Trump takes a victory lap at Mar-a-Lago and announces more roles in his administration. Here's the latest
President-elect Donald Trump took a victory lap Thursday, boasting of a GOP sweep of the federal government, while speaking at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida for an America First Policy Institute gala.
“In my first term, they said ‘he won the election,’ but they always followed by ‘he didn’t win the popular vote,’” Trump said. “Nobody can say that anymore about us.”
At the gala, Trump said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will be announced Friday as his pick for secretary of the US Department of the Interior. The president-elect also previewed his expectations for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who he named earlier today as his choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
Meanwhile, there have been mixed reactions from members of Congress and others to Trump’s choice of former Rep. Matt Gaetz to run the Department of Justice.
Here’s a rundown of all of Trump’s picks so far.
And here’s what else took place Thursday:
Comments at the AFPI gala:
- The president-elect was introduced by “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone.
- Trump praised the “common sense” of Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate who he recently picked to be his new director of national intelligence.
- Trump said his administration will focus on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying “it’s gotta stop.”
- At the same event, Vivek Ramaswamy said he and Elon Musk, who were named to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, will start “mass deportations” of bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
RFK Jr.’s new role:
- In his first statement since Trump’s announcement, Kennedy said he looks forward to working with HHS employees to rid public health agencies of “corporate capture” and “clean up corruption.”
- House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the selection, saying Kennedy “brings a lot to the table.”
- Shares of prominent vaccine makers plunged after the news of Kennedy’s selection. Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna dipped as much as 6%, and Pfizer fell almost 2%. Novavax, which created a protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, fell almost 6%.
Matt Gaetz and the House Ethics Committee:
- Republicans on the House Ethics Committee canceled a scheduled meeting on Friday with Democrats that was expected to address the long-awaited report on Gaetz, according to two sources familiar. The committee had been probing allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.”
- Top Senate Democrats are calling on the committee to release its findings on Gaetz.
- Senate Republicans are leery of President-elect Donald Trump’s push to use recess appointments to bypass the chamber’s involvement in confirmations and avoid Democratic opposition to his picks. Recess appointments are temporary hirings made while the Senate is out of session, allowing a president’s nominees to avoid confirmation hearings.
- Elon Musk met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, The New York Times reported, citing two Iranian officials
No comments: