November 13, 2024
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Trump taps Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary . . . President-elect Trump on Tuesday announced he was choosing Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and a Fox News host, to serve as Defense secretary. Hegseth served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, earning two Bronze Stars. He is currently a co-host for "Fox & Friends Weekend." "Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down," Trump said in a statement. The Hill
Politics
Trump makes a victor's return to Washington to meet with Biden and GOP lawmakers . . . President-elect Donald Trump is making a victor's return to Washington. President Joe Biden will welcome him to the White House on Wednesday for an Oval Office visit that is a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual that Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago. Trump also planned to meet with Republicans from Congress as they focus on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for a potentially unified government with a GOP sweep of power in the nation's capital. Associated Press
President-elect names Musk, Ramaswamy to head Department of Government Efficiency . . . President-elect Donald Trump has officially tapped Elon Musk to 'dismantle' the $6.5 trillion bloated US bureaucracy by spearheading the newly created 'Department of Government Efficiency.' Trump made the bombshell announcement Tuesday night saying Musk will co-lead the 'Manhattan Project of our time' with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. 'This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!' Musk said in a statement. Daily Mail
Trump Tells Allies He Wants Robert Lighthizer as His Trade Czar
He chooses former intelligence chief to serve as new CIA director . . . President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) as his nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe previously served as Trump's Director of National Intelligence from 2020-2021 and has been called a "warrior for truth" by the president-elect. Washington Examiner
Trump picks former North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary . . . U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the next homeland security secretary, choosing a staunch ally who has little experience on the national security stage. Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for fellow Republican Trump, is currently serving her second four-year term as governor after a landslide reelection victory in 2022. She rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuters
Trump Taps Mike Huckabee, an Outspoken Proponent of the Jewish State, as Ambassador to Israel
Trump eyes major Day One moves on the border, energy production, electric vehicles and more . . . President-elect Donald Trump vowed on his first day in office to sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and kick-start the largest deportation effort in the nation's history. Mr. Trump pledged to open up oil and gas production, including liquefied natural gas projects. He also is expected to scrap the "tailpipe" mandate, which incentivizes electric vehicle production, stop federal promotion and funding of sex change treatments. Washington Times
Harris campaign donated $500K to Al Sharpton's nonprofit before softball MSNBC interview . . . The Harris-Walz campaign funneled some $500,000 to the Rev. Al Sharpton's nonprofit, the National Action Network, prior to the vice president's softball sit-down interview with the civil rights activist. Vice President Kamala Harris' team made two donations of $250,000 to Sharpton's group, on Sept. 5 and Oct. 1, according to Federal Election Commission records. New Y0rk Post
Democratic Governors Form a Group to Oppose the Trump Administration . . . In the first of what is likely to be several groups that sprout to resist the next Trump administration, two Democratic governors announced on Wednesday that they were forming a group to help protect state-level institutions of democracy. The group, Governors Safeguarding Democracy, is meant to serve as a mechanism for Democratic states to coordinate efforts to oppose the policies of President-elect Donald J. Trump. Its leaders, Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado, are among a group of ambitious Democrats likely to try to fill a party-wide leadership void once President Biden leaves office. New York Times
The Resistance begins.
Freedom Caucus chairman says Speaker Johnson should be challenged . . . Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) believes there should be more than one person in the race for House speaker to avoid a "Soviet-style" election following reports that hardline conservatives are hoping to find a challenger for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). So far, Johnson is the only person seeking the speaker's gavel after alerting his fellow Republican colleagues that he would seek another term as the House's top leader. However, his Republicans' right flank, a thorn in Johnson's side for much of 2024, is hinting that the speaker will face opposition to reelection on Wednesday. Washington Examiner
Culture
Federal department keeps 294 DEI staffers on payroll, most with six-figure salaries . . . The Health and Human Services Department employs 294 people whose jobs focus on diversity, and the department maintains seven "minority health" offices spread across its agencies, according to a report that suggests unwinding it all will be tough for the incoming Trump administration. The majority of those staffers, 182 workers, are paid six-figure salaries. The top diversity job earner, who works at the Food and Drug Administration, collected $221,000 in 2023, OpenTheBooks said in its report Tuesday. Washington Times
National Security
Trump Draft Executive Order Would Create Board to Purge Generals . . . The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a "warrior board" of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership. If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be "lacking in requisite leadership qualities," according to a draft of the order. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect's past vow to fire "woke generals." Wall Street Journal
Efforts underway to prevent Biden from leaving with classified documents again . . . President Joe Biden's history of walking off with classified documents has put greater scrutiny on his transition to President-elect Donald Trump. Trump and Biden have each been accused of mishandling classified documents when they left office previously, which they're hoping to avoid this time around. Washington Examiner
Once They Were Neocons. Now Trump's Foreign Policy Picks Are All 'America First.' . . . While they once were neoconservatives, over the past few years Representative Michael Waltz and Senator Marco Rubio, both of Florida, have gradually shifted their positions. Sounding less like former Vice President Dick Cheney or John R. Bolton, who served as Mr. Trump's third national security adviser, they no longer talk about foreign interventions or the prospects of regime change. Instead, they speak the language of the "America First" movement, and fit more comfortably within Mr. Trump's often erratic worldview, in which deal-making reigns over ideology. New York Times
International
Biden is sending aid to help Ukraine keep fighting next year . . . The Biden administration is determined in its final months to help ensure that Ukraine can keep fighting off Russia's full-scale invasion next year, sending it as much aid as possible so that it might hold Russian forces at bay and possess a strong hand in any potential peace negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. "President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and Jan. 20," when president-elect Donald Trump is due to be sworn in, Blinken said. Associated Press
Money
Spirit Airlines prepares for bankruptcy - sparking fears of mass route cancellations across America . . . Spirit Airlines is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection after merger talks with Frontier Airlines nosedived - sparking fears among flyers about mass cancelations. After news broke about the merger breakdown, the troubled airline's share price plummeted 45 percent in just seconds - erasing hundreds of millions in market value from the low cost carrier. Daily Mail
You should also know
Jack Smith Plans to Step Down as Special Counsel Before Trump Takes Office . . . Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Mr. Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his plans said. Mr. Smith's goal, they said, is to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect's promise to fire him within "two seconds" of being sworn in. New York Times
Guilty Pleasures
Jill Biden's apparent cold shoulder for Kamala Harris ignites social media . . . Social media erupted following what many characterized as first lady Jill Biden's icy reception for Vice President Kamala Harris as the now-former Democratic presidential nominee took an adjacent seat at Arlington Cemetery on Tuesday.Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff approached their row of seats from the first lady's right as the vice president greeted and shook hands with those around her — except Biden.
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