After the 2024 election, Donald Trump swiftly began nominating loyalists and people with ties to Project 2025 to fill his cabinet.

Trump’s cabinet is set to have more billionaires than any in history (eleven), and his cabinet nominees have a collective net worth of 340 billion dollars. This isn’t normal, and it has real policy implications since wealthier lawmakers generally push for policies that favor business interests and those of the wealthy over working Americans.

Trump’s administration is also granting positions to the campaign’s mega-donors, including wrestling executive Linda McMahon, fossil fuel executive Chris Wright, and billionaire Elon Musk.

Here’s what you need to know about a few of Trump’s key cabinet picks:

Linda McMahon, nominee for Secretary of Education 

The Department of Education plays a crucial role in making education access and quality more equitable for students nationwide, but Trump has repeatedly said that he wants to dismantle the agency. 

He nominated Linda McMahon to be the next Secretary of Education because she is an advocate for ‘school choice’ policies that take resources away from public schools and funnel them into private schools. 

Linda McMahon is also a former wrestling executive, the former Small Business Administration director, and is co-chair of his 2024 transition team. She:

• Has an estimated $2.6 billion net worth 
• Donated more than $21 million to help Trump’s campaign this election cycle
• Is expected to advocate for privatizing education 

Howard Lutnick, nominee for Secretary of Commerce

The Department of Commerce is concerned with promoting the conditions for economic growth and managing trade. 

Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick to be the next Secretary of Commerce and to lead the push for a sweeping program of tariffs.

Howard Lutnick runs a Wall Street investment firm, is a cryptocurrency advocate, and is co-chair of Trump’s transition. He also:

• Has a $2 billion estimated net worth
• Donated $9 million to help Trump’s campaign this election cycle
• Has ties to Tether, a cryptocurrency company and alternative financial ecosystem in which some of the biggest frauds of the 21st century have taken place
• Is already abusing his power to boost his cryptocurrency business interests

Mehmet Oz, nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) oversees health care for 160 million Americans. The agency administers Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Trump has nominated Mehmet Oz, also known as Dr. Oz, to lead CMS. Trump said Oz would “cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency,” signaling that cuts might be coming to Medicare and Medicaid.

Oz is a former heart surgeon and TV personality who has become notorious for promoting treatments with no documented efficacy. He also: 

• Has an estimated net worth of at least $100 million
• Would be in a position to grant waiver requests from conservative-led states intent on reshaping Medicaid, including imposing work requirements on recipients, which is something the first Trump administration tried to do

Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior nominee 

The Interior Department oversees whether companies can drill for oil and gas on federal lands and waters and whether renewable energy projects can also access those spaces. It’s also in charge of national parks, wildlife refuges, and policies affecting Indigenous peoples. 

Trump nominated Doug Burgum to be the Secretary of the Interior. Burgum has longstanding ties to fossil fuel companies and acted as a liaison between the Trump campaign and the oil executives who have donated heavily to it. He:

• Has a $1.1 billion estimated net worth
• Is expected to open more federal lands for oil and gas drilling

Trump’s Problematic Transition 

The Presidential Transition Act requires incoming Presidents to make an ethics pledge, stating that Trump will avoid conflicts of interest while in office. Trump has refused to do so.  

Trump’s “resistance to commit to ethical conduct while serving as president is a red flag pointing to nothing so much as greed and corruption and an intention to enrich himself and/or his family through the extensive powers of his office,” said Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón. 

Americans will not tolerate a president – or a Cabinet – who abuses the powers of their offices to line their own pockets. 

Common Cause is ready to hold the Trump administration accountable and fight for reforms that put ordinary people ahead of billionaire campaign donors. Join us here.

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