Wednesday, November 13, 2024

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1/ Trump named Matt Gaetz his pick as attorney general. Trump called Gaetz, once the subject of a Justice Department sex-trafficking investigation involving a 17-year-old girl, a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” who would end the “the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System.” Although Republicans will control the Senate, it unclear if Gaetz will have a path to confirmation. Trump, however, has suggested the idea of Congress going into recess so he could bypass the Senate confirmation process and install nominees. (New York Times / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC)

2/ Trump named Fox News Host Pete Hegseth his choice for secretary of defense and John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA. Trump also tapped Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence. Gabbard has been accused of spreading “actual Russian propaganda,” being a “Russian asset,” and condemned as a “traitor” by both Republicans and Democrats. Hegseth, a co-host of “Fox & Friends,” is a veteran of the Army National Guard, where he did tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay as an infantry officer. He’s called the U.S. the military ineffective, “woke,” mused about firing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and said allowing women to serve in combat has made the military less lethal. If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would take over the federal government’s biggest department, an $850 billion budget and a workforce of nearly three million civilian workers and military service members despite having never held a senior government post. (Axios / NPR / Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Axios / Associated Press / Politico / New York Times / CNN)

3/ Trump named billionaires Elon Musk and...

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