Trump completes cupboard nominations after loyalist Brooke Rollins tapped for USDA chief: Live updates
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump has named Brooke Rollins, the founder of Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, as his pick for secretary of agriculture, completing his nominees for his main White House cabinet in 2025.
The president-elect wasted little time after Matt Gaetz said he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the next attorney general. Hours later, the president-elect named Pam Bondi, former attorney general of Florida, as his choice to lead the Department of Justice.
Bondi is a long-time Trump ally who represented the former president in his first impeachment trial.
Trump also announces hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his choice for secretary of treasury.
In a flurry of announcements on Friday night, Trump also named Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought for the White House budget chief, after Vought wrote the chapter on transforming the executive branch for the massive right-wing document for Trump’s incoming administration.
Trump also has named his picks for the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and surgon general — rounding out his nominees to joing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in radically transforming the nation’s healthcare and disease preparedness agencies.
ICYMI: Resurfaced clip shows how Trump has flipped on transgender bathroom policy
Trump’s transition team ‘blindsided’ by new details of Hegseth allegations
In yet another example of the transition team being blindsided by claims about Hegseth, members of the team were reportedly startled to see a California police report go public on Wednesday, detailing the 2017 night on which Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman.
Ariana Baio has the details.
ANALYSIS: What do Republican doctors really think of RFK Jr? I asked them
Eric Garcia writes:
Senator Bill Cassidy stood up to Donald Trump in 2021 after the January 6 riot — he was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump. And in January, he will become chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, making the Republican gastroenterologist from Louisana one of the most influential doctors in America.
Continue reading…
Trump’s inauguration will be held on MLK Day. His daughter Bernice King is glad
Michelle Del Rey reports on why.
How Trump did a complete 180 on transgender bathroom controversy
“Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you,” was the message of a widely aired ad for Donald Trump’ 2024 campaign.
But a resurfaced 2016 clip shows how much the president-elect’s view on transgender rights has shifted in eight years.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Hegseth threatens ‘educational insurgency’ in schools
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of defense, has called for an “educational insurgency” to take over American schools in an appearance on a right-wing podcast.
Read on…
AOC pokes fun at Musk and Ramaswamy for ‘privilege’ of working with MTG: ‘Enjoy, fellas!’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has poked fun at Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy after it was announced their new government department would be teaming up with Marjorie Taylor Greene, joking that the experience would be a “privilege.”
The New York congresswoman blasted Greene’s competency and said she was “absolutely dying [with laughter]” at the thought of the trio’s new working relationship.
Mike Bedigan has the story.
Will Gaetz find a new home on MAGA favorite Newsmax?
Amid the rampant speculation about what’s next for Matt Gaetz after the MAGA firebrand abruptly and dramatically withdrew his nomination for attorney general, one right-wing cable channel is making it abundantly clear they’d like him to join their lineup.
Hours after the former Florida congressman pulled his name from consideration to be the nation’s top prosecutor amid sexual misconduct allegations, Newsmax host Greg Kelly told his viewers that there was a job waiting for Gaetz at the network if he wanted it.
Justin Barangoa has the story.
Will Matt Gaetz find a new home on MAGA favorite Newsmax?
Newsmax host Greg Kelly suggested on Thursday night that Gaetz could come work for Newsmax if he wanted. Sources tell The Independent that executives behind the scenes have long pushed for Gaetz to host his own show at the MAGA network.
Source: independent.co.uk
