Last Friday, President-elect Donald Trump announced several nominees he selected to serve in his Cabinet, and he’s now announced a list of several other names of those who will serve in his administration. Many of the picks have served with him previously, as are mentioned in Trump’s statements.
Among those announced on Tuesday night include Vince Haley who has been tasked with serving as for Director of the Domestic Policy Council. He had served as the Director of Policy and Speechwriting for his campaign. In his statement in praise of Haley, Trump took the opportunity to reference his 2024 win:
The 2024 Presidential Election was won by an unprecedented margin, which many in the Mainstream Media and Washington, D.C. did not expect, because the size and magnitude of our MAGA Movement was greatly underestimated. The American People gave us a Mandate to deliver on our Promises, and put AMERICA FIRST. As Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Vince will help make life better for ALL Americans, and unify our Country through SUCCESS. Together, we will defeat Inflation, rapidly bring down Prices, secure the Southern Border, cut Taxes and Regulations, reignite Growth, build the Greatest Economy in History and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
From there, other names announced included:
- Jamieson Greer, who has been nominated to serve as the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Greer is lauded in Trump’s statement for having replaced NAFTA with USMCA.
- Dr. Kevin A. Hassett, of Massachusetts will serve as the Director of the White House National Economic Council, who, as the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, "played a crucial role in helping to design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017," Trump noted. Trump also spoke about putting Hassett to use in recovering "from the Inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration," Tax Cuts, and Fair trade.
- John Phelan as our next United States Secretary of the Navy
The last two names to be announced on Tuesday night both have to be confirmed, and will work with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by Trump earlier this month to serve as his Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD has been nominated to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while Jim O'Neil has been nominated to serve as Kennedy's deputy. O'Neil is no stranger to the department, as Trump's statement noted that "Jim previously served as the Principal Associate Deputy Secretary of HHS. He led reforms at FDA to overhaul Food Safety Regulations, and implemented the FDA Amendments Act, which improved Drug and Medical Device Safety, and ensured greater protection for Public Health."
While Matt has highlighted concerns about one of Trump's picks from last week, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as the United States Surgeon General, over her support for masking, lockdowns, and vaccines, this pick of Bhattacharya may put such concerns to rest, as it looks like he may provide a balanced approach.
Bhattacharya was particularly critical of the federal government's response to COVID. As Katie covered at the time in December 2022, he was blacklisted on X, then known as Twitter, for daring to speak out.
"Jay is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an alternative to lockdowns proposed in October 2020. His peer-reviewed research has been published in Economics, Statistics, Legal, Medical, Public Health, and Health Policy Journals. He holds an MD and PhD in Economics from Stanford University," Trump's statement about Bhattacharya noted in part.