Now that Trump has been elected as the next United States president, the daunting task of appointing his transition team and selecting those for top offices has to be done.
On Friday, he announced those who will be the new National Security Advisor, CIA Director and the Attorney General of America. While his appointments may seem to look like a Grand Old Party of men, here’s taking a closer look at the selected ones.
Attorney General - Sen. Jeff Sessions
Trump’s transition team confirmed on Friday that the Senator from Alabama has been picked as the choice for Attorney General.
In February, Sessions became the first sitting senator to back Trump and offer his endorsement to his campaign. His name had been touted as a possible running mate for Trump before Mike Pence.
Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Sessions also served as an advisor on the immigration policy plan to Trump, during his campaign. The Senator had called the then Republican candidate as one who would be able to fix illegal immigration.
While it is unlikely his nomination would get blocked by his Republican colleagues, the Democrats and liberals are sure to bring up his controversial past.
In the 1980s, Ronald Regan was considering appointing Sessions for a federal district judgeship in Alabama but it was blocked by the Senate after he was accused by a black former deputy, Thomas Figures, for making racially insensitive statements.
Sessions had allegedly told Figures to be careful regarding what he said about “white folks”.
National Security Advisor - Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn
Mike Flynn, despite facing sharp criticism from national security experts during the Trump campaign, has been a Trump loyalist.
Trump’s team had vetted Flynn to be Trump’s possible running mate, as NBC had reported in July.
US has a vast security apparatus consisting of the State Department, Defence Department, CIA, National Security Agency and other agencies. The president’s special assistant for national security affairs has to coordinate the synthesis and presentation of information from these sources.
The NSA serves to the president as his top day-to-day counselor on foreign and military affairs.
The Senate does not need to approve Flynn’s appointment, who is a 33-year Army veteran and was Defence Intelligence Agency’s director from 2012 to 2014.
A controversial past follows him as well, as back in February, Flynn had said on Twitter that “Fear of Muslims is rational.”
CIA Chief - Mike Pompeo
Republican from Kansas Mike Pompeo has accepted the nomination of being the new CIA Chief.
The 52-year-old was elected to Congress in 2010 as one of those endorsed by the tea party, and was backed by Charles and David Koch, mega donors to Republicans. A former Army officer and Harvard graduate, he serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
He was part of the House Select Benghazi Committee, a special panel that was convened for probing the 11 September 2012 Libya attack that left four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens, dead.
Pompeo, along with Rep. Jim Jordan, criticised Hillary Clinton in her role at the time as Secretary of State, saying she mislead Americans about the evolution of the attack since President Obama was up for re-election.
He has received backlash in the past for making controversial statements on the House floor in 2013, when he said:
“Instead of responding, silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts and more importantly still, in those that may well follow.”
(With inputs from NBC News)
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