US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed the first two women to his incoming administration.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was nominated as US envoy to the UN and Betsy DeVos as education secretary.
Both are former critics of Trump, with Haley once saying she was "not a fan", and DeVos branding the Manhattan tycoon an "interloper".
Trump's presidential primary rival Ben Carson also hinted he would soon be named for a post.
"An announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again," Carson wrote on Facebook.
Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he was "seriously considering" Carson for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Eye-catching though her political career has been, little is known about Nikki Haley's views on foreign affairs and the United Nations. Diplomats here have been Googling her to find out more. When her nomination was announced I was with a senior diplomat, who had expected President-elect Trump to downgrade the job of UN ambassador so that it was no longer a cabinet-level position.
He was heartened that Trump had selected a "political heavyweight", and viewed it as an early indication than the incoming administration will take the UN more seriously than he'd supposed. Certainly, she's no John Bolton, the US ambassador during the Bush administration who famously remarked that it would not make much of a difference if the UN headquarters in New York lost its top 10 floors - where the organisation's most senior figures, including the secretary general, have their offices.
Many UN diplomats fear a Trump presidency and there's relief here that he hasn't appointed an outspoken UN-basher.
The appointments of Haley and DeVos will need to be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Trump called Haley "a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals".
"She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage," he added.
Haley said she was "moved" to accept the assignment and would stay on as South Carolina governor, pending her congressional confirmation.
During the Republican primaries, she supported Florida Senator Marco Rubio and then Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Haley also strongly attacked Trump's proposal to ban Muslim immigrants, describing it as "un-American
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