Mike Pence
Vice-president
Background Aged 57. Governor of Indiana, former conservative radio disc jockey.
Job To be “the most powerful vice-president” in US history.
Key quote “Donald Trump understands . . . the American people like no leader since Reagan.”
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of state
Background Aged 64. Former ExxonMobil chief executive and an acquaintance of President Putin.
Job Shaping foreign policy.
Key quote On Chinese activity in the South China Sea: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”
James Mattis
Defence secretary
Background Aged 66. Retired Marine Corps general.
Job Running a $524 billion-a-year department.
Key quote “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
Steve Mnuchin
Treasury secretary
Background Aged 54. Financier and Hollywood producer worth $40 million.
Job To manage the government finances.
Key quote On omissions in his application paperwork: “Filling out these government forms is quite complicated.”
Elaine Chao
Transport secretary
Background Aged 63. A Taiwanese-American who has served in two previous cabinets and is the wife of Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.
Job Oversee infrastructure projects.
Key quote “I will be working to lock in the majority leader’s support tonight over dinner.”
Advertisement
Betsy DeVos
Education secretary
Background Aged 59. An heir to the Amway goods empire.
Job Will look at the possibility of more children attending religious schools.
Key quote “We must open up the education industry — we must open it up to entrepreneurs and innovators.”
Jeff Sessions
Attorney-general
Background Aged 70. The Senator for Alabama was also a former US attorney for the state
Job Investigate wrongdoing by government agencies and officials.
Key quote On his alleged racism: “I did not harbour the kind of animosities or race-based discrimination that I was accused of.”
Ben Carson
Housing secretary
Background Aged 65. Black neurosurgeon and a former Trump rival.
Job Oversee public housing.
Key quote On his lack of government experience: “Running this department is not really brain surgery and if you can handle that, you most certainly have the capabilities to step in and look at this with fresh eyes.”
Wilbur Ross
Commerce secretary
Background Aged 79. The richest individual picked for the cabinet, worth $2.9 billion.
Job Implement trade policies as part of the “America First” strategy.
Key quote “We are a country of the rule of law. Some of these other countries are instead the law of the ruler.”
Tom Price
Health secretary
Background Aged 62. Georgia congressman and orthopaedic surgeon.
Job To oversee the dismantling of Obamacare.
Key quote “Under Obamacare, the American people are paying more for healthcare and getting less — less access, less quality and fewer choices.”
Advertisement
Andrew Puzder
Labour secretary
Background Aged 66. Lawyer-turned-chief executive of two fast food chains.
Job Set standards for employment benefits and work hours. Has said he looks forward to when workers are replaced by robots.
Key quote On the Senate’s decision to delay his confirmation to February: “I am looking forward to my hearing.”
General John Kelly
Homeland security secretary
Background Aged 66. A retired Marine Corps general.
Job Implement tighter border controls.
Key quote On building the Mexican wall: “A physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job.”
Nikki Haley
UN ambassador
Background Aged 45. Indian-American governor of South Carolina.
Job Diminishing UN influence on American diplomacy.
Key quote “The American people see the UN’s waste and corruption and they are fed up.”
Scott Pruitt
Environmental Protection Agency administrator
Background Aged 48. Oklahoma attorney-general.
Job Dismantle regulations on water safety and pollution limits.
Key quote “Science tells us the climate is changing and human activity in some matter impacts that change.”
Mike Pompeo
CIA director
Background Aged 53. Congressman from Kansas.
Job Assessing foreign threats to the US.
Key quote “I will continue to pursue foreign intelligence with vigour no matter where the facts lead.”
Advertisement
Rick Perry
Energy secretary
Background Aged 66. Longest serving Texas governor.
Job Maintain American nuclear arsenal.
Key quote “My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking.”
Sonny Perdue
Agriculture secretary
Background Aged 70. Former fertiliser salesman who became governor of Georgia.
Job Oversee the federal food assistance programme.
Key quote Donald Trump on why he was picked: “He loves the farms, knows everything about farming, he knows the good stuff and the bad stuff.”
Ryan Zinke
Interior secretary
Background Aged 55. Montana congressman and former Navy Seal.
Job Oversee federal lands and coal and mineral exploration licensing.
Key quote “We need a commander in chief that understands peace is only gained through strength rather than a policy of retreat and defeat.”
David Shulkin
Veterans’ affairs secretary, appointed by President Obama
Background Aged 57. Current undersecretary of health for veterans’ affairs department.
Job Revamp the scandal-plagued health and benefits system.
Key quote Trump on picking the man appointed by Obama to stay on: “He’s fantastic. He will do a truly great job.”