December 12, 2024
As the incoming Trump administration assembles its cabinet and other high-level government appointees, views on nominees are highly partisan, with Democrats more likely to disapprove and Republicans more likely to approve.
Trump appointed former Fox News host and Army National Guard major, Pete Hegseth, as the incoming Secretary of Defense. Several Republican and Democratic senators expressed concern over Hegseth’s nomination, citing allegations of sexual assault, inappropriate work conduct, and comments that women should not serve in frontline military combat roles.
About 4 in 10 adults, including 32% of Democrats and 38% of Republicans, do not know enough about Hegseth’s nomination to offer an opinion. But among those with an opinion, people are much more likely to disapprove (36%) than approve (17%). Just a third of Republicans approve.
Republicans are less likely to approve of Hegseth’s nomination than Trump’s other cabinet picks—Marco Rubio for Secretary of State (56%), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services (61%), and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence (41%).
While Democrats and independents express less support for these cabinet picks, independents are more divided on their support for Rubio, Kennedy, and Gabbard. Many do not know enough to have an opinion about these nominations.
The nationwide poll was conducted December 5-9, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,251 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.7 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Views toward Trump cabinet appointees are highly partisan” (December 2024). https://apnorc.org/projects/views-toward-trump-cabinet-appointees-are-highly-partisan/
