President-elect Donald Trump may be known for his close relationship with evangelical Christians, but it’s Catholics who figure prominently on the list of picks he’s made so far for high-profile positions in his administration.
A review by the Deseret News found that at least eight of the 23 people tapped so far to fill top advisory roles come from a Catholic background, including Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
Catholic voters helped Trump secure a second term in the White House.
Multiple polls have shown that Trump gained Catholic support from 2020 to 2024, including in the swing state of North Carolina.
Exit polls from The Washington Post showed that Trump’s share of the Catholic vote jumped nine percentage points from 2020 to 2024, from 47% to 56%, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Using its VoteCast survey, The Associated Press identified a smaller but still significant jump in support for Trump among Catholics and reported that Catholics were one of few religious voting blocs to make a notable shift toward either party in 2024.
Among non-Catholic religious voters, “VoteCast found that Trump generally fared about the same against Harris as he did against Biden,” the AP reported.
The Deseret News review showed that nearly all of Trump’s picks so far for his new administration identify as some form of Christian, and two have worked as pastors.
Tulsi Gabbard, who is Hindu, and Lee Zeldin and Howard Lutnick, who are Jewish, are three exceptions.
All but two of the 23 people that Trump has named to high-profile positions will need to be confirmed by the Senate before they can officially get to work.
JD Vance, Vice President
Vance, who will serve as Trump’s vice president, is an adult convert to Catholicism, as the Deseret News previously reported.
After attending evangelical Christian churches off and on as a child, Vance drifted away from organized religion as a young adult. He told the Deseret News in 2016 that he was an atheist, or at least close to it, when he enrolled at Yale Law School, but by the time he graduated, he was curious about faith again.
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 after exploring the church for a few years. He credited friends and mentors with inspiring the change.
“When I looked at the people who meant the most to me, they were Catholic,” Vance told Rod Dreher about his conversion in 2019.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Like Vance, Rubio identifies as Catholic. And also like Vance, Rubio’s religious journey had some twists and turns.
Rubio was baptized Catholic, but he and his family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when Rubio was in elementary school, according to Religion News Service. They were part of the church for around three years before converting back to Catholicism.
Early in his political career, Rubio regularly attended a Southern Baptist church in Miami with his wife, Jeanette, but then he recommitted to his Catholicism and spent time reading religious texts to deepen his appreciation for his faith, per National Catholic Register.
In part because of his own religious background, Rubio has been a strong defender of religious freedom as a senator.
“The United States has a critical role to play in shining light on religious freedom violations worldwide, and we’re working to make that happen,” he said at a summit on international religious freedom in 2022, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury
Bessent, a hedge fund executive, is Trump’s pick to run the Treasury Department. He’s described as a French Huguenot in a press release about his nomination from the Trump-Vance transition team.
“Born in Conway, South Carolina, Scott is a member of the French Huguenot Church of Charleston, where his family were founding members in the 1680s,” the release said.
French Huguenots are Protestant Christians, according to the church’s website.
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, identifies as Christian and has spoken about the importance of his faith while appearing on Fox News.
For example, earlier this year, he led a prayer live on air, as the Christian Broadcasting Network reported at the time.
If you follow Hegseth on Instagram, you’ll catch glimpses of his faith-themed tattoos from time to time.
Among others, he has a cross with a sword inside, which is a reference to Matthew 10:34: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Pam Bondi, Attorney General
Pam Bondi, the first female to serve as Florida’s attorney general, is Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general. He shifted to Bondi after Matt Gaetz dropped out.
Bondi has not spoken about her religious background in interviews or on social media. Faith-related headlines about her work have instead focused on her political stances, including her views on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
“Israel is one of our, if not our greatest ally in the world,” Bondi told Fox News in 2018.
Bondi has been questioned in the past over her relationship with the Church of Scientology. Scientologists helped fundraise for her during her reelection campaign in 2014 and she repeatedly met with members of the church to discuss her office’s initiatives, according to Newsweek.
Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior
Burgum, the current governor of North Dakota, is Trump’s pick to lead the Department of the Interior.
He does not speak often about his faith, but in 2023, when he was on the campaign trail as a Republican presidential candidate, Burgum told a panel of undecided voters that he grew up Methodist and has drawn on that faith for strength during difficult moments in this life.
“That’s the faith that sustained me when my dad passed away when I was a freshman in high school. It’s what sustained me when I lost my older brother ... when my mom passed away. ... It’s been a key part of all I’ve done,” Burgum said about his religious background.
Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture
Rollins is Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Agriculture. In the first Trump administration, she worked in the Office of American Innovation and then as the acting director of the Domestic Policy Council, according to The New York Times.
If confirmed, Rollins will come to the second Trump administration from the America First Policy Institute, which works to promote religious liberty, among other values.
Rollins is Christian and often shares her beliefs about the role of faith in politics on social media.
“In America, we first look to God for strength and guidance — and then we look to our leaders,” she wrote on Oct. 5.
Then, on Oct. 8, she wrote, “Faith should always be at the heart of all we do. I’m proud to work with leaders who believe the same.”
Rollins’ bio on Instagram and X cites Matthew 5:14-16, which reads, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce
Lutnick has been nominated by Trump to lead the Commerce Department. He is Jewish and has made large donations to Jewish and Israeli causes throughout his career as a CEO of a financial services company, according to The Forward.
In October, Lutnick told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his enthusiasm for Trump as a candidate soared in the past year because of his views on Israel.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Labor
Chavez-DeRemer is Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department. She currently represents Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives, but she lost her reelection bid earlier this month.
Chavez-DeRemer is Catholic, according to Pew Research Center.
Last year, she marked Ash Wednesday, the holiday that, for Christians, marks the start of the season of Lent, with an Instagram post that included a Bible verse.
“‘All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.’ Ecclesiastes 3:20,” she wrote.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services
Kennedy, who dropped his third-party presidential campaign to support Trump’s re-election bid, has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy is Catholic and has spoken about faith being a big part of his childhood.
“We said the rosary at least once a day, oftentimes three times a day,” Kennedy told EWTN in April. “We prayed before and after every (meal). We read the Bible every night. We read the lives of the saints. We went to church, sometimes twice a day.”
In the same interview, Kennedy talked about returning to his faith as he battled drug addiction in his 20s.
“I had a spiritual awakening very early in my recovery,” he said. “But you can’t live off the laurels of a spiritual awakening. You have to renew it every day, and you renew it through service to other people.”
Scott Turner, Housing Secretary
Turner, a former NFL player, will lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development if he’s confirmed by the Senate.
After retiring from football in 2004, Turner turned his attention to politics. He worked in Washington, D.C. in a congressman’s office and was then elected to the Texas House in 2013, per The Associated Press.
Over that same period, Turner began serving religious organizations and pastoring others. He’s currently an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, according to Baptist News Global.
“What a glorious choice Prestonwood’s own Scott Turner in the Trump cabinet. Great man who will do a tremendous job in this important responsibility,” said Prestonwood’s senior pastor, the Rev. Jack Graham, on X after Turner’s appointment was announced.
Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation
Duffy, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Transportation, is Catholic. He previously represented Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.
Duffy stepped down from the House in 2019 and cited his family to explain the decision. He and he wife were preparing to welcome their ninth child at the time.
“With much prayer, I have decided that this is the right time for me to take a break from public service in order to be the support my wife, baby and family need right now,” Duffy said, per Catholic News Agency.
He continued, “I have always been open to signs from God when it comes to balancing my desire to serve both my family and my country.”
Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy
Wright, who, if confirmed, will lead the Department of Energy, has not said much about faith in past interviews about his work in the energy sector.
In a January episode of “The Happiness Squad Podcast,” Wright did not name religion when asked to describe sources of happiness in his life.
Wright did reference religion in a 2023 interview with “The Power Hungry Podcast,” saying that declining engagement with organized religion has led people to find intense meaning in other pursuits, including the fight against climate change.
“It’s become a religion. It gives people meaning,” he said.
Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education
McMahon served in Trump’s cabinet during his first term as administrator of the Small Business Administration. Now, she’s been nominated to lead the Department of Education.
McMahon was born into a Baptist family but converted to Catholicism, according to the Los Angeles Times. She has supported Sacred Heart University, a Catholic school in Connecticut, in multiple ways over the past two decades, including by serving on the Board of Trustees.
On the Sacred Heart campus, “the Linda E. McMahon Student Commons is named for her, and the dining hall within is called Linda’s,” according to a school press release.
“Linda’s generosity to Sacred Heart over the years has been tremendous,” Sacred Heart president John J. Petillo said in a statement this week, per Inside Higher Ed. “She cares deeply about our students and understands our mission. … We are confident that Linda’s leadership will bring enormous value to the education system, just as it has to Sacred Heart University.”
Douglas Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Douglas Collins, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, is Baptist. He actually worked as a Baptist minister and military chaplain before launching his political career.
In the 1980s, he served for two years as a chaplain for the U.S. Navy, per The Associated Press. Then, after 9/11, he was deployed to Iraq as a chaplain with the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Collins has a master’s degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and led a church for 11 years, the article said.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security
Trump wants Noem, the current governor of South Dakota, to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Noem is an evangelical Christian who described faith as one of the pillars of her life in her 2022 memoir, “Not My First Rodeo.”
Also in the book, Noem wrote about feeling like God called her to national politics.
“I am worried about us being disobedient to what God may be asking us to do,” she recalled telling her husband as they weighed chasing a seat in Congress, per Fox News.
John Ratcliffe, CIA Director
Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term. He’s now Trump’s pick to be director of the CIA.
Ratcliffe is Catholic, according to Pew Research Center. While representing Texas in Congress from 2015 to 2020, he spoke about being honored to protect religious freedom for others.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I have in Congress to defend Americans’ fundamental right to follow their religious convictions,” he wrote on his official Facebook page in 2020.
Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff
Wiles, who will be Trump’s chief of staff during his second term in the White House, stayed out of the spotlight for most of her career, even as she worked with high-flying Republican leaders, including Jon Huntsman Jr. and Mitt Romney.
For that reason, not much has been reported about her religious background. One faith-related anecdote involving her centers on her father, former NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall.
Summerall once said it took interventions from both Wiles and God for him to overcome alcohol addiction, according to The Christian Post.
Wiles will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
Lee Zeldin, Environment Protection Agency
Zeldin, picked by Trump to lead the EPA, is Jewish. He previously represented New York in Congress and then unsuccessfully campaigned to be governor of the state in 2022.
During that gubernatorial campaign, Zeldin spoke often about his Jewish faith, noting that his grandfather founded a synagogue and that his mother taught at a Jewish school, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
He currently serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
If confirmed by the Senate, Vought would return to the role he held in Trump’s first administration: director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Vought is Christian and attended Wheaton College, a prominent evangelical Christian college in Wheaton, Illinois.
Vought’s religious background was brought up by Sen. Bernie Sanders during his confirmation hearings in 2017, and Sanders’ comments about his beliefs being hateful sparked a controversy, as U.S. News & World Report reported at the time.
Vought argued that Sanders was taking his past comments on Islam “out of context” and said “he respected the right of every person to express their religious beliefs,” per The Associated Press.
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
Gabbard, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and presidential candidate, is Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence. Gabbard is Hindu, and she was the first Hindu American elected to Congress.
“Gabbard was sworn into office with her hand on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu devotional work,” PBS reported.
In 2019, Gabbard wrote a column for Religion News Service about how her political career shaped her understanding of religious bigotry. She criticized news outlets and commentators who chose to raise suspicion about her Hindu background instead of celebrating diversity.
“We must all stand for religious freedom and call out this bigotry whenever it raises its ugly head,” she wrote.
Jamieson Greer, Trade Representative
Greer will serve as U.S. trade representative if he’s confirmed by the Senate. He worked in the first Trump administration a chief of staff for Robert Lighthizer, who was then serving as trade representative.
Greer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended Brigham Young University.
He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brussels, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations
Stefanik, who is Catholic, according to Pew Research Center, is expected to be Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. She currently represents New York in the House of Representatives.
Stefanik first gained national attention for being the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she won her seat in 2014. She was back in the spotlight last year when she pushed leaders of top universities to do more to keep Jewish students safe in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.