2 weeks Ago
President-elect Donald Trump waves as he walks with former first lady Melania Trump at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, early Wednesday morning, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump now faces organizing a new government and some Louisiana politicos may be in line for jobs.
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save WASHINGTON – Before sweeping up confetti from President-elect Donald Trump’s victory party, job seekers began angling for posts — including a batch of Louisianans, from former Gov. Bobby Jindal to current Gov. Jeff Landry.
It’s all speculative , of course. Trump’s people say we’ll know when they announce it. Being Washington, however, nearly everyone has an opinion and many news organizations handicap possible choices.
So far, Trump’s only announcement was naming Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, his chief of staff. That leaves the rest of the incoming government open and gives Louisiana politicos a chance. Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, who served in Trump’s first administration, acknowledged Friday that he talked with the transition team and would be interested in a “senior position.
” The New York Post reported Thursday that Landry was a possible U.S. Attorney General pick, citing his involvement in a lawsuit claiming the Biden administration tried to quell conservative voices on social media and his fundraising for Trump’s campaign.
But no other major news source has yet put Landry on their list. Reuters , CNN , BBC , and others nod at U.S.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and lesser known conservative lawyers close to Trump, like John Ratcliffe and Mark Paoletta. Who heads the Justice Department is one of the appointments Trump is said to consider most important.
For his part, Landry told The Advocate | Times-Picayune in July and Rolling Stone magazine in early September that despite “the local buzz,” he would stay governor. “I would say, ‘Mr. President, I’d be more than happy to find you one of the greatest attorney generals that the country could ever have,’” Landry told Rolling Stone.
“But I got a lot of work here in Louisiana.” A safer bet would be Jindal getting tapped for cabinet-level secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, which has a $1.6 trillion budget. Jindal made his political bones as a healthcare expert under Gov.
Mike Foster decades ago. Jindal headed what is now the Louisiana Department of Health before being elected to Congress, then governor between 2008 to 2016. Jindal is on the list with some other major hitters, say Politico and Roll Call , two political news outlets.
There’s a lot of talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but his anti-vaccination and anti-fluoridation stances make it unlikely that he could win Senate confirmation, media reports say.
Kennedy likely will hold an unofficial advisory position. Of his direct competitors, Jindal has the most experience running huge government agencies. And one should keep in mind that Trump distanced himself from Project 2025, which outlined how conservatives could take control of government administration and law enforcement, when Democrats used it to make political points.
Trump turned to America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, for issue advice. Jindal chairs the i nstitute’s Center for a Healthy America. Jindal did not return queries seeking comment.
Politico also cited unnamed sources saying Baton Rouge Rep. Garret Graves is one several possibilities to head the U.S.
Department of Transportation, another cabinet level position. The DOT secretary controls an $88 billion budget and has say-so in the infrastructure projects funded by other sources of revenue. Politico cited unnamed sources saying Graves has talked with the transition team.
Graves refused comment. Several news sources name Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto as a leading contender to run the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency under Trump. Founded in 1970 by President Richard Nixon and operating with a roughly $10 billion budget, the EPA has been the target of vitriol by Trump and many Republicans who argue that the agency’s regulations hinder companies and the jobs they create. As director of the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service during Trump’s first administration, Giacometto weakened rules about killing birds during oil and gas exploration and production. Regardless of who is finally chosen to directly serve Trump, Louisiana politicos in Congress will have an outsized presence during the next few years.
Of course, the number one and number two leaders in the House are from Louisiana: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. Not as well reported is that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is the ranking minority member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee, currently led by Sen.
Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. Usually seniority determines who chairs when a new party takes over, so other senators with longer tenures technically could supplant Cassidy. But Senate staffers don’t think that likely.
Come January, Cassidy is expected to lead the HELP committee that oversees the issues in its name — thus a larger portion of the federal budget than the military..
