Meet your president's Cabinet! Who was appointed, by what margin, and a look at the backgrounds of the people filling these critical roles.
In other words, who is running our country? Let's find out.
This is a two-part episode. You can hear both parts - and read both transcripts - below.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Transcript (Part 1)
Note: This trancript is AI-generated and may contain errors.
Who's running the country? (Part 1)
Hannah McCarthy: Nick, when this show was started way back in 2017, it was because people were writing emails to our radio station and asking a lot of questions about the government, and a lot of those questions were to the tune of, now wait a minute, what are we even talking about here?
Nick Capodice: Right. Stuff like I'm reading and hearing a lot about X, Y, or Z person and government and what they're up to. And there's a ton of headlines telling me this is a big deal, but why is this a big deal? Is this really a big deal?
Hannah McCarthy: And it's hard to know if it's a big deal, if you don't know who that person is that you're asking about or what they're supposed to be doing. And over the past couple of months, I have been reading a lot of stuff about the people who President Donald Trump picked to run the government.
Nick Capodice: Ah, yes, the cabinet.
Hannah McCarthy: The cabinet which you recently made a lovely episode about.
Nick Capodice: I did. Hannah. So what are we doing here, then.
Hannah McCarthy: All right. Relax. We're here to talk about who these people actually are and what they're actually supposed to be doing.
Nick Capodice: I'll allow it.
Hannah McCarthy: This is Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: And today, who's running the place? And what are they supposed to do?
Nick Capodice: All right, Hannah, let's just get something out of the way real quick.
Hannah McCarthy: Your opinions about the Lord of the rings film franchise, which, uh, Nick and I have been discussing civily lately.
Nick Capodice: Really civilly. Let's leave that for the other podcast. We're going to start where you expose my niche opinions for a niche audience.
Hannah McCarthy: All right, fair enough. Oh, by the way, everyone. Fun little challenge. See if you can spot a young Nick Capodice in Peter Jackson's 1992 movie braindead, aka Dead Alive. And please send us an email when you do. I will send a Civics 101 mug to the first listener who can tell us the time stamp. Bonus points for a screenshot, But I digress. Nick, what did you want to get out of the way?
Nick Capodice: You digress. Indeed. Hannah I look pretty much the same now as I did in that bathrobe in 1992. But anyways, here's my question. You're going to talk about who's running the government. You're not talking about the president. You are talking about the heads of the executive branch departments. Right?
Hannah McCarthy: Right. Plus a few others. But yeah, and.
Nick Capodice: These are the people who the president nominates. He wants to appoint them the heads of various super important, super powerful departments. And in order for them to actually get the job, they've got to be confirmed by the Senate.
Hannah McCarthy: That they do.
Nick Capodice: And it seems to be like I am seeing the word controversy a lot this year when it comes to this process. I mean, the.
Archive: Department of Defense is one of the most complex bureaucracies in human history, and the president is choosing its leader the same way I chose breakfast cereals as a kid.
Nick Capodice: Hey, there are a lot of articles and a and a lot of pundits and a lot of politicians questioning Trump's nominees on various counts. So I want to begin by asking, is this unusual? Or is that the sort of thing that happens every time?
Hannah McCarthy: That is a good place to start. My answer is yes and no. This year, you may have heard a lot about Trump's quote unquote controversial appointment nominees. Is that a new thing? No. Taking issue with an incoming administration's potential executive leaders is par for the course. I looked back as far as Jimmy Carter, and I could not find a single president whose nominees did not get pushback in one way or another. Also, plenty of nominees in the past have actually withdrawn before they ever get to the Senate confirmation part because often of controversy.
Nick Capodice: All right, so that's the no, this is not unusual. What about the yes.
Hannah McCarthy: The yes, this is unusual has to do with a few factors, one being the current political climate and how politicians are operating within it, or maybe manipulating it. Amping it up. Division, pushback and disagreement are the name of the game right now, and a friendly reminder. And I do mean friendly that you, dear listener, have the power to play a healthier and happier game. We are also talking about a president who promised a major shakeup in Washington, and has nominated people who appear to be in service of that promise.
Nick Capodice: So controversy was pretty likely from the get go.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah. You know, like Ronald Reagan also came into office promising to cut the fat in Washington, and his appointees were also in service of that. The difference here, Nick, between that situation and this one is in the vote.
Nick Capodice: What do you mean, the vote?
Hannah McCarthy: The final hurdle in becoming an executive branch leader. The Senate takes a vote. Generally speaking, Nick, the Senate is pretty deferential to the president when it comes to nominees. Some people may have a harder time than others, but most of the time a nominee will get a significant majority of yes votes, of yes votes. And a lot of the time the Senate will just take a voice vote.
Nick Capodice: All right. That's when the presiding officer is like, here's the question to vote on. Who's in favor.
Archive: All in favor, say aye.
Nick Capodice: Aye. And then the officers, like all.
Archive: Opposed, say nay. The ayes have it.
Hannah McCarthy: That's about how it works. In other words, you know, it's already pretty clear how this vote is going to go. So we don't need everyone to vote individually. And there have only been three rejected nominations in the 20th century. So what does that tell you?
Nick Capodice: Uh, that generally the Senate just goes with it. When the president nominates someone.
Hannah McCarthy: This year looks a little different. In the past, nominees were generally not always less controversial. This year, the vote majorities are slimmer, the pushback and the resistance is pretty significant.
Nick Capodice: But so far as of this recording, February 25th, The Senate has not rejected any of Donald Trump's 2025 nominees so far.
Hannah McCarthy: So far, and this whole thing has happened pretty quickly, too. Also, nominees used to need a 3/5 supermajority 60% of the vote. But as of 2013, they only need a simple majority of senators to vote in favor of their appointment.
Nick Capodice: So they got to have at least half. And since over half of the current Senate is the same party as the current president, right.
Hannah McCarthy: Pretty good chances of getting those appointees into the job. But since we are talking about votes here, Nick, that is how I'm going to go about this from most yeas to least.
Nick Capodice: Hannah, the ghost of my father is forcing me to say fewest yeas.
Hannah McCarthy: All right, Nick, I have been editing your grammar on the fly for seven years, so I'm going to give myself some grace here. I'm trying to get through a lot. Anyway, who are our new government leaders? 22 of them have been nominated. 18 have been confirmed as of the writing of this episode. 15 of the 22 are department heads, six are not, but still have super important jobs. A lot of numbers there. Who are they? What are they supposed to do? Did they squeak by or breeze right in? This is part one because ears and eyes and time are precious human resources. So in this episode you're going to hear about nine. So let's start with the only unanimous confirmation so far. The one who got in with nary a nay nick.
Nick Capodice: Nary a neigh. Wait, can I guess first before you tell me? Secretary of the interior.
Hannah McCarthy: So close.
Nick Capodice: Ah, I just feel like people don't talk much about the Department of the interior. Like they're not worried about it.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, I mean, maybe they should think a little bit more about it, but the Secretary of the interior did get the second most votes. All right.
Nick Capodice: See, I knew it.
Hannah McCarthy: But we're going to start with the guy who got 99 votes. 99, by the way, because JD Vance was a senator before he hopped over to the white House. So his seat was vacant for a portion of these committee hearings and confirmations to promote.
Archive: Peace abroad and security and prosperity here at home. That is the promise that President Trump was elected to keep. And if I am confirmed, keeping that promise will be the core mission of the United States Department of State.
Hannah McCarthy: Our new secretary of State, Marco Rubio. The way this whole thing works is before the vote, the nominee has a hearing. They talk to whatever Senate committee pertains to the job they're applying for. So Rubio chatted with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. They talked for five hours, which might sound like a long time, but in this whole process is not necessarily that long. And it was a pretty friendly chat. And then the vote happened and Rubio was unanimously in.
Nick Capodice: Wait wait, wait. Marco Rubio is a senator.
Hannah McCarthy: Not anymore. Okay.
Nick Capodice: But I mean, did he get to vote for himself.
Hannah McCarthy: He did. And now he's in charge of foreign policy. Sounds easy. Marco Rubio will now be in charge of an absolute mountain of responsibility. He's in charge of negotiating our foreign affairs. We're talking treaties, agreements, protecting U.S. interests and people abroad, understanding and communicating the politics, economy, humanitarianism and culture of other countries, administering U.S. immigration law abroad, repping the US at international gatherings, and a lot more. It's a huge job. Marco Rubio himself once called it, quote, the second most important position in the US government, with all due respect to the vice president, unquote.
Nick Capodice: When did he say that?
Hannah McCarthy: During Rex Tillerson's confirmation hearing for the gig back in 2017, Rubio asked Tillerson if Vladimir Putin was a war criminal. Tillerson deflected. Rubio did not like that.
Archive: You are still not prepared to say that Vladimir Putin and his military have violated the rules of war and have conducted war crimes in Aleppo.
Hannah McCarthy: And now Rubio has been tasked with figuring out an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Though President Trump has called Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator and suggested that Ukraine started the war, they did not. And Rubio is also charged with maybe negotiating an alliance with Russia that.
Nick Capodice: Feels like it's going to require a little bit of pivoting. Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy: Rubio also ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential election, and has generally been in favor of U.S. aid abroad and soft power, though Donald Trump has almost entirely dismantled USAID, which does exactly that. So, yeah, Rubio is one of the more interesting appointees when you look at his politics versus serving at the pleasure of the president. All right, Nick, we got 17 others. Let's go.
Nick Capodice: Shall we go to the interior.
Hannah McCarthy: Secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum.
Archive: It's certainly an honor to have been nominated by President Trump to serve as the 55th Secretary of the interior.
Hannah McCarthy: Former governor of North Dakota. He got 80 yeas in 17 nays.
Nick Capodice: All right. That sounds like the Senate generally agreed on that one.
Hannah McCarthy: Burgum will now be in charge of the Department of the interior. Which is what? Nick?
Nick Capodice: Yeah. What is that thing? Hannah? I'm joking, everyone. I'm joking. The Department of the interior manages the stuff on the interior. You know, inside of the US public lands and waters.
Hannah McCarthy: Yes. Inside the Department of the interior is the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service and a bunch of other bureaus, including Indian Affairs and Ocean Energy Management. It is the Secretary's job to protect and manage natural resources and cultural heritage, and to honor treaties and agreements with tribal nations in the US.
Nick Capodice: And as far as this particular Secretary of the interior?
Hannah McCarthy: So he ran for president in 2023, dropped out of the race, became an energy policy adviser for Trump's campaign. He's a major promoter of gas and oil. Burgum says we are in an energy crisis. He also says that he supports conservation and will be a driving force in Trump's plans to ramp up gas, oil and mineral extraction. All right.
Nick Capodice: So Burgum is the drill baby drill arm of the executive branch.
Hannah McCarthy: In short, coming in at 77 years and 22 nays. Again, senators are sort of fluctuating right now. Is Sean Duffy, our new secretary of Transportation.
Archive: I'm honored to have the trust of President Trump and hopefully this body to lead such an important segment of our economy.
Hannah McCarthy: Duffy was a Wisconsin district attorney, then a US House rep for Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. He then became a lobbyist on behalf of domestic airlines and then a Fox News co-host. And before that, Nick. He was on Real World Boston and a couple of other reality shows.
Archive: What? Here we go, Shawn. Rock n roll, baby.
Archive: Pack up all our gear. We're on our way now. Hahaha.
Nick Capodice: You, Hannah, are from Boston.
Hannah McCarthy: That I kind of am. If you want to know what Duffy is tasked with as Secretary of Transportation, I recommend listening to our recent episode with former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Basically, the Secretary of Transportation is in charge of transportation policies. Duffy has gotten some bipartisan praise. He said he'd focus on roadway safety and aviation. The big news item about him so far is that he is, as the secretary of transportation, investigating California's high speed rail project. All right, Nick, coming in next. We got Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. That's at 77 yeas and 23 nays.
Archive: You know, America is the greatest nation on earth, and it's the greatest nation on earth. I believe because the men and women who serve.
Hannah McCarthy: It'll be his job to oversee the health, education, disability, funeral and financial benefits earned by veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Collins is a Baptist minister. He was a church pastor for 11 years, served as a chaplain for the US Navy and US Air Force Reserve. He's a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, and he was a Georgia state rep from oh 7 to 2013 and a United States rep from 2013 to 2021, also representing Georgia. He was also a major Trump defender, especially during Trump's first impeachment.
Nick Capodice: All right, what's his plan, man?
Hannah McCarthy: He plans to streamline the VA and cut regulations while making it easier for veterans to access medical care. He also wants to root out what he calls corruption. The VA fired 1000 employees shortly after Collins joined. He said that there could be more layoffs, and Collins said the money that they're saving will go to health care and benefits for vets. All right, next up, Nick, we have someone who is not a department head, but is someone who served in the previous Trump administration.
Nick Capodice: Oh, okay. I think I know this one. Is it Ratcliffe?
Hannah McCarthy: Right on the money. John Ratcliffe he was confirmed with a 7425 split.
Archive: Today we face what may be the most challenging national security environment in our nation's history.
Hannah McCarthy: Nick, can you tell the people who Ratcliffe is?
Nick Capodice: Uh, certainly. So he is now the director of the CIA, but he was the director of national intelligence in the last year of Trump's first presidency, which I believe is also a confirmation position.
Hannah McCarthy: It is indeed. And now back to the CIA. It is an independent government agency as opposed to an executive department. Now, the first time Ratcliffe was confirmed, he got zero votes from Democrats, and that was the first time a national intelligence director got confirmed without opposition party votes. Right. So, like they're of the party of the president, the opposition party is not the party of the president, but this is the first time that nobody in that opposition party made that confirmation in that role.
Nick Capodice: But this time around, it sounds like he's a little more popular, so to speak.
Hannah McCarthy: He is. He's actually now considered by people on both sides of the aisle, one of the more qualified appointees in this batch.
Nick Capodice: All right. And I know he was a US House representative from Texas. Yes.
Hannah McCarthy: And before that, he was mayor of Heath, Texas. Now, as far as his job goes today, Nick, the CIA, what do we know?
Nick Capodice: Can I quote the fog song? Hannah?
Hannah McCarthy: You can if you cut out the swears.
Nick Capodice: Who can kill a general in his bed? Overthrow dictators if they're red CIA man. But really sorry, everyone. When it comes to the CIA, we know as much as they want us to know. And maybe just a smidgen more than that. They are the spies.
Hannah McCarthy: They would probably say, you know, covert agents, covert Operations. But yeah, intelligence gathering and that takes many forms. And there are a lot of people who do a lot of things. It's now Ratcliffe's job to oversee intelligence collection analysis, covert action counterintelligence and liaison relationships with foreign services. Now that's from the CIA website, which I'm just going to admit here. Nick, I think of all of the government websites. It is the coolest looking one.
Nick Capodice: Yeah, like it looks like a spy website.
Hannah McCarthy: It kind of does. I don't think that's an accident, by the way, but that's just me. Anyway, the interesting thing about this confirmation hearing and what we know about this job to come, is that we don't know much because Ratcliffe won't or can't say spies. But what we do know is that Ratcliffe promises to make the CIA more aggressive. He says that it will be less risk averse and take more covert action when the president wants it to. On that note, Nick, we're gonna disappear into the night like a couple of covert agents ourselves. And when we get back, the new government gets just a little less popular.
Nick Capodice: But before that assignment, just a quick reminder that you can find deeper dives into many, many departments of our executive branch at our website, civics101podcast.org. Among every other thing we've ever made for years and years. All right, come on, Hannah, let's go pick some code names.
Hannah McCarthy: We're back. We're giving you an introduction to your new government and ours via the appointees to the executive branch. And we're going down the list from most yeas to fewest yeas. Up next, we have Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Archive: I want to thank and so overwhelmed at the honor to potentially serve the men and women who daily, without pause or complaint, provide our great nation and the world with the best food, fiber and fuel.
Hannah McCarthy: She got the gig with 72 yeas, 28 nays. She is the second female ag secretary ever, and her new job is a lot. Yeah.
Nick Capodice: Because the USDA is a lot. Listen to our episode on it if you want to know. Because first and foremost, the USDA is about food, which might sound simple, but it is also the stuff we use to stay alive at a basic level. So I know the secretary oversees food safety and inspection, but then they are also overseeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program Snap, which used to be called food stamps. Oh, and school lunch as well. And there's trade, right, Hannah? Like, the USDA monitors a ton of stuff that we export and import.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah. The secretary is also overseeing and supporting farmers forestry grasslands conservation efforts. Basically, yeah. I mean think food supply. So Rollins did get unanimous support from the Senate committee. So not the whole Senate, but the committee who held her hearing. But others are concerned about her lack of experience. She ran two conservative think tanks and served in the last Trump administration in two roles. One, she was the director of the Office of American Innovation.
Nick Capodice: The what now?
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, this was the white House office that was basically the liaison between the white House and the tech industry. It existed really only during Trump's first administration. Then Rollins was the acting director of the US Domestic Policy Council. But now she's got to tackle the impact of potential tariffs on our food producers and the loss of farmhands from new immigration policies and the bird flu.
Nick Capodice: Oh, the eggs.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, the eggs. Trump has said that Rollins will, quote, do something about egg prices. Next on the list coming in at a 6829 confirmation is Scott Bessent, our new Treasury Secretary.
Archive: Most Americans watching at home will be unfamiliar with my background.
Nick Capodice: That is our chief financial officer, right? Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy: Right. So the Treasury secretary is in charge of making sure our economy doesn't tank and doing something about it. If it does. Peek inside this department and you will find the mint. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The mint makes coins. Bureau of Engraving and Printing makes dollars. The IRS also the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, among lots of other things. This department investigates financial crimes. It's in charge of borrowing money for the US. And the secretary also sits on the National Security Council. Because guess what? Money and security are pretty closely linked.
Nick Capodice: All right, so I do know one thing about Bessant.
Hannah McCarthy: What's that?
Nick Capodice: Well, he's not just a guy who knows money. He's a guy who has money. Lots of it. Billions of bits of it. Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy: So Bessant is a hedge fund manager. For a while, he worked for George Soros, George Soros.
Nick Capodice: George Soros is famously a liberal philanthropist.
Hannah McCarthy: And billionaire.
Nick Capodice: And billionaire.
Hannah McCarthy: So Bessant was a major Democrat donor, and he is now a major Republican donor. He was an adviser to Trump, and he is still an adviser to Trump, though now is a secretary. And it will be on him to help figure out tax cuts, tariffs and regulation rollbacks. Some things that Donald Trump has promised. All right. Up next, 59 Yays, 34 nays for Kristi Noem.
Nick Capodice: Okay, I know this one. That is the new Homeland Security secretary.
Archive: We will undertake a large job and a large duty that that we have to fulfill that the American people expect us to do by securing our border.
Nick Capodice: Also, she was South Dakota's only Rep in Congress because South Dakota is only one district.
Hannah McCarthy: I forget that all the time. The whole state is just one district. It's very interesting. And yes, you are correct. She served four terms and was then elected the first ever female governor of South Dakota in 2018. And now as the head of DHS, she is in charge of our immigration system.
Nick Capodice: Which, as we know, is a major element of Donald Trump's presidential plans.
Hannah McCarthy: As we know. So Noem has already deputized 600 State Department officials to help with arrests and deportations. She will also be overseeing Customs and Border Protection, the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, aka FEMA, though Trump has suggested getting rid of FEMA, so that part remains to be seen. Also, Noem oversees the Secret Service, which she has promised to overhaul. All right. Chris. Right. The new energy secretary. He got 59, 38 nays.
Archive: Energy has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I have never been shy about that fact. Then again, I've never been shy about much.
Nick Capodice: Oh, yeah.
Nick Capodice: Chris Wright is an oil man.
Hannah McCarthy: He is indeed. He was the head of a fracking firm. He is now overseeing the science, technology and security of energy in the US. So this includes energy production. Think oil and gas and wind and solar. Though the oil and gas part is the major priority for Donald Trump, as well as overseeing our nuclear weapons program and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which is supposed to address climate change.
Nick Capodice: All right. So this administration is really focused on oil and gas and focused hard. So what does that mean for the rest of it. All right.
Hannah McCarthy: So in the past, Wright has said that there is no climate crisis in this hearing. He was like, actually, it's real, it's global, and we have to develop new energy technologies.
Nick Capodice: Even though the president has suggested it's a hoax. Yes.
Hannah McCarthy: But let's say that he does disagree with the president on that point. He's very much on board with the quote unquote, unleashing of American energy. That is something that Trump has ordered, which in terms of the numbers, I mean, like in terms of the numbers of American energy, it's not leashed. We are the leading producer of oil and gas, but the idea is to ramp up extraction, ramp up production anyway. So right is in line with the president's agenda, but suggests that there is a multi-pronged approach here. Okay, Nick, those are nine of the 18 new appointees so far set to run our federal government.
Nick Capodice: Oh, that's it. We did.
Hannah McCarthy: It. Well, I mean, that's not it, but we are leaving it at that for now. And in the next episode, we're going to see some slimmer vote margins. Contention peppers the confirmation hearings. The appointees make it to the big Show, but not without fielding some serious Senate reservations. And you can learn about all of that in part two of who is running the government, which, if you want, you can go listen to right now. All right, Nick, let's jam. Let's do it. This episode of Civics 101 was produced by me, Hannah McCarthy, with Nick Capodice and Rebecca Lavoie, who also happens to be our executive producer. Thank you. Rebecca. Christina Phillips is our senior producer. Music in this episode comes from Epidemic Sound. You can learn a lot more about a lot of these departments and agencies at our website, civics101podcast.org. And while you're there, give Nick's episode on the cabinet a listen. It is a really good one. Civics One on One is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.
Transcript (Part 2)
Hannah McCarthy: So. You're listening to Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: I'm Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: And this listener is part two of Who's Running the Government. I'm going to be talking about nine of the so-far 18 confirmed presidential appointee leaders in our nation's executive branch. But if you want to know who the other nine are and a little bit more about what this process is all about, I recommend you go back and listen to part one, because we're just gonna hit the ground running on this one.
Nick Capodice: If nothing else, listen to part one to hear Hannah reveal not one, but two significant pieces of personal history trivia about me to which I did not give my approval vote. Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy: It was worth it, though. The people need to know Nick.
Nick Capodice: And now they do. All right, so in addition to those little gems, Hannah, in part number one, you told me that the vote margins, as in the number of yeas and nays and nominee, got when the Senate confirmed them. Those margins were going to get a little slimmer.
Hannah McCarthy: That's right. We are going through the list from the most yeas to the fewest. The second batch of President Donald Trump's appointees got more pushback, more questions about their experience, their politics, their personal conduct. And we are kicking it off with our new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, the head of that independent executive agency, not Department, Lee Zeldin. He got 56 yeas and 42 nays.
Archive: Our mission is simple but essential to protect human health and the environment. We must do everything in our power to harness the greatness of American innovation with the greatness of American conservation and environmental stewardship. We must ensure we are protecting the environment while also protecting our economy.
Nick Capodice: Lee Zeldin Hannah. I do not know that name at all.
Hannah McCarthy: All right, so Zelda was in the New York State Senate and then in the US House of reps. And he served there until 2023. He was also a major Trump defender when it came to the impeachments. Zeldin is also an officer of the US Army Reserve. And one big thing with Zeldin when it came to his confirmation hearing was experience, or lack thereof. So the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, it is supposed to make sure that we have clean air and water, that we protect the environment, protect human health re environmental concerns, and clean up toxic sites. Zeldin doesn't have much experience in environmental regulation.
Nick Capodice: But given what I know about Trump's environmental policy plans. Zeldin is going to be in charge of rolling a lot of regulation back. Am I right? Yeah.
Hannah McCarthy: The biggest of those is a very new rule that limits greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes. Trump wants that one gone. Now that one is tricky because auto manufacturers have already invested tons of money in things like electric vehicle development, so we're going to see how that goes. Zeldin is also apparently consulting with Trump about a really major principle that kind of underlies a lot of our climate policy here in the United States. We don't know a lot about that yet, but we probably will soon. All right. Scott Turner, 55 yeas, 44 nays. Turner is our new Housing and urban Development secretary.
Archive: Hud's mission is to create strong and sustainable communities and support quality, affordable housing, serving the most vulnerable of our nation. Yet as we sit here, we have a housing crisis in our country. We have the American people and families that are struggling every day. We have a homelessness crisis in our country.
Nick Capodice: Also, Hannah, I am ashamed to say here I was unaware of Scott Turner until very recently.
Hannah McCarthy: Well, he's not super well known in the world of federal politics, or he wasn't until now. Turner is a former pro football player. He was a Texas state rep. He was a motivational speaker as well, and he spent two years as the executive director of the white House Opportunity and Revitalization Council under Trump during his first term.
Nick Capodice: Well, that sounds like it could be adjacent to his new job.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah. At the time, Turner was overseeing a program that found ways to build affordable housing and improve economic development in impoverished areas in the US. And his new job is very broadly to make housing affordable in America. Hud does this through programs, rules and policies.
Nick Capodice: So we're talking stuff like housing assistance, public housing, mortgage relief, that sort of stuff.
Hannah McCarthy: That sort of stuff. Yep. Shelters, transitional housing, all of the things that people live in but often find a hard time finding, securing and affording. I read through some statements from various housing assistance organizations. You know what their opinion of Turner is right now? It looks like their plan is to be vigilant and see how this works out, because they don't have a lot of information yet about how it will work out. Um, let's move on to Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who got the job with 52 yeas and 46 nays.
Archive: From managing inflation and capital to hiring a skilled workforce and weathering uncertainty, job creators in the last four years have faced rising demands to comply with new rules, often drafted with unknown cost and consequence. This regulatory complexity crushes growth, picks winners and losers and denies opportunity to those who dare to dream of a better future.
Nick Capodice: I feel like I'm batting a thousand in this episode, Hanna, but I honestly don't know what that administration does.
Hannah McCarthy: The SBA is not a department, it's an agency. Its whole thing is, as the name suggests, small business. The administrator oversees Administering loans to people, starting and growing small businesses, advising and supporting entrepreneurs, and protecting their interests. Loeffler is a former co-owner of the WNBA team Atlanta Dream. She has worked for a few financial services companies and served a brief period, just two years as a senator representing Georgia. She promises that she will help, quote, restore the small business economy. All right. Up next, we got former Wall Street executive Howard Lutnick with just 51 yeas and 45 nays. He is the new Commerce secretary.
Archive: I saw the strength of the American spirit during President Trump's campaign, and it fueled my desire to serve our nation. We need healthy businesses, small, medium and large, to hire our great American workers to drive our economy. I will dedicate myself to making our government more responsive, working to ensure Americans have the greatest opportunity for success.
Nick Capodice: All right. Now, Lutnick I have heard of. He has been a financial advisor to Donald Trump for a little bit. Right?
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, for the last year. He also led Trump's transition team. So the Department of Commerce is an interesting one because it's not the Treasury, right? It's about money, but not in the same way it analyzes the economy, tries to make sure the US is competitive. It promotes trade. The department also oversees the census and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Nick Capodice: Wait, Noah, like the weather people?
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, yeah, they monitor weather. They monitor storms, which might not seem relevant. But what they also do is support fisheries and marine commerce. So you got to know what the weather is if you're going to do that.
Nick Capodice: And I guess with the census, you got to know how many people there are to really understand how the economy is going.
Hannah McCarthy: I would imagine it certainly helps. I don't know a lot about these things.
Nick Capodice: All right. I know we already talked about the Treasury and tariffs when it comes to the Treasury Secretary. But I have to assume that the Commerce Secretary. They have something to do with that as well.
Hannah McCarthy: You assume correctly, my friend. Lutnick will be overseeing tariffs, determining tariff rates, and working to control certain exports, like there's a plan to restrict tech exports to China. Now, Lutnick is a very wealthy investor with a huge portfolio. So there is some concern that he's going to run into some conflicts of interest. As someone who oversees American economic interests.
Nick Capodice: As in, will his interests affect how he conducts America's business?
Hannah McCarthy: That's the question. And frankly, it is a question that would be hard to answer definitively, even if the answer is yes. Next up, Nick, we have Pam Bondi, 54 yeas, 46 nays.
Archive: My overriding objective will be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals. And that includes getting back to basics gangs, drugs, terrorists, cartels, our border and our foreign adversaries.
Hannah McCarthy: And I think, you know, Pam Bondi's marching orders.
Nick Capodice: I certainly do. Hannah. Attorney general, we're talking about the law.
Hannah McCarthy: We are talking law. So, first and foremost, if you have not yet listened to our producer Christina Phillips episode on All the president's lawyers, I implore you do so now. She covers the twists and turns of legal representation and the executive branch and says everything that I don't have time to say here and says it better than I could. And Nick Watt is the attorney general.
Nick Capodice: The attorney general or the AG is the head of the Justice Department. They are the chief law enforcement officer of the US. They give advice to the president and the other executive department heads. But they represent the United States, ostensibly and on the rarest of occasions, they might appear before the Supreme Court.
Hannah McCarthy: That about covers it. So Bondi was Florida's first ever woman attorney general and was planning to run again, actually, until Trump picked her for his second choice nominee for us AG.
Nick Capodice: Yeah, this is after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew amidst a major scandal.
Hannah McCarthy: That is correct. So Bondi has told the Justice Department that they're, quote, shameful era unquote is going to come to an end. She has condemned what she calls insubordination in the Justice Department and calls for, quote, zealous advocacy of the Trump administration's policies. A lot of people have expressed concerns that her loyalties are more to Trump than they are to the US. All right. Moving on, Russell T Vogt, new director of the Office of Management and Budget. He got the job with 53 yeas, 47 nays.
Nick Capodice: We have to use taxpayer dollars.
Archive: Wisely because inflation driven by irresponsible federal spending taxes. Americans twice.
Nick Capodice: All right, the OMB. Hannah. Hannah, this is the one I was waiting for. Because it seems like all of a sudden, everybody cares about the OMB.
Hannah McCarthy: It sure does, doesn't it? Nick, what is the OMB?
Nick Capodice: The OMB is within the white House itself. So we've been talking about some departments and some independent agencies, and this is its own thing. So basically, this office helps the president do what the president wants to do. It develops the budget for doing what the president wants to do. It figures out what happens when the money runs out. It handles contracting. And it for the federal government It sends around drafts of executive orders to figure out what the other agencies think about them. The OMB is the thing that makes it all happen, and Russell.
Hannah McCarthy: T Vogt has been there before. Vogt ran it during Trump's first administration. Before that, he worked as a lobbyist for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and for a couple of Republican caucuses. And then after Trump's first term, Vogt founded the center for Renewing America. And he was an important architect of project 2025.
Nick Capodice: Project 2025, by the way, being shorthand for a bunch of policy recommendations for dismantling what they call the, quote unquote, deep state, making the executive more powerful and slashing government spending, among other things.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, the quote from Vogt's proposed budget in this whole project is dismantling the woke and weaponized bureaucracy. Vogt has expressed that he does not believe the congressional power of the purse is constitutional. He has a strong vision of dismantling the government. You know the government as it is right now. Senate Democrats did just about everything they could think of to delay his confirmation, but he did get through. All right. Nick, three more for you. And these last three appointees share something in common. They are the only three who did not score unanimous Republican consent. Wow.
Nick Capodice: All right, let's hear it.
Hannah McCarthy: Oh, you'll hear it. But we got to take a quick break.
Nick Capodice: Okay, fine. But before that break, listeners, Hannah and I have a whole comprehensive breakdown of the executive branch departments and what they do in our book, A User's Guide to Democracy How America Works.
Hannah McCarthy: I, in fact, reread parts of our book to remind myself of what these departments do while I was writing this, which felt like past Hannah giving present Hannah a little lesson. You know, it was nice.
Nick Capodice: You can find that book wherever books are sold.
Hannah McCarthy: We're back. This is part two of who is running the government. We're looking at all of President Donald Trump's confirmed executive branch leader appointees. Now, I have three more appointees to cover, all of whom failed to get unanimous Republican senator approval. The first two are tied. Each got 52 yeas, 48 nays. First, Tulsi Gabbard, director of national security.
Archive: And my day one priorities will be to assess the global threat environment, identify where gaps in our intelligence exist, integrate intelligence elements, increase information sharing, and ensure that unbiased, apolitical, objective collection and analysis to support the president and policymakers decision making occur.
Nick Capodice: But hang on. Did Tulsi Gabbard get a no from a Republican?
Hannah McCarthy: She did. Mitch McConnell, the senator from Kentucky. So the National Security Agency, the NSA, is a part of the US intelligence community. Think of it as cybersecurity for the United States. It also gathers intelligence from other countries, communication systems, weapon systems, etc.. It codes our stuff and decodes other nations stuff. Then it gives that information to our government and military. It also protects our weapons and security systems.
Nick Capodice: Right now, I know that Tulsi Gabbard is a Republican now, but she used to be a Democrat. Did she not?
Hannah McCarthy: She did. This is Gabbard's story. Gabbard was Hawaii's youngest state rep from 2002 to 2004. She became the first American Samoan congresswoman. She served from 2013 to 2021, and during this whole period, she's a Democrat. She was even the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee until she resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders in 2016 for his presidential campaign. Then she joined the Republican Party in 2024. Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve. She has served in the Hawaiian National Guard and the Army Military Police. She has made statements considered sympathetic to Vladimir Putin and to Syria's Assad regime. And all of this adds up to mean that Gabbard has critics on both sides of the aisle. She's also considered to be inexperienced in the realm of national security.
Nick Capodice: And she got the confirmation.
Hannah McCarthy: She got the confirmation. So. Add that to the long list. She has since emphasized the need for America's allies to work with the United States to share intelligence in the interest of, quote, peace, security and prosperity. So do you want to hear who tied with her?
Nick Capodice: Oh, I know who it is, Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy: You do?
Nick Capodice: I do. That would be Robert F Kennedy Jr for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Archive: Our country will sink beneath a sea of desperation and debt. If we don't change the course and ask why are healthcare costs so high in the first place?
Nick Capodice: Okay, so Kennedy is Attorney General Robert F Kennedy's son and President John F Kennedy's nephew. He is an environmental lawyer and has done a lot of work in clean water advocacy and human rights. He is also propagated the widely debunked myth that vaccines cause autism and spread misinformation about the Covid 19 vaccine during the height of the pandemic. He ran for president as an independent in 2024, dropped out of the race eventually and endorsed Donald Trump. Right.
Hannah McCarthy: So that vaccine thing, Nick, was a major sticking point during his confirmation hearing. When questioned about his views, Kennedy said they were taken out of context that he is not anti-vaccine. In fact, he said he supports vaccines and just wants. Quote unquote, good science. He got the job without Mitch McConnell's vote, and that job is to protect American health. This secretary is charged with preparing for and responding to public health emergencies, administering Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, overseeing medical research and administering funding for it, and repping the US in global health issues. We got one last one, Nick.
Nick Capodice: At least for now, and it is so many people and yet it's not that many people. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, not a lot of people at the top.
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah. And this last of the so far confirmed appointees did not have a lot of support at the top either. 51 yeas and nays. The smallest margin for any confirmed defense secretary in history.
Nick Capodice: So the total of votes here, Hannah, is 101. Which makes me assume that Vice President Vance broke the tie.
Hannah McCarthy: That's correct.
Nick Capodice: And we're talking about Pete Hegseth.
Archive: As I've said to many of you in private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense.
Nick Capodice: The thing that always blew my mind about the Department of Defense, the DoD, is the sheer size of it. It is so big, Hannah.
Hannah McCarthy: It's the largest government agency. We are talking Army, Navy, Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, a bunch of other agencies within that department, by the way, including the NSA.
Nick Capodice: The NSA is part of the DoD.
Hannah McCarthy: It sure is. Over 3 million people work within the DoD. The 2025 budget request was nearly $850 billion. Now the president is the commander in chief. How and when to employ and deploy the military. That is up to Trump. But the Secretary of Defense is responsible for defense policy, for spending that nearly trillion dollars and taking care of people and equipment in our many hundreds of national and international military bases and our thousands of military installations. The Secretary advises the president and helps them develop and implement defense strategy. It is the oldest department with the biggest budget, the most property, and the most people. So, Nick, can you tell these people who Pete Hegseth is?
Nick Capodice: Hegseth is a former Army national major. He served three tours. He then joined Fox News and became a co-host of Fox and Friends. Hegseth is a big Trump supporter. His confirmation hearing got a lot of coverage because it was so contentious. Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault. His former colleagues at Fox have expressed concerns about excessive alcohol consumption. He doesn't have a lot of experience managing people, which is considered a problem when you have to manage millions of people, and he has made statements opposed to women serving in the military.
Hannah McCarthy: That's the long and short of it. Hegseth, by the way, has denied the personal conduct allegations, and during his hearing, he said that women would have access to ground combat roles under his leadership. He got three Republican nays Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell again, and Lisa murkowski of Alaska. And that, Nick, is all she wrote. If she is the Senate confirming Trump's nominees and also me.
Nick Capodice: But you've said these are the confirmations so far. Who is left?
Hannah McCarthy: Yeah, we are waiting on votes for the secretary of Education, potentially. Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, aka WWE. The labor secretary, potentially. Lori Chavez-deremer, a former city council member and House rep from Oregon. We are still missing the US Trade representative, potentially Jamison Greer, who's a lawyer. He was also a trade official in Trump's first term. And we are missing the UN ambassador, potentially. Elise Stefanik, a House rep from New York. Wow.
Nick Capodice: Okay. And then that'll be that.
Hannah McCarthy: Well, we won't know till we know, but all of these other nominees are less contentious than some of those who have been confirmed already. If that tells us anything.
Nick Capodice: I think it maybe tells us something.
Hannah McCarthy: All right, so per usual, stay tuned. Civics 101 is going to be here. Basics and not so basics of government right where you need them. And also sometimes trivia about Nick who has lived a very interesting life. His band wants made a commercial for a light bulb company.
Nick Capodice: We did. Oh, how we did. Well, I'm gonna see your trivia and raise you, McCarthy.
Hannah McCarthy: All right. I guess that's only fair, but just like, leave middle school Hannah out of this, she's seen enough.
Nick Capodice: You mean the middle school? Hannah, who painted herself entirely in green and performed for good from wicked and a variety show.
Hannah McCarthy: That does it for this episode. It was produced by me, Hannah McCarthy with Nick Capodice and Rebecca Lavoie, our executive producer. Thank you again, Rebecca LaVoy Christina Phillips is our senior producer. Music in this episode comes from Epidemic Sound. You can find everything else we have ever made, including lots and lots of info on many of our executive branch departments and agencies at Civics101podcast.org. Civics 101 is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio.