Donald Trump Picks Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff, Weighs Other Major Hires

US President-elect Donald Trump holds arms with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus (R) while speaking at his election night rally in Manhattan, November 9. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Washington: US president-elect Donald Trump chose Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff and named Stephen Bannon, former head of conservative website Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counsellor.

Trump, who will take office on January 20 and succeed Democratic President Barack Obama, will also look to fill other top administration jobs in the coming weeks. Below are people mentioned as contenders for senior roles.

Secretary of state

• Bob Corker, Tennessee senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

• John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN under President George W. Bush

• Newt Gingrich, Republican former US House Speaker

• Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Iraq

Treasury secretary

• Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican congressman and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee

• Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs executive and Trump's campaign finance chairman

• Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase & Co chief executive officer

• Tom Barrack, founder and chairman of Colony Capital Inc.

Defense secretary

• Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

• Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under Bush

• Jon Kyl, former Republican senator from Arizona

• Jeff Sessions, Republican senator from Alabama and early Trump supporter, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

• Kelly Ayotte, outgoing Republican senator from New Hampshire and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

• Duncan Hunter, Republican congressman from California and early Trump supporter, member of House Armed Services Committee

• Jim Talent, former Republican senator from Missouri who was on the Senate Armed Services Committee

Attorney general

• Rudy Giuliani, Republican former mayor of New York City

• Jeff Sessions, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who takes a hard line on immigration

• Chris Christie, Republican New Jersey governor

• Pam Bondi, Republican Florida Attorney General

• Trey Gowdy, Republican congressman from South Carolina who headed the House committee that investigated the 2012 attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya

Health and human services secretary

• Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon and 2016 Republican presidential candidate

• Newt Gingrich, Republican former US House Speaker

• Rich Bagger, former pharmaceutical executive and former top aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

• Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana governor

Homeland security secretary

• Michael McCaul, US Republican congressman from Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

• David Clarke, Milwaukee county sheriff and vocal Trump supporter

• Joe Arpaio, outgoing Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff who campaigned for Trump 

Head of the environmental protection agency

• Myron Ebell, a climate change sceptic at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute who is overseeing environmental policy on Trump's transition team

• Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors

• Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas attorney general

• Carol Comer, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Energy secretary

• Harold Hamm, Oklahoma oil and gas mogul, CEO of Continental Resources Inc.

• James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies and a former environmental adviser to Bush

• Robert Grady

Interior secretary

• Sarah Palin, Republican former Alaska governor who ran for vice president in 2008

• Jan Brewer, former Arizona governor

• Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil

• Harold Hamm

• Robert Grady

Commerce secretary

• Linda McMahon, former world Wrestling Entertainment executive and two-time Senate candidate

Central intelligence agency director

• Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

• Mike Rogers, Republican former congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee

• Pete Hoekstra, Republican former congressman from Michigan

National security adviser

• Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

• Stephen Hadley

UN ambassador

•  Kelly Ayotte

•  Richard Grenell, former spokesman for the US at the UN

•  Peter King, Republican congressman from New York

US trade representative

• Dan DiMicco, former chief executive of steel producer Nucor Corp

Veterans affairs secretary

•  Jeff Miller, retiring congressman from Florida and chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee

(Reuters)

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