Hegseth hits out at media as affirmation doubts linger; Johnson seems to Musk to axe 75% of presidency: Live

Olivia Troye, who served as the homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence during the first Trump administration before becoming a fierce critic of the now president-elect, spoke with CNN’s Jim Acosta about the concept of preemptive pardons from the outgoing Biden administration, given threats of possible retribution.

“I have not done anything wrong. I know that … all we’re doing is speaking the truth. But in today’s environment, in terms of what’s to come under the Trump administration, I think that’s something that we’re all thinking about,” she said, noting that she had already received a threatening letter from Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel.

She wrote on X on Wednesday: “Today, Kash Patel sent a letter to my counsel @MarkSZaidEsq threatening legal action & demanding that I retract my comments on MSNBC about his unfitness to serve as FBI Director. This aligns with his threats against the media & political opponents, revealing how he might conduct himself if confirmed in the role. I stand by my statements—my priority remains the safety & security of the American people. I am not the only one who has expressed concerns about him. So why me? And so it begins.”

Watch the clip from CNN here:

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough was absolutely apoplectic on Thursday over a column written by The Atlantic’s David Frum, opening the show with a 22-minute tirade over Frum’s complaint about the program apologizing for a “flippant” joke about Fox News.

Besides directly addressing Frum’s column, which featured the conservative pundit alleging that Morning Joe was displaying “fear” in the face of a new Trump administration, Scarborough and co-host/wife Mika Brzezinski also took the opportunity to lash out at critics of their recent fence-mending visit to Mar-a-Lago.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

Rhian Lubin reports.

Elon Musk told reporters on his way in to meet about the work of DOGE with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune: “I think we should make sure we spend the public’s money well.”

Donald Trump isn’t working the phones to push for Pete Hegseth’s nomination as secretary of defense, Axios reports. This leaves the embattled former Fox News host to make his own case to skeptical senators.

“I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” one senator said.

ABC News reports that behind the scenes, Trump’s political team is focused on figuring out where female Republican senators stand on Hegseth — who is not only dogged with allegations of sexual assault but also disagrees with women in combat roles.

Trump’s advisors are fully aware that with such a thin majority in the Senate, Hegseth’s confirmation could all come down to the women.

Senator Joni Ernst, a veteran and possible replacement nominee to lead the Pentagon, suggested she is not prepared to support his nomination during an appearance on Fox News this morning.

When pressed by host Bill Hemmer that it “doesn’t sound in your answer that you got to a yes,” Ernst responded, “I think you are right”, before calling for the vetting process to continue.

Watch below:

Heritage Foundation leader Kevin Roberts raised a laugh this morning at Mar-a-Lago, where he is speaking at an event, by introducing himself as being from Project 2025, adding that he is “here to help”.

Many of the authors of Project 2025 have found themselves welcomed into the incoming Trump administration, despite the president-elect’s claims before the election that he had no idea what the right-wing manifesto was, as Alex Woodward reported.

There is great excitement on Capitol Hill about today’s meeting between congressional Republicans and Department of Government Efficient heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Already, two DOGE caucuses have formed and there is a planned DOGE subcommittee.

In today’s meeting, Senator Joni Ernst, chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus, will unveil a report on reforming the federal workforce, highlighting problems with remote work in a 60-page report.

“The American people gave us a mandate to shake up business as usual in Washington and drain the swamp. That starts with getting the bureaucrat class to climb out of the bubble bath, put away the golf clubs, and get back to work,” Ernst said in a statement to Politico.

Some of the ideas Ernst focuses on in her report relate to employees receiving incorrect locality pay and padding salaries but not working at those official locations. She also advocates relocating federal employees and consolidating federal office space — including a proposal that Congress pass legislation to move the headquarters of several departments and agencies outside of Washington, DC.

Democrats are not invited to today’s meeting, which is only for House and Senate Republicans. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said this is a “brainstorming session” for conservative policy, but added that he wants to set up something bipartisan at a later date.

Several House Democrats have already jumped on board to get involved — Reps. Jared Moscowitz and Greg Landsman have said they’ll join the DOGE Caucus and Rep. Henry Cuellar told The Hill he’s interested.