As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, aides are considering how to staff his administration, weighing the benefits of filling Trump's future Cabinet with elected officials versus the mix of businessmen, political outsiders and loyalists who will filling his Rolodex, said three sources involved in discussions surrounding the transition.

Two sources involved in the transition process said Trump is likely to place more emphasis on non-government Cabinet appointments than on sitting lawmakers for two reasons. He sees some of his first-term outside candidates, including investor Steven Mnuchin, whom Trump appointed to head the Treasury Department, and Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon named to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as more successful and loyal He brought several lawmakers out of Congress to serve in his administration.

Trump has never forgiven Jeff Sessions, the Alabama senator who became Trump's first attorney general, for recusing himself from the Justice Department's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Former Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who was named Health and Human Services secretary, and Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, who served as Interior secretary, have been dogged by a scandal over how they ran their departments and used government resources .

Trump is also concerned about special elections to replace incumbent lawmakers, particularly in the Senate. “He doesn’t want a Roy Moore situation,” one of the sources said. Moore was the Republican candidate in the special election to replace Sessions in the Senate, where Democrats won a rare and dramatic victory in Alabama in 2017.

No decision is final or precludes the possibility that Trump will select specific members of Congress to take office. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is among the people being considered for attorney general, according to multiple sources. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, is among those who have made clear they would be willing to serve in any capacity Trump needs.

But one potential candidate has already been eliminated. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, a prominent surrogate during Trump's campaign, has expressed he has no interest in joining the Trump administration, according to three sources familiar with the decision. Along with Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director in Trump's first term, Cotton was considered a leading candidate for a term in a Trump administration as discussions gained steam in the United States last months of the campaign.

Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, has two young children and heavily weighed the potential impact on his family in deciding to remove his name from running for a Cabinet post, according to a source familiar with his thinking. Cotton is running for a leadership position in the Senate.

As the Trump team weighs its personnel decisions, the focus is on how important each choice would be to the returning president's agenda.

A campaign official said bringing too many sitting members of Congress into the administration would hurt Trump's ability to get things done in his first 100 days in office.

And two sources also mentioned the role of Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., as someone with potential veto power over decision-making. In a recent interview with NBC News, Trump Jr. said he would work to stop people who might hinder Trump's agenda.

“My job will be to take out and stop the people who are just slowing down – who are following the orders of the swamp and not the orders of the duly elected President of the United States,” Trump Jr said in October.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Rubio, a prominent surrogate for Trump in the final days of the campaign, was cautious about what might come next, saying he had not spoken directly to Trump about a possible post but made clear he would be open to a position when asked.

“I am in public service. I’m not trying to be quiet,” Rubio said in an interview on the Today Show Wednesday morning. “I’m in public service, I enjoy serving our country.”

A source close to Rubio told NBC News that the senator was in a prime position to be selected because his long history of public service and his recent consideration as a potential running mate for Trump would shorten the preparation process for an appointment. Because of his time in the Senate and his relationships with other members, Rubio would also have a relatively easy confirmation process.

But as Trump's team narrows the field, the calculation takes into account memories of how many people Trump plucked from the ranks of Congress in his first term, with the exception of Pompeo, which ended up being disappointments and future political liabilities for him.

Several also put their Republican-held seats at risk.

Sessions was an adviser to Trump in 2016 and one of his first supporters when Trump appointed him from the Senate to head his Justice Department. Not only did the special election to replace Sessions become an embarrassment for Republicans, but Sessions' handling of his department frustrated Trump and Sessions ultimately resigned from office. Trump supported him when Sessions later tried to run for his old seat.

After spending heavily on charter flights, Price clashed with Trump and his promise to “drain the swamp,” eventually forcing his resignation. The special election to replace Price also became a centerpiece of Democratic organizing against Trump. Although the GOP narrowly won the special election, Republicans lost Price's congressional seat in the midterms and then watched the state turn blue in 2020.

Zinke's tenure at the Interior Ministry was short-lived. Because of the misconduct allegations, Zinke said after two years he would resign. Zinke narrowly won re-election to Congress in 2022, where he won a 3-point victory against an environmental lawyer. He won a major re-election victory this week.

As for Rubio and his seat, the source close to the Florida senator waved off concerns in the Senate, particularly given Sen. Rick Scott's 13-point victory in Florida's other Senate seat.