The inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, signals a new chapter for American democracy. Trump is returning to the White House with a slate of cabinet nominees, including extreme conservatives, billionaires, and underqualified loyalists, with plans to implement a Project 2025 agenda. His nominees, from billionaire Elon Musk to Project 2025 Co-author Linda McMahon, will stop at nothing to boost profits for America’s wealthiest and largest corporations while waging a direct assault on the rights and freedoms of working families, women, and marginalized communities.
Here are the facts about Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and what you need to know:
Trump is bringing billionaires into office
Elon Musk – a billionaire known for his unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump – is set to run a new government agency Trump has declared “The Department of Government Efficiency.”
Elon Musk is the world’s richest person and used his vast fortune and influence in many ways to help Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Musk used his social media platform, X, to promote conservative accounts and anti-Democratic posts, and he has pumped tens of millions of dollars into spreading false claims about election irregularities. Musk also downplayed the January 6 insurrection.
Conservative from Minnesota, Pete Hegseth, has a history of extreme policy and sexual misconduct
Trump nominated Minnesota Fox News journalist Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary of the United States. The nomination came despite ongoing allegations of sexual misconduct by Hegseth in his workplaces, financial mismanagement, and intoxication at work. Hegseth’s former employees describe multiple incidents of alcohol-induced workplace sexual harassment. Hegseth even secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who accused him of raping her in 2017.
And his track record doesn’t stop in his personal life. Hegseth has notoriously endorsed and promoted extreme anti-women military policies. He believes that women should not serve in the military and has been outspoken in claiming that women hurt the efforts of the American military.
Trump nominated Florida’s Marco Rubio for Secretary of State
Governor of Florida Marco Rubio is an extreme conservative on every front – from abortion to education and the economy. He supported a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, opposed Roe v. Wade, and rejected the fundamental right to abortion. Rubio also expressed support for The Life at Conception Act, which would have banned abortion nationwide and imperiled access to contraception and IVF.
Not to mention, Rubio is notorious for implementing policies that hurt working families and bolster corporations and America’s wealthiest. He advocated for cuts to Medicare and Social Security, proposed raising the retirement age, and opposed raising taxes on mega-corporations.
RFK Jr. opposes vaccines, abortion rights, and touts dangerous conspiracy theories
Donald Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services could have catastrophic implications for the health and well-being of American families and abortion rights. RFK Jr. has long embraced an extreme right-wing agenda full of conspiracies and misinformation, making him right at home in Trump’s administration.
Even before COVID-19, RFK Jr. was most known for his work spreading dangerous conspiracy theories. Since the pandemic, RFK Jr. has only become more entrenched in irrational, racist, anti-government ideas, touting misinformation about the pandemic, common vaccines, abortion procedures, and gender-affirming health care. RFK Jr. said he would sign a federal abortion ban and has profited from online anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is tasked with keeping Americans healthy and safe, not spreading dangerous misinformation that puts children and families at risk and rolling back access to life-saving medications and procedures.
Linda McMahon would be devastating for public education
Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, would be devastating for public education. McMahon is a billionaire who is not only unqualified to run the agency but has spent years pushing policies that would defund and destroy public schools.
Her education policies mirror those proposed in Project 2025 and include plans to defund public education by implementing voucher systems that drain resources from public schools and send taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools permitted to discriminate against students and educators. Project 2025 also proposes eliminating the United States Department of Education, which Trump has endorsed.
Stand up and fight back
Unfortunately, these are only a few of the underqualified and exorbitantly wealthy nominees that Trump has sent to the United States Senate to be vetted and approved for office. Also included in his nominations are North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, extreme conservative Pam Bondi, who opposes the right to gay marriage, and a plethora of anti-abortion, anti-working family, and pro-corporation extremists.
We need to hold Donald Trump and his conservative cronies accountable. Sign up to stay informed about opportunities to get involved and stay up to date on Minnesota politics. Together, we’ll fight for our communities and work to build a better Minnesota.
