Who Would Be in Your Dream Cabinet? | Pivot
Kara Swisher (host), Narrator, Scott Galloway (host)
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Kara Swisher and Narrator, Who Would Be in Your Dream Cabinet? | Pivot explores kara and Scott Build a Fantasy Cabinet of Competence and Charisma Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway answer a listener’s question about which U.S. Cabinet roles matter most and whom they would appoint if they were president. Kara highlights Defense, Attorney General, Treasury, and Health and Human Services as critical, suggesting figures like Jamie Dimon and Mark Cuban while rejecting partisan or unqualified picks. Scott leans into a mix of serious and humorous choices, proposing journalists, current and former officials, and politicians he sees as smart, tough, and effective. They close with playful banter about which Cabinet posts they’d personally take and which media personalities and friends they’d elevate to key roles and ambassadorships.
Kara and Scott Build a Fantasy Cabinet of Competence and Charisma
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway answer a listener’s question about which U.S. Cabinet roles matter most and whom they would appoint if they were president. Kara highlights Defense, Attorney General, Treasury, and Health and Human Services as critical, suggesting figures like Jamie Dimon and Mark Cuban while rejecting partisan or unqualified picks. Scott leans into a mix of serious and humorous choices, proposing journalists, current and former officials, and politicians he sees as smart, tough, and effective. They close with playful banter about which Cabinet posts they’d personally take and which media personalities and friends they’d elevate to key roles and ambassadorships.
Key Takeaways
Defense, Treasury, and Attorney General are seen as core power centers.
Kara identifies Secretary of Defense, Treasury Secretary, and Attorney General as the most consequential roles because they shape national security, economic policy, and the application of law and justice.
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Competence and experience in large systems matter more than ideology.
Both hosts emphasize choosing people who have run big, complex organizations—like Jamie Dimon or seasoned public servants—over partisan loyalists with thin resumes.
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Health and Human Services is central to real healthcare reform.
Kara argues HHS is critical for overhauling healthcare, food systems, and environmental health, floating someone like Mark Cuban or a science-respecting leader to drive disruptive change.
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Science-based leadership is essential in health-related roles.
They criticize figures like RFK Jr. ...
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Media figures can be more competent than some political appointees.
Scott half-jokingly proposes CNN and Fox personalities (Dana Bash, Anderson Cooper, Neil Cavuto, Stephanie Ruhle) for senior roles, arguing they’d outperform some of Trump-era or Trump-favored picks.
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There’s a bench of serious, often overlooked political talent.
Names like Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Ro Khanna, AOC, and Vivek Murthy are cited as examples of capable, policy-oriented leaders who could run departments like Education, DOJ/FTC, and HHS.
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Personal strengths shape which Cabinet role one should take.
Scott would choose Education, aligning with his interest in inequality and opportunity, while Kara jokes she’d run the CIA, reflecting her information-driven, investigative persona.
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Notable Quotes
“I probably would have picked Jamie Dimon for the Treasury job.”
— Kara Swisher
“You need to facilitate change in how healthcare goes in this country very drastically, and how we eat, and the chemicals that are in our system.”
— Kara Swisher
“I think Vivek Murthy as head of Health and Human Services. I think he is the most consequential surgeon general in history, bringing up loneliness and the stress on parents.”
— Scott Galloway
“Oh my God, put... Give me the chess board, I will put the pieces in the right place.”
— Scott Galloway
“I’d wanna be Secretary of Education. Easy.”
— Scott Galloway
Questions Answered in This Episode
If you had to design clear criteria for Cabinet appointments, what would they be beyond party affiliation and loyalty?
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway answer a listener’s question about which U. ...
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How would empowering a truly reform-minded HHS Secretary tangibly change healthcare costs, access, and food policy in the next decade?
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What are the risks and benefits of appointing high-profile media figures to major government roles?
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To what extent should personal charisma and public communication skills matter when selecting Cabinet officials?
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How might the country be different today if more technocrats and less ideologically extreme figures had led key departments in recent administrations?
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Transcript Preview
Okay, Scott, let's pivot to a listener question. The question comes from David. Let's listen.
I've listened to the last few podcasts in which both of you discuss the various nominees Trump has put forward for Cabinet and other important administration positions. My question for each of you has two parts. Which positions do each of you consider the most important positions and why? And second, if you were president, who would you nominate for the most important positions in your administration and why?
Oh, that's interesting. That's a great question. Um, I'll start. Um, I think the depart- secretary of defense is critically important, the attorney general is critically important, and obviously the, uh, treasury secretary. So, uh, I, uh, if I was President Trump or if I'm me? If I'm me, I would have picked different. I probably would have picked Jamie Dimon for the treasury job. For the head of the defense department, that's, that would be interesting. I don't, I'd have to think. Maybe, oh God, I wouldn't say Pete Buttigieg, but someone who's, someone who's served and who, um, who understands how to run big systems. There's lots of people like that. Uh, certainly not Pete Hegseth, uh, by any means. I could run it better than him. Um, and then the third, attorney general. Someone, uh, you know, not quite as partisan and who didn't deny the election, like Pam Bondi. I do think she's actually, has qualifications. There's no question she ran a big, important state's HSAG. She knows her way around a courtroom, (coughs) et cetera, as they say. Um, but, uh, I think those are the most important. But I, I, one of the ones, as we were just talking about this United Healthcare thing, is the, the Health and Human Services director. I would make that Mark Cuban, uh, you know, or someone like that, to, to c- You need to facilitate change in how healthcare goes in this country very drastically, and how we eat, and the chemicals that are in our system. I completely agree with that. But this friggin' nut job, RFK Jr., who now looks good next to these other people, is, is a disaster, especially around vaccines and everything else. So, someone who respects science, um, I would say Mark Cuban for that job. Your turn, Scott.
I would go, I like the whole cable news as a Cabinet strategy. I'd have Dana Bash. I'd have Da- But except I'd go another cable network. I think the people at CNN are so impressive. I think it should be President Dana Bash.
Okay.
Her vice president is Anderson Cooper.
Okay.
And we laugh, but these people would be a hell of a lot more competent than some of the people he's proposing now.
Okay.
Peter Hegseth and Peter Navarro? Give me a fucking break, or-
I know, Peters.
... or, or Kash Patel.
Dicks.
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