Expose Project 2025

President Donald Trump has nominated Frank J. Bisignano, a fintech executive and “Wall Street fixer” known for taking a lavish salary while conducting mass layoffs, for Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

President Donald Trump has picked former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) to lead the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Long, a longtime Trump loyalist who is likely to politicize the IRS’s operations and has little relevant experience, has repeatedly co-sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a regressive sales tax that would burden low- and middle-income families.

President Trump picked Paul Atkins to be chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins, who was previously an SEC commissioner with a “free-market bent” under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2008, has most recently served as chief executive and founder of “leading” financial industry consulting firm Patomak Global Partners.

Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump donor, has been confirmed as Treasury Secretary. Bessent backs harmful policies like inflationary tariffs and tax giveaways to the wealthy, which burden families with higher costs while benefiting corporations. His push to freeze spending, except for defense, risks cutting vital programs like veterans’ health care. Bessent’s agenda prioritizes the rich over working Americans, leaving families to bear the consequences.

President Trump picked former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-FL) as his U.S. Attorney General. Bondi, an early and “outspoken defender of Trump,” is now well-positioned to politicize the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and could reverse the Biden administration’s “aggressive” enforcement of antitrust laws designed to protect consumers and small businesses.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, is a friend of the oil industry. His record shows that he will prioritize industry profits over protecting America’s public lands.

President Trump picked former airline industry lobbyist, Fox Business host, and Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI), who was swept into Congress as part of 2010’s “Tea Party wave,” to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Notably, Duffy “has little to no experience in the transportation field.”

President Trump picked Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Gabbard, who lacks intelligence experience and has been criticized for being “soft on Russia,” would oversee more than a dozen intelligence agencies critical to national security.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has been described as perhaps “the most spectacularly unqualified person ever nominated” for the position. 

President Donald Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who tried to halt vaccine rollout during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

President Trump has picked Howard Lutnick, the billionaire chairman and CEO of financial services “titan” Cantor Fitzgerald, to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, a “sprawling” cabinet department that oversees trade restrictions, economic data, commercial space satellites, scientific standards, and a wide range of other matters.

President Donald Trump selected Linda McMahon—a co-chair for his transition team who previously led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 during the first Trump term—to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. McMahon, known for her role as a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) executive, has “minimal education experience.”

President Trump picked South Dakota governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) as his next Department of Homeland Security Secretary. Noem, known for her problematic relationship with Native tribes and for being a “border hawk,” is an ardent supporter of Trump’s plans for mass detention and deportations. 

President Donald Trump picked Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former television personality and failed Pennsylvania Senate candidate, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees healthcare coverage for tens of millions of Americans. Oz stands to potentially benefit financially from lucrative ties to health companies he has promoted, and has been lambasted numerous times by the medical establishment for giving unsubstantiated medical advice to his audiences. 

President Trump picked Kash Patel—a political activist with no relevant law enforcement experience—to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A fierce Trump loyalist, Patel has pledged to annihilate the so-called “Deep State” (i.e., Trump’s political opponents and civil servants who opposed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election). His pledge, if put into action, would be an unprecedented, dangerous, and disturbing departure from the FBI’s core mission “to protect the American people and uphold the U.S. Constitution” but in keeping with Trump’s threat of retribution against his perceived enemies.

Brooke Rollins is the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA has a multi-billion-dollar annual budget and employs approximately 100,000 workers nationwide. It oversees critical programs, including farm subsidies, food safety inspections, nutrition assistance programs, and rural development initiatives.

President Trump picked Russ Vought, former Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director in the first Trump administration, to lead OMB once again. Vought played a “pivotal role” in the first Trump administration, serving as OMB director from July 2020 to January 2021; acting director from January 2019 to July 2020; and deputy director from February 2019 to January 2019.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Energy is Chris Wright. Wright, a Fortune 500 energy company CEO, brings numerous potential industry-related conflicts of interest to the role. As he assumes leadership of the Department of Energy, it is critical to scrutinize how his industry ties may influence policy decisions.