President-Elect Donald Trump has announced appointments to key White House positions in recent days as he prepares to reassume the role of commander-in-chief early next year.
Trump secured all seven swing states and became the first Republican nominee to win the popular vote in two decades as the Republicans are poised to have control of both the House and the Senate. He announced several key administration posts in the days after the victory.
Susie Wiles, the veteran political consultant who managed the Trump presidential campaign, will serve as White House Chief of Staff, meaning she will oversee operations in the West Wing. Trump said in a statement that Wiles “helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns.”
Tom Homan, the former acting director of ICE, will once more lead federal immigration policy as Trump announced that he would serve as the new “border czar.” Trump said that Homan will therefore oversee both the southern and northern border, as well as maritime and aviation security, and will “be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.”
The issue of illegal immigration was a defining aspect of this past election cycle, with a majority of Americans, including nearly half of Democrats, revealing that they would support mass deportations of illegal aliens and similarly aggressive policies. Vice President Kamala Harris was repeatedly criticized throughout the campaign by Republicans since she was appointed as “border czar” by President Joe Biden and yet oversaw record levels of illegal immigration.
New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference, was meanwhile chosen as the nominee for United States Ambassador to the United Nations, marking the first official Cabinet position nomination from Trump. “Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” he remarked in a statement.
Trump meanwhile revealed that he would invite neither former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley nor former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to serve in the next administration.
The first round of nominations and appointments occurs as prominent Senate Republicans compete for election as Senate Majority Leader. Trump asserted that any Republican seeking the position must “agree to recess appointments,” allowing him to temporarily make judicial and executive branch appointments without the immediate confirmation of the Senate.
