The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secretary is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States, and is fourteenth in the presidential line of succession.
The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The administrator is nominated by the president of the United States and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate.
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to the agency's vision and serving as a source of internal leadership within NASA. The office holder also has an important place within United States space policy, and is assisted by a deputy administrator.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.
The under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, or USC(OA), is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States secretary of commerce on the environmental and scientific activities of the department. The under secretary is dual hatted as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Commerce Department.
Jovita Carranza is an American businesswoman who served as the 26th Administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2020 to 2021, having previously served as the 44th Treasurer of the United States from 2017 to 2020. She was appointed to both roles by President Donald Trump. Before that she served as the Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration from December 2006 to January 2009. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Carranza was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Prior to her first appointment to the SBA, Carranza served as Vice President of Air Operations for United Parcel Service (UPS) at its facility in Louisville, Kentucky.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20, 2021 to February 2, 2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security, during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
Alfonso E. Lenhardt represented the United States as Ambassador to Tanzania from 2009 to 2013. He was also accredited as the US representative to the East African Community (EAC) in 2010. He left his post in October 2013. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate. From 1965 to 1997, he had a distinguished military career in the U.S. Army, with multiple assignments to various parts of the world, retiring as a highly decorated Major General.
According to the United States Office of Government Ethics, a political appointee is "any employee who is appointed by the President, the Vice President, or agency head". As of 2016, there were around 4,000 political appointment positions which an incoming administration needs to review, and fill or confirm, of which about 1,200 require Senate confirmation. The White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) is one of the offices most responsible for political appointees and for assessing candidates to work at or for the White House.
Polly Ellen Trottenberg is an American government official who is serving as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under Pete Buttigieg since April 14, 2021. She was named acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in June 2023. She previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation from 2014 to 2020.
This is a list of political appointments of current officeholders made by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Russell Thurlow Vought is an American former government official who was the director of the Office of Management and Budget from July 2020 to January 2021. He was previously deputy director of the OMB from 2018 to 2020 and acting director from 2019 to 2020.
Patrick Pizzella is a former American government official who served as the 36th United States Deputy Secretary of Labor from April 17, 2018 to January 20, 2021. He was formerly a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority appointed by President Barack Obama. He held positions in several agencies during four prior Administrations. In 2019, after the resignation of Alexander Acosta, Pizzella served as the acting United States Secretary of Labor for more than 2 months. He currently serves as the elected Mayor Pro Tem for the village of Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Andrew R. Wheeler is an American attorney who served as the 15th administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2019 to 2021. He served as the deputy administrator from April to July 2018, and served as the acting administrator from July 2018 to February 2019. He has been a senior advisor to Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin since March 2022. He previously worked in the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels, representing coal magnate Robert E. Murray and lobbying against the Obama Administration's environmental regulations. Wheeler served as chief counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and to the chairman U.S. senator James Inhofe, prominent for his rejection of climate change. Wheeler is a critic of limits on greenhouse gas emissions and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Bonnie Glick is an American diplomat and businesswoman who served as the Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2019 to 2020. Nominated for the post by President Donald Trump in April 2018, she was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent in January 2019. On September 21, 2021, Glick was announced as the inaugural director of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue during the Concordia Summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Joel Szabat is a former American government official and military officer. In August 2018, Szabat was nominated by President Donald Trump to become Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs. He was confirmed by the United States Senate in a unanimous voice vote on January 2, 2019. Szabat became Acting Under Secretary in June, 2019.
Adam Seth Boehler is an American businessman and government official who was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the first CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. He is currently the CEO of Rubicon Founders, a health care investment firm based in Nashville.
Alina L. Romanowski is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Iraq since June 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from February 2020 to April 2022.
John Barsa is an American businessman and consultant who currently serves as the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. Previously, Barsa served as the United States Agency for International Development Acting Administrator in 2020. Later, the White House requested that he assume the position of USAID Acting Deputy Administrator on November 7, 2020, which effectively circumvented the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and would have required that he step down and leave the administrator's post vacant.
Paloma Adams-Allen is a Jamaican-American foreign policy advisor who has served as the deputy administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for management and resources in the Biden administration since October 2021.
