a financial golden age by solidifying America’s place in the global economy and reinvigorating the private sector. Bessent would also return freedom and efficiency to the capital markets to drive competition and end trade imbalances, Trump’s statement added. Bessent previously was chief investment officer at George Soros’ fund management group and most recently served as the Trump campaign’s economic adviser.

Who was Trump’s pick for secretary of the U.S. Labor Department? The president-elect released a statement on Friday tapping Oregon GOP Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as labor secretary. Trump noted Chavez-DeRemer’s business background. Chavez-DeRemer founded an anesthesia management company with her husband, along with several other medical clinics throughout the region. Trump also cited her decades of public service, serving two terms as mayor of Happy Valley, Ore. before her election to Congress in 2022. Chavez-DeRemer would help create jobs and expand apprenticeship programs under the Trump administration, the statement said. She would also bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and grow working wages, he added. Working middle-class Americans will finally have a lifeline with President Trump the White House, Chavez-DeRemer wrote after her appointment.

Who was Trump’s pick for U.S. surgeon general? Trump picked Fox News medical commentator Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to serve as America’s top doctor, according to a Friday statement. She served as medical director of CityMD, a northeastern urgent care network, and offered medical commentary on news outlets including CBS, NBC, and Fox News. Trump highlighted her service on crisis medical missions around the world and her upbringing by a widowed immigrant mother. Nesheiwat’s belief in preventative medicine and affordable, quality healthcare is crucial to help make America healthy again, Trump wrote in his statement. Her qualities parallel other Trump-nominated health leaders including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary, and Dr. Mehmet Oz for Medicare and Medicaid administrator. Nesheiwat vowed to work aggressively to promote health while serving with compassion, according to a Friday night statement. Nesheiwat is known to support vaccines and previously questioned the American Academy of Pediatrics’ standards of care for gender dysphoria, according to reporting by Politico.

Who did Trump pick for FDA commissioner? Trump nominated Johns Hopkins surgeon and researcher Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Friday night release. Makary will refocus the FDA to address the emerging epidemic of chronic disease among children, Trump wrote. The oncologist will work under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to accurately examine potentially harmful chemicals in America’s supply of food and drugs, he added. Makary described the U.S. government’s food pyramid as the most egregious form of misinformation while attending a congressional roundtable earlier this year. Americans are the most overmedicated and sickest people in the world because of the poisons in our food supply, he said. Makary also slammed vaccine mandates while testifying to a congressional subcommittee on the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing for a pandemic policy relying solely on natural immunity instead.

Who did Trump pick to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Trump tapped former Florida Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon to oversee his administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a Friday night statement. Weldon will work to regain American trust in the CDC after past misinformation and censorship, Trump said. The former congressman would prioritize transparency and competence at the CDC and play a crucial role in ending the chronic disease epidemic, he added.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report on Trump's decision to nominate Pam Bondi for attorney general.