By Ginger Gibson and Susan Cornwell | WASHINGTON

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump recently announced the first major appointments to his administration but still has many positions to fill ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Trump announced on Sunday he will hire Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and named Stephen Bannon, former head of the conservative web site Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor. The selection of Bannon drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who criticized Breitbart News’ ties to racist messages.

Below are people mentioned as contenders for senior roles.

SECRETARY OF STATE

* Bob Corker, Tennessee senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

* John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush

* Newt Gingrich, Republican former U.S. House Speaker

* Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq

* Rudy Giuliani, Republican former mayor of New York City

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs executive and Trump’s campaign finance chairman

* Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican congressman and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee

* Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer

* Tom Barrack, founder and chairman of Colony Capital Inc

DEFENSE SECRETARY

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

* Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under President George W. Bush

* Jon Kyl, former Republican senator from Arizona

* Jeff Sessions, Republican senator from Alabama and early Trump supporter, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

* Kelly Ayotte, outgoing Republican senator from New Hampshire and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee

* Duncan Hunter, Republican congressman from California and early Trump supporter, member of House Armed Services Committee

* Jim Talent, former Republican senator from Missouri who was on the Senate Armed Services Committee

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Rudy Giuliani

* Jeff Sessions, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who takes a hard line on immigration

* Chris Christie, Republican New Jersey governor

* Pam Bondi, Republican Florida Attorney General

* Trey Gowdy, Republican congressman from South Carolina who headed the House committee that investigated the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY

* Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon and 2016 Republican presidential candidate

* Newt Gingrich

* Rich Bagger, former pharmaceutical executive and former top aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

* Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana governor

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

* Michael McCaul, U.S. Republican congressman from Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

* David Clarke, Milwaukee county sheriff and vocal Trump supporter

* Joe Arpaio, outgoing Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff who campaigned for Trump

HEAD OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

* Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute who is overseeing environmental policy on Trump’s transition team

* Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors

* Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas attorney general

* Carol Comer, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management

ENERGY SECRETARY

* Harold Hamm, Oklahoma oil and gas mogul, CEO of Continental Resources Inc

* Larry Nichols, co-founder of Devon Energy Corp

* James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies and a former environmental adviser to President George W. Bush

* U.S. Representative Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota

* Robert Grady

INTERIOR SECRETARY

* Sarah Palin, Republican former Alaska governor who ran for vice president in 2008

* Jan Brewer, former Arizona governor

* Harold Hamm

* Robert Grady

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* Linda McMahon, former world Wrestling Entertainment executive and two-time Senate candidate

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

* Mike Rogers, Republican former representative from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee

* Pete Hoekstra, Republican former representative from Michigan

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Lieutenant General Michael Flynn

* Stephen Hadley

UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR

* Kelly Ayotte

* Richard Grenell, former spokesman for the United States at the United Nations

* Peter King, Republican representative from New York

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

* Dan DiMicco, former chief executive of steel producer Nucor Corp

VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY

* Jeff Miller, retiring congressman from Florida and chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

SOURCE:REUTERS