On the one hand, President Donald Trump announced he would nominate a woman to replace US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is slated to leave by the end of the year. On the other hand, it became clear the position would be downgraded and removed from his Cabinet.
The net effect is one fewer woman in Trump’s official Cabinet.
The President announced Friday he would nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to replace Haley.
According to reporting by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told aides he wants the position downgraded from Cabinet level, which is in line with previous Republican administrations.
Nauert, a former Fox News host, has seen a meteoric rise in the Trump administration, but that apparently does not equal Cabinet rank. The role of ambassador to the UN does not always have Cabinet level. Former President Barack Obama’s UN ambassadors, Susan Rice and Samantha Power, had the designation, as did Haley, who came to the role after being South Carolina’s governor. But former President George W. Bush did not include the position in his Cabinet. It was filled temporarily at one point by Trump’s current national security adviser John Bolton.
With Haley, there were six women in Trump’s Cabinet — 26%, a lower percentage than Obama’s Cabinet, which ranged between 30% and 35%, but higher than George W. Bush, whose Cabinet had between 19% and 24%, according to data compiled by the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers. If the position is removed from the Cabinet, the percentage of women in Trump’s Cabinet would fall to 23%.
Here’s the full list of Cabinet heads, according to the White House:
Women
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda E. McMahon
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel
- Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
- Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao
- Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen
Men
- Attorney General nominee William “Bill” Barr (needs Senate confirmation)
- Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney
- Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
- Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
- Secretary of Defense James Mattis
- Secretary of Energy James Richard Perry
- Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.
- Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke
- Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
- Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie
- U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
- Vice President Michael R. Pence
- White House chief of staff John F. Kelly (it was reported Friday that Kelly is expected to resign soon)
