Doug Burgum was raised in Arthur, North Dakota.
Burgum worked as a chimney sweep to help pay his way through North Dakota State University before earning an MBA from Stanford University. In 1983, he literally “bet the farm” to provide seed capital for a software startup called Great Plains.
Burgum led Great Plains through a successful IPO and grew the company to over 2,000 employees before its acquisition by Microsoft. Burgum remained with Microsoft for six years as the Senior Vice President of Business Solutions.
Burgum later co-founded Arthur Ventures and served as chairman of international software companies, including Atlassian and SuccessFactors, as well as a board member for Avalara.
In 2016, Burgum was elected to serve as North Dakota’s 33rd Governor. In 2020, he was re-elected in a landslide. Under his leadership, North Dakota passed the largest tax cut in state history and dramatically reduced red tape.
As a testament to Burgum’s leadership, Forbes named him “America’s Best Entrepreneurial Governor.” During his tenure, North Dakota experienced the highest growth in real GDP and had the lowest unemployment rate in the country.
Burgum has three adult children. He is married to Kathryn Burgum, a nationally recognized advocate for addiction recovery.
Tom Homan is an American law enforcement officer and political commentator who served as acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from January 30, 2017, to June 29, 2018. In November 2024, then president-elect Donald Trump designated Homan as “border czar.” His official title is White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Homan advocates for the deportation of illegal immigrants and opposes sanctuary city policies. Within the government, he was among the most strident proponents of separating children from their parents as a means of deterring illegal entry into the country. After 2018, he began contributing to Fox News as a commentator.
Scott Turner, from Richardson, Texas, is a visionary leader with a distinguished career in public service, business, and professional sports. As Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, he led more than 200 policy actions to revitalize economically distressed communities. Turner served as Founder and CEO of the Community Engagement & Opportunity Council, which is dedicated to revitalizing communities through mentorship, sports, and economic opportunity.
Turner served as a Texas State Representative for the 33rd District (2013–2017) and played nine seasons in the NFL. He also served as an Associate Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church. He holds a degree in speech communications from the University of Illinois and an honorary doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. Turner and his wife, Robin, are active in their church and community and are proud parents of Solomon, a recent University of Illinois graduate.
John Phelan was sworn in as the 79th Secretary of the Navy on March 25, 2025. Phelan oversees the well-being, readiness, and development of nearly 1 million Sailors, Marines, reservists, and civilian personnel in the Department of the Navy and manages an annual budget of $263.5 billion and balance sheet assets totaling $922 billion. His departmental priorities focus on strengthening shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base; fostering an adaptive, accountable and warfighting culture; and improving the health, welfare and training of our people.
Before his appointment, Phelan was the Founder and Chairman of Rugger Management, LLC, a private investment firm based in Palm Beach, Florida. Before launching Rugger, he was a co-Founder and co-Managing Partner of MSD Capital, L.P., a private investment firm for Michael Dell, and MSD Partners, a SEC-registered investment advisor that managed investments for a select group of third-party investors. Under his leadership, MSD posted double-digit net returns, generated over $20 billion in profits, and grew assets under management to over $30 billion.
Phelan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude, with distinction from Southern Methodist University (SMU) with a B.A. in Economics and Political science. He also earned a General Course degree in Economics and International Relations from the London School of Economics (LSE).
A committed patriot and philanthropist, Phelan served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Third Option Foundation, the Spirit of America, as well as Aspen Art Museum. He is a member of Business Executives for National Security. He also serves on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School, the Investment Committee for the SMU Endowment, and the North American Advisory Board for LSE. In 2022, he received SMU’s highest alumni honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award. Secretary Phelan and his wife, Amy, have endowed free admission to the Aspen Art Museum and recently established the Phelan U.S. Centre at LSE.
Doug Collins is an Air Force Reserve colonel, chaplain, and Iraq War veteran with more than 20 years of military experience, Doug Collins knows the complex issues facing veterans across the country.
As a longtime congressman and attorney, Collins has a deep understanding of the federal government and the policy expertise to solve complex problems, cut through red tape, and get things done for those who have worn the uniform. Over eight years in Congress, Collins helped scores of veterans solve their Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) problems, and he will put that expertise to work, making the VA more user-friendly so veterans won’t need outside help to navigate the department’s bureaucracy.
As a congressman, Collins championed bipartisan legislation like the First Step Act, the Music Modernization Act, and the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Collins’ efforts in support of the First Step Act earned him the 2019 Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life.
When it comes to veterans policy, Collins voted for some of the most important VA reforms in recent history, including the Veterans, Access, Choice and Accountability Act, the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, and the MISSION Act.
Kevin Hassett was the Brent R. Nicklas Distinguished Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution from 2019 to January 2025. In early 2025, he was appointed Director of the National Economic Council. Previously, he was the senior advisor and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019.
Before his White House service, Hassett was an economist at the American Enterprise Institute. He also served as a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. His academic background includes being an associate professor of economics and finance at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, as well as a visiting professor at New York University’s Law School. He has also been a consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department and an advisor to various presidential campaigns.
Mark Pentecost went from being a high school teacher to becoming a billionaire entrepreneur, a nationally recognized philanthropist, and a world-renowned thought leader. Early in life, he learned to dream big and has since dedicated his life to teaching others to do the same. Today, Pentecost is the founder of It Works!, a wellness company with over 100,000 active paid distributors across more than 20 countries, generating up to $750 million in annual revenues.
Pentecost’s professional journey exemplifies dynamic versatility and unwavering determination. A riveting keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on entrepreneurship, direct sales, leadership, and inspiring people to chase their dreams to achieve once-unimaginable success. Known for igniting enduring enthusiasm, Pentecost has shared stages and podcast platforms with influential figures such as Lou Holtz, Mel Robbins, and Jay Shetty, extending his influence far beyond direct sales. His inspirational journey has been featured in Forbes, SUCCESS Magazine, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, and more.
Jentezen Franklin is the senior pastor of Free Chapel, a multicampus church with a global reach. His messages influence generations through modern–day technology and digital media, his televised broadcast, Kingdom Connection, and outreaches that put God’s love and compassion into action. He has been honored with the Martin Luther King Jr. Mantle of Destiny Award for his work in racial reconciliation, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference Micah Award, and the Jewish National Fund’s Tree of Life Shalom Peace Award for his unwavering commitment to Israel.
Franklin is also a New York Times bestselling author who speaks at conferences worldwide. He and his wife, Cherise, live in Gainesville, Georgia, and have five children and five grandchildren.
John Thune grew up in Murdo, South Dakota. His interest in politics was sparked at a young age after making five of six free throws during a freshman high school basketball game. He was later greeted by a spectator who said, “I noticed you missed one.” That spectator happened to be a well-known sports enthusiast and then-South Dakota U.S. Rep. Jim Abdnor. The introduction was the start of a friendship that ignited his career in public service.
Thune received his undergraduate degree from Biola University and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota. Upon completion of his master’s degree in 1984, he married Kimberley Weems, a native of Doland, South Dakota.
Thune’s attraction to public service took him to Washington, D.C., to work for that sports enthusiast and then-U.S. Sen. Jim Abdnor. He then served in the Small Business Administration under an appointment from President Ronald Reagan.
In 1989, Thune and his family returned to South Dakota, where he served as the executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party. In 1991, then-Governor George S. Mickelson appointed him to be state railroad director, a position he held until 1993, when he became executive director of the South Dakota Municipal League.
In 1996, with a shoestring budget and the support of family and friends, Thune won his first term as South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was re-elected to a second term by the largest margin in South Dakota history. He returned again to Washington in 2001 to serve his third term in the House.
Thune then honored his 1996 campaign pledge to serve only three terms in the House. After a narrow loss in a 2002 U.S. Senate race, he won his current Senate seat in 2004, when he made history by defeating a sitting Senate party leader for the first time in 52 years.
In 2010, Thune was elected to serve a second term in the Senate in a rare unopposed race. He was only the third Republican and the only South Dakotan to run unopposed for the Senate since direct elections were created in 1913. Thune was elected to a third term in 2016. In 2022, he became the second South Dakotan in history to be elected to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate.
For the 119th Congress, Thune serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee. He also serves as the Senate Majority Leader and has previously served as the Senate Republican Whip from 2019–2024, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009–2011, and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference from 2012–2018.
Thune and his wife live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they have two grown daughters and six grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, pheasant hunting, and running.
Speaker Mike Johnson is the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Republican Member of Congress proudly serving Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District. On October 25, 2023, he was elected unanimously by his House Republican colleagues to serve as the Speaker. After a tenure of less than 6.8 years in the House, Johnson was given the honor faster than any person in history, except for Speaker John G. Carlisle in 1883, who had previously served for only 6.75 years. He was re–elected on January 3, 2025, to continue serving as Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress.
As a Member of Congress, he represents the nearly 760,000 residents of 20 parishes in the northwest, northeast, and western regions of his state. Johnson was first elected to Congress on December 10, 2016, by the largest margin of victory in his region in more than 50 years and is currently serving in his fifth term in Congress.
Karoline Leavitt is an American spokesperson who has served as the White House Press Secretary since 2025.
Leavitt studied politics and communication at Saint Anselm College, writing for the school newspaper and founding a broadcasting club. She interned in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence during President Trump’s first term and later became its associate director. She also served as communications director for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21).
In July 2021, Leavitt announced her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives election for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. She established herself as a pro-Trump candidate. Leavitt won the Republican primary. She served as a spokeswoman for MAGA Inc., President Trump’s super PAC, and became the press secretary for his 2024 presidential campaign.
In November 2024, President Trump named Leavitt as his White House press secretary. She is the youngest press secretary in U.S. history.
Linda McMahon is originally from New Bern, North Carolina, and most recently served as Chair of the Board and Chair of the Center for the American Worker at the America First Policy Institute. McMahon served in President Donald J. Trump’s Cabinet as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) during his first term.
At SBA, McMahon re-imagined the organization, focusing on rural development and championing women entrepreneurs and military veterans. She oversaw natural disaster recovery efforts and helped improve the way the SBA connected small businesses to capital, counseling, and government contracts.
After her service in the Trump Administration, she served as Chair of the America First Action SuperPAC and America First Policy, LLC. Before her career in public service, McMahon was the President and later CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer has dedicated more than two decades of her life to public service, beginning in 2002 on the Happy Valley Parks Committee in Oregon. She later served on the Happy Valley City Council, becoming council president, and was elected as the city’s first Latina mayor in 2010, serving two successful terms. Under her leadership, Happy Valley became Oregon’s fastest-growing community, with initiatives that strengthened working families and small businesses.
In 2022, Chavez-DeRemer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, making history as the first Republican woman and one of the first Latinas elected to Congress from Oregon. She served on the Agriculture, Education and Workforce, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees, championing practical solutions and securing critical investments for her constituents.
Chavez-DeRemer is also a successful small businesswoman and the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a business administration degree. She and her husband, Dr. Shawn DeRemer, her high school sweetheart, founded an anesthesia management company and several medical clinics across the Pacific Northwest. A proud wife and mother, she is passionate about advocating for businesses, workers, and families across the country.
Newt Gingrich is an intellectually fearless visionary and historian. He is one of the foremost economic, social, political, and security-focused conservative thinkers today.
Gingrich is well known as the architect of the “Contract with America” that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing a majority in the United States House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. He was a Republican candidate for president of the United States from 2011 to 2012.
Gingrich is a Fox News contributor and the author of 36 books, including 16 fiction and nonfiction New York Times best-sellers. His latest number-one best-sellers include Trump and the American Future.
Recognized internationally as an expert on world history, military issues, and international affairs, Gingrich is the longest-serving teacher of the Joint Warfighting course for Major Generals.
He also teaches officers from all five services as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University and is the longest-serving teacher at Capstone.
In addition, Gingrich served as a Member of the Defense Policy Board. He was a member of the Terrorism Task Force for the Council on Foreign Relations, and he co-chaired the Task Force on U.N. Reform, a bipartisan congressional effort to reform the United Nations. Gingrich champions innovation and market-oriented alternatives to socialism and single-payer healthcare.
Gingrich served as an unofficial advisor to President Trump throughout the 2016 elections. As Chairman of Gingrich 360, Gingrich and his team advise leading corporations and organizations in healthcare, transportation, financial markets, and defense. His company creates and produces television and digital series, specials, and documentaries.
Sean Duffy served as a U.S. Congressman representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District s for 10 years, serving on the House Financial Services Committee and actively leading on local transportation issues via his co-chairmanship of the Great Lakes Task Force.
Before serving in Congress, Duffy was the District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin, for 10 years. There, he brought more than 100 cases to trial with an over 90% trial success rate. After leaving Congress, Duffy hosted the Fox Business show, The Bottom Line with Dagen and Duffy.
Duffy was born and raised in Hayward, Wisconsin. As the 10th of 11 siblings in a large Irish Catholic family, he learned the enduring value of cooperation and compromise. Duffy also comes from a long line of lumberjacks who helped build his beloved state of Wisconsin and was a world-champion lumberjack athlete. He holds a marketing degree from St. Mary’s University and a J.D. degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
When Duffy was in his twenties, he got his start in television on the MTV reality TV show The Real World. He also starred on Road Rules All Stars, where he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy.
Duffy and his wife are America’s first and longest-married reality TV couple. They have been married for 25 years and have nine children together.
Kelly Loeffler is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former U.S. Senator from Georgia who dedicates her life to growing businesses and advancing economic opportunity for all.
A self-made businesswoman, Loeffler rose from modest beginnings, working on her family’s farm and small trucking business, to build a three-decade career in financial services and technology. As a member of the executive leadership team at Intercontinental Exchange, she helped build ICE from a small startup to a Fortune 500 company. In 2018, she launched Bakkt, a fintech startup in digital assets, as its founding CEO.
Loeffler served in the U.S. Senate in 2020, where she brought her private-sector experience to Washington. She served on key committees, including Agriculture, Joint Economic, HELP, and Veterans Affairs, championing conservative values and pro-growth policies, advocating for small businesses, and passing legislation to strengthen economic resilience.
As co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream for a decade, Loeffler helped position the franchise as a platform to empower women through sports, demonstrating her commitment to community impact.
After her Senate service, Loeffler founded Greater Georgia Action, an election integrity advocacy and voter registration non-profit, as well as RallyRight, a conservative tech startup, while serving on several corporate and philanthropic boards.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, an MBA from DePaul University, and is the only CFA® charter holder to ever serve in Congress. A devout Catholic, she is a staunch advocate for free enterprise and opportunity for all Americans through the America First agenda.
Brooke Leslie Rollins is from Glen Rose, Texas, a small agricultural community in the American heartland. She grew up working summers on her family’s farm in Minnesota, barrel racing, and raising livestock for 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA). She proudly served as a Texas State FFA Officer and worked for the National FFA Organization.
Rollins most recently served as the Founder, President, and CEO of the America First Policy Institute. Before that, she was Director of the Domestic Policy Council and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives in the last White House under President Donald Trump. In these roles, she helped lead the transformational domestic policy agenda of the Trump Administration, enacting the President’s vision and leading to historic achievements for the American people.
Rollins graduated with honors from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural development and was the first woman in university history to be elected student body president. After earning her Juris Doctor with honors at the University of Texas School of Law, she served as Governor Rick Perry’s policy director before building and leading the Texas Public Policy Foundation for 15 years.
Rollins and her husband, Mark, reside in Fort Worth, Texas, with their four children.