Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff, has advised President-elect Donald Trump to ensure his Cabinet appointees are supported by experienced deputies to navigate the challenges of running federal agencies. While Trump has swiftly announced his second administration’s Cabinet nominees, several lack significant government experience, prompting Rove’s concerns.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rove emphasized the importance of selecting skilled deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, and other senior officials to bolster Cabinet members with limited experience.
“Picking the No. 2s for his Cabinet secretaries and administrators is crucial,” Rove wrote, noting that these roles are essential to managing bureaucratic complexities and advancing the administration’s agenda effectively.
Rove cited former Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, as an example of a strong leader who will require knowledgeable deputies. “The EPA is a bureaucratic and complex department that will not be easy to navigate,” Rove said.
He also praised Jim O’Neill, tapped as deputy secretary of health and human services, for his experience on Capitol Hill and in the White House. O’Neill’s background is expected to complement Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary, whose confirmation is anticipated to face significant Senate opposition.
Other nominees drawing scrutiny for their relative inexperience include Pete Hegseth, nominated for defense secretary, and Sean Duffy, selected for transportation secretary. Hegseth, though a decorated veteran, has not held a senior defense position, while Duffy, a former congressman and media personality, lacks experience in transportation policy.
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), chosen to lead the Department of Homeland Security, has limited direct experience with border security, a key focus of the agency.
Rove underscored the stakes for Trump’s administration, particularly with a slim Republican majority in the House (217-215) and potential resistance in the Senate. The rejection of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s attorney general nomination earlier this month highlighted internal challenges within the party.
Trump must act decisively, Rove argued, to ensure his administration’s success against potential bureaucratic inertia. “He needs people who have been in the trenches, grappled with the bureaucracy, and have some sense of its powers to distract, delay, and misdirect,” Rove warned.
Rove concluded with a call for pragmatism: “Shaking things up works only if doing so helps rather than hurts the American people. Doing the right thing the right way matters. Who’s No. 2 matters almost as much as who’s No. 1.”