By Emma Weidmann | Editor-in-Chief
As the second Trump administration comes out of a first-week frenzy of executive orders and a fair share of controversy, the president’s cabinet picks face Senate confirmation.
Three of the positions in the cabinet could be filled by Texans — one has secured confirmation, and two others await a decision. With these picks, Texas joins New York and Florida as the states with the most members tapped for the new cabinet.
Secretary of Agriculture
Brooke Rollins of Glen Rose, former deputy general counsel and policy director to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is President Trump’s pick for secretary of agriculture.
She graduated from Texas A&M University in 1994 with a degree in agricultural development, then earned a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She served as domestic policy chief during the first Trump administration, which included agriculture policy, though that was not the primary focus of the role.
In 2021, Rollins founded the America First Policy Institute. The institute’s 10-pillar agenda includes support for American manufacturing, improvements to the healthcare system through opposition of the Affordable Care Act, rejection of cancel culture and “Big Tech,” more restrictive abortion policies and more. In her dozens of Op-eds on the institute’s website, none focus primarily on agriculture.
Rollins is a skeptic of climate change, having asserted that CO2 is not a pollutant and advocating for Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, one of his day-one executive orders.
She laid out four top priorities during her Senate confirmation hearing: distribute the $10 billion in economic aid for farmers approved last month, stop the spread of animal diseases like bird flu, “realign” and “rethink” the USDA and promote the long-term success of American farmers through trade.
CIA Director
John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence under the first Trump administration, is now director of the CIA.
Ratcliffe had been a prosecutor and the mayor of Heath before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020. His road to becoming director of national intelligence in Trump’s first term was rocky. He first withdrew his name from consideration after concerns about his qualifications were raised. But when Trump resubmitted the nomination, he won Senate confirmation by five votes.
The Associated Press reports that “aside from his work to defend Trump during his first impeachment proceedings, Ratcliffe also forcefully questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller when he testified before lawmakers about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
In his confirmation hearing, he told the Senate that the intelligence community is “not where we’re supposed to be.” He said his goals as CIA director are to make better use of technology like AI to challenge Russia and China and improve intelligence capabilities while protecting Americans’ civil rights.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn supported Ratcliffe’s confirmation in a press release.
“I’ve known John Ratcliffe for a number of years, even before he came to Congress, and worked closely with him as part of the Texas delegation,” Cornyn said. “Throughout his time in elected office and as director of National Intelligence, John has fiercely advocated for our national security and defended the Trump administration. John is an outstanding pick by President Trump, and I was glad to support his nomination.”
Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Richardson native Scott Turner is Trump’s pick of Housing and Urban Development secretary and would be the only Black member of the cabinet.
Before entering politics, Turner played in 101 NFL games as a cornerback for the Washington Redskins, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos. He played from 1995 to 2004 when a leg injury during training camp ended his career.
In 2006, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for California’s 30th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then in 2012, Turner ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, where he would serve two terms until 2017. In 2019, Trump appointed him to be director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, a position created by a Trump executive order.
After the first Trump administration came to a close, he served as the chair for the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute.
As a member of the Texas legislature, he opposed a bill to expand affordable rental housing and voted against two bills that called to study homelessness among youth and veteran populations. He did, however, support a bill that would allow landlords to refuse apartments to applicants because they received federal housing assistance.
During his confirmation hearing, the Associated Press reports that “Turner didn’t commit to increasing the number of [Section 8 housing] vouchers, which is a longstanding priority for Democrats, but said he wanted to make it more efficient and less cumbersome for landlords who rent their units to voucher-holders.”
He also said he supported tying work requirements to housing programs, and that when it comes to undocumented people living in HUD households, he would uphold existing laws. Turner told Senators he would be committed to protecting fair housing laws, and when it comes to any potential budget cuts to HUD, Turner said he would be a voice for the department.
“I do commit to having those conversations with the president and with Congress as it pertains to being an ambassador and a voice for HUD, and to maximize the budget that we are given,” Turner said.
