President-elect Trump’s second term team is taking shape, as he stocks his new administration with border hawks and conservative foreign policy luminaries to implement his agenda.
The latest:
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has reportedly been tapped for Secretary of State, although Trump has not made the pick official. Rubio would round out a national security team of China and Iran hawks, including Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla) as national security adviser and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as ambassador to the United Nations. Rubio’s reported pick received bipartisan praise, including from Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and “Never Trump” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
Trump will reportedly nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Noem will oversee the U.S. border in that role, alongside “border czar” Tom Homan and policy adviser Stephen Miller.
Trump officially announced former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) will be the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is the father of former White House spokeswoman and current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R).
TRUMP’S CABINET:
Here’s where things stand, with analysis from The Hill’s Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels.
Secretary of State: Rubio “completes a drastic turnaround from 2016, when the two were fierce rivals in a GOP presidential primary.”
Environmental Protection Agency administrator: Former Rep. Lee Zeldin’s (R-N.Y.) legal background is a sign he will “likely lean on the EPA to roll back environmental regulations.”
United Nations Ambassador: Stefanik “has been an outspoken critic of the United Nations and a staunch ally of Israel.” Read 5 things to know about Stefanik here.
Homeland Security secretary: Noem was considered as a potential running mate for Trump before “early excerpts of her book revealed she killed her hunting dog 20 years ago.”
TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE TEAM:
Trump’s top advisers include:
Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who faces big challenges as Trump’s first chief of staff in his second term. The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports on why Wiles might succeed where others have failed.
Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Border Czar Tom Homan. Read 5 things to know about Homan here.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) will be National Security Adviser.
BIG QUESTIONS AHEAD:
Including…
Who will be the next — and potentially last — secretary of Education?
Can trump fire Federal Reserve chairman
Jerome Powell, who is gearing up for a legal fight?
Will FBI Director Christopher Wraybe forced out?
Spots that still need to be filled:
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education:
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Interior
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of Transportation
Department of Treasury
Department of Veterans Affairs
💡Perspectives:
After Babel: The EdTech revolution has failed
Compact: Culture in the age of Trump.
CNN: The common national experience that explains Trump’s gains.
MSNBC: The cost of living crisis explains everything.
Read more:
5 ways Trump could reshape the economy.
Trump’s energy allies anticipate boom times for oil, gas and mining.
GOP rep expects Trump to move Space Command to Alabama in first week.
Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.
CATCH UP QUICK
A New York judge delayed a decision on whether Trump’s conviction can withstand the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling until Nov. 19 so prosecutors can respond to Trump’s demand the case be dismissed.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe “apologizes to absolutely nobody” for racist comments made about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally last month.
Trump’s election has sparked retirement talk for Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor.
U.S. forces struck Iran-backed targets in Syria after attacks on Americans.
Congress returned from recess Tuesday just as news broke that the GOP had officially clinched a majority in the House, giving President-elect Trump full control of the government.
The GOP will have only a slim majority — possibly somewhere between 220 and 222 House seats, with 218 marking a majority.
Republicans should have a 53-47 majority in the Senate when it’s all said and done, although Decision Desk HQ explains here why it hasn’t yet called the Pennsylvania Senate race for Republican David McCormick. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has nonetheless invited McCormick and Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to freshman orientation as the vote count continues in both races.
Trump has already cut into the House majority by plucking Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) for key roles in his administration.
Those seats will have to be filled in special elections that could take months to sort out, leaving the GOP with almost no margin for error.
Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he does not “expect” Trump to nominate more members of the House for administration positions.
“President Trump fully understands and appreciates the math here, and it’s just a numbers game.”
WILL JOHNSON LEAD HOUSE GOP NEXT TERM?:
He has Trump’s support, but The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reports that some hardline conservatives plan to nominate an alternative during Wednesday’s internal GOP elections, potentially setting up a messy battle for the Speakership.
Trump is expected to visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday. He’ll also visit with President Biden in the White House.
THE TWO ISSUES DOMINATING CONGRESS THIS WEEK:
The first is that the government will run out of money on Dec. 20, so debate begins about what type of temporary funding agreement can be reached before Republicans take full control of Congress in January.
The second issue is that Senate Republicans vote Wednesday to elect their new leader, as the curtain closes on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) reign.
MAGA world is agitating for Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to take over, while Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are seen as more friendly to institutionalists.
Some of the jockeying on the right in favor of Scott has turned personal, angering some Senate Republicans who don’t appreciate the outside meddling.
GOP euphoria punctuated by tough math in the House.
Trump’s House GOP picks have Republicans worried.
Trump win sets up GOP battle between deficit hawks, tax cutters.
Trump’s bold moves to test loyalties of GOP senators.
Moderate House Democrats are on the front lines trying to convince the party to change course on hot-button cultural issues, as the fallout continues from the Democrats’ disastrous election cycle
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) infuriated the left for saying that trans women should not play women’s sports. Now, he says the chair of the political science department at Tufts University in Massachusetts informed him they won’t allow their students to intern for his office due to the remarks. A Tufts official later clarified that they do not wish to end their internship program with Moulton, according to CNN’s Sarah Ferris.
Some Democrats believe this is exactly the kind of fight Democrats should be picking with academia and the left. They say it proves Moulton’s point that the left is intolerant of dissent. The Boston Globe responded with an op-ed: Moulton isn’t backing down. Good.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), a centrist who has been critical of his party’s activist flank, said on X that he believes Democrats lost in part because Biden’s executive order on immigration was too little too late. He accused Democrats and the Biden administration of dithering out of fear of how the left would respond: “Though popular among most Americans, the Executive Order was unpopular among far-left elites, who have been given outsized power over the policymaking and messaging of the Democratic Party.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), seen widely as a potential 2028 presidential contender, wrote in The New York Times that Democrats must focus on winning “core issues” like jobs, housing and health care going forward. Beshear won reelection a year ago by 5 points in a state that Trump carried this year by 30. “The Democratic Party must show the American people that it cares about creating a better life for each and every American and re-earn the public’s trust about its focus and its direction.”
The Associated Press reports that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will travel to Washington this week as he seeks to safeguard the state’s progressive infrastructure. Newsom will seek billions in reimbursement for emergency funding and updates to California’s Medicaid program, among other things.
💡 Perspectives:
The American Prospect: Too many Americans see Democrats as hostile elite.
Slow Boring: A common sense Democrat manifesto.
The Liberal Patriot: Harris lost the working class.
MSNBC: Harris’s home city kicked out its progressive leaders.
The Hill: What’s next for Harris.
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