Trump has moved at breakneck speed in announcing the key members of his second administration, with the Cabinet largely filled out before Thanksgiving.

However, several appointees will not have the same experience heading federal agencies as most of their predecessors, hence the Rove suggestion.

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“While his nominees prepare for their hearings, the president-elect must turn to what is in many respects an equally important task: picking the No. 2s for his cabinet secretaries and administrators,” Rove wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal this week.

“It will be especially important for Mr. Trump’s picks to have capable No. 2s as undersecretary, deputy secretary and chief deputy administrator — titles vary from place to place — especially if the No. 1 is new to government or that department’s function,” Rove continued.

Rove praised former Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, as a “smart, capable leader.” But Rove also warned that the EPA is a bureaucratic and complex department that will not be easy to navigate.

“Mr. Zeldin will need a deputy who has served in the agency, knows how it functions and how it will try confounding even the most purpose-driven leader,” Rove cautioned. “The same can be said for every other spot Mr. Trump is filling.”

The ex-deputy chief of staff cited Jim O’Neill, Trump’s nominee as the deputy secretary of health and human services, as an example of the president-elect surrounding nominees with experienced No. 2 leaders.

O’Neill’s experience on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in the Education Department is most likely to benefit Robert Kennedy Jr., who faces an uphill climb to Senate confirmation as Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services.

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Several of Trump’s other Cabinet nominees also lack some of the long-term experience in the departments they are hoping to take charge of.

Pete Hegseth’s path to confirmation as defense secretary may face problems due to his lack of experience. Despite being a decorated veteran, he has not served in a senior defense role.

Sean Duffy’s biggest criticism if he were to be confirmed as transportation secretary would be his lack of experience. Duffy is a former representative of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District but is mostly known for his appearance on several reality TV shows and co-hosting The Bottom Line on Fox Business along with his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy. Hegseth and Duffy are no longer affiliated with Fox News or Fox Business.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) has been tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security, but Noem doesn’t have direct experience working on the southern border.

Although voters gave the GOP a governing trifecta of the White House and Congress, Republicans have a slim majority in the House, 217-215, until April. And Senate Republicans showed some pushback against Trump’s agenda by scuttling Matt Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general.

Rove also pointed out that the 2026 midterm elections will likely become a key concern for lawmakers, meaning Trump’s agenda will take the back seat in priority.

Trump “needs people who have been in the trenches, grappled with the bureaucracy and have some sense of its powers to distract, delay and misdirect,” Rove said if the president-elect wants his vision for the nation to be implemented.

“Shaking things up works only if doing so helps rather than hurts the American people,” Rove said in his final warning. “Doing the right thing the right way matters. Who’s No. 2 matters almost as much as who’s No. 1.”