Trump picks Pete Hoekstra to be US ambassador to Canada

Donald Trump wants to give former Rep. Pete Hoekstra another turn as a diplomat. Trump announced Wednesday that Hoekstra, who served as ambassador to the Netherlands during his first administration, is his pick for ambassador to Canada for his second. “In my Second Term, Pete will once again help me put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said […]

‘Black mark’: Lawmakers seethe over Ethics’ Gaetz report imbroglio

Matt Gaetz is plunging the House into chaos, again. Members of the House Ethics Committee deadlocked over whether to release the findings of an investigation into the former Florida lawmaker, who is Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. The inaction is triggering outrage among Democrats, who argue the committee is dragging out the process, while […]

Mark Milley disagrees with Trump pick on women in combat

Retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff, is defending the role of women in combat — clashing with the views of Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Pentagon. Milley, who served as the top U.S. military officer under Trump and President Joe Biden until his retirement in 2023, […]

Nikki Haley has thoughts on RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard

Nikki Haley has a blunt assessment of Donald Trump’s choices of Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for high-profile roles in his administration. Haley, who was Trump’s most significant Republican primary opponent, argued Wednesday on her radio show against confirming Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Kennedy to lead Health and Human Services. […]

House Democrat pledges to force a vote to release the Gaetz report

Illinois Democrat Sean Casten is trying to force a vote on the House floor about releasing the House Ethics Committee’s report on Matt Gaetz, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. If the House Ethics Committee does not vote to release the Gaetz report Wednesday, Casten plans to introduce a privileged […]

Musk, Ramaswamy publish plan to slash workforce

Civil service protections can’t stop large-scale firings of federal workers, the leaders of President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the government wrote Wednesday in an op-ed. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leaders of Trump’s planned effort to cut federal rules and workers, authored a Wall Street Journal op-ed offering the most comprehensive plan sketched out so […]

Powerful GOP steering committee comes together

House Republicans named the members of their steering committee Wednesday, locking in a new group that holds power to set most committee assignments and committee chairs, significantly influencing how the conference as a whole operates. The 30 person body includes regional representation and members of leadership — whose votes have more weight than other members. […]

Gaetz recess appointment could be unconstitutional, former DOJ official who wrote torture memos warns

The former Justice Department official who authored the post-9/11 “torture memos” cautioned that President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general “would plunge the DOJ into a political and legal quagmire” — and that a recess appointment could even be “unconstitutional.” “Gaetz would serve the returning president better by […]