Since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency in the 2024 election, all eyes have been on his transition plans. His rhetoric and promised policies had been key talking points in arguments opposing his campaign, with progressives condemning them for being everything from terrifying to laughably ridiculous. Now that he’s the president-elect, they seem closer to reality than ever.

Among the groups who have a vested interest in Trump’s next presidency are college women, who are both old enough to understand how acutely his leadership will affect them, and young enough to face both the short-term and long-term consequences of it. And it’s not just Trump that college women are looking out for; quickly after he was reelected, Trump began announcing his new cabinet picks, and since then, it feels like he’s made almost too many choices to keep up with. A president’s cabinet oversees various departments and initiatives, making choices about how those departments should operate. With that in mind, a president-elect’s cabinet picks hold a vast amount of power and influence, which is why many are concerned by the people Trump has selected thus far.

While Trump’s cabinet picks won’t be set in stone for some time now, here are some of the most important names college women should have on their radars.

Matt Gaetz

Matt Gaetz was a former Florida representative from 2017 until Nov. 13, 2024, when he resigned after Trump announced him as his nominee for U.S. Attorney General. Currently, Gaetz faces allegations of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl and was investigated (but not charged) for sex trafficking. Her Campus reached out to Gaetz’s team for comment on the allegations and investigations but didn’t hear back in time for publication; according to the Washington Post, Gaetz has said the allegations are “invented.” The House Ethics Committee reopened an investigation on Gaetz in 2023, but now that Gaetz has resigned, the committee no longer has jurisdiction over him.

Never forget that time Matt Gaetz was the solitary no vote against a law designed to combat human trafficking in 2017 pic.twitter.com/atiQt8Wlyt

— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) November 18, 2024

Miriam “Mimi” Rocah, the Democratic district attorney in Westchester County, New York, who also investigated the Trump family business over its tax practices, posted warnings on X about Gaetz’s appointment to the U.S. Attorney General position, saying “There will be mass resignations of career prosecutors at DOJ & US Attorney Offices & no one left to prosecute gun crimes, child porn, corruption, sex trafficking, or hate crimes.”

Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy

Trump has proposed a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (also known as *checks notes* DOGE) to make the government smaller and work more efficiently. At the head of this department, if all goes according to Trump’s plan, is X and Tesla owner Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who ran against Trump in the Republican primaries. Federal workers are worried about their jobs and livelihoods in the face of downsizing; Musk has warned that his proposals would cause “temporary hardship,” but lead to “long-term prosperity.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK on day 1 after seeing the volume of mcdonald’s consumed by the white house pic.twitter.com/rCr6wTNp4C

— sophie (@netcapgirl) November 15, 2024

RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign may have failed, but Trump recently announced that he will still play a large role in the federal government as the next U.S. Health Secretary. While he denies being anti-vaccine, Kennedy has made some really questionable claims about vaccines, including saying that vaccines are linked to autism and calling COVID shots “a crime against humanity.” Despite this, Kennedy has pledged to “Make America Healthy Again.” In October, Trump said at a campaign rally that he would let Kennedy handle women’s health, which has raised many eyebrows. (Oh yeah, he also said he had a dead worm in his brain… Healthy!)

Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick for the Head of Homeland Security, has fought both transgender rights and the teaching of critical race theory in schools. In 2022, as governor of South Dakota, she signed a law prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in women’s school sports. She has also been criticized by political opponents for an anecdote in her memoir, in which she wrote about killing a family dog she deemed “untrainable” and “dangerous.”

Stephen Miller

Trump has appointed Stephen Miller, one of his previous advisors, to the position of “border czar.” The position does not actually exist (yet), but Miller’s threats are very real. He has supported an end to birthright citizenship and aims to “turbocharge” his efforts to strip naturalized citizens of their legal status. In Trump’s previous term, he supported and helped implement Trump’s zero-tolerance child separation policy.

Trump’s Full List Of Cabinet Picks (So Far)

While the above names are the ones causing the most buzz among young women, here’s the full list to keep an eye on, as of Nov. 18:

White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles
Secretary of state: Marco Rubio
Attorney general: Matt Gaetz
Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche
HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik
“Border czar”: Tom Homan
Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth
Secretary of veterans affairs: Doug Collins
National security adviser: Michael Waltz
Interior secretary: Doug Burgum
White House counsel: William McGinley
Solicitor general: Dean John Sauer
Secretary of homeland security: Kristi Noem
CIA director: John Ratcliffe
Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard
EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin
FCC chairman: Brendan Carr
U.S. ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton
Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Deputy chief of staff: Dan Scavino
Deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller
Deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair
Deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich
Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor
White House communications director: Steven Cheung
White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt
Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright

Trump’s Cabinet Picks: What College Women Need To Know