Page 6 - Latest Updates on Trump Inauguration 2025

Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general, here's all you need to know

Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as US attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed dubious. The 59-year-old has long been in Trump's orbit and her name had been floated during his first term as a potential candidate for the nation's highest law enforcement role. Trump announced his plans to nominate Bondi Thursday in a social media post. If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would instantly become one of the most closely watched members of Trump's Cabinet given the Republican's threat to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries and concern among Democrats that he will look to bend the Justice Department to his will. Here's a few things to know about Bondi: She's long been a fixture in Trump's world Bondi has been a longtime and early ally. In March 2016, on the eve of the ...

Trump expected to pick Brooke Rollins for agriculture secretary post

If confirmed, Rollins would lead a 100,000-person agency with offices in every county in the country, whose remit includes farm and nutrition programs, forestry, home and farm lending

Sex scandals shake Trump's new administration nominations. Details here

Trump's team faces a scandal storm as sexual misconduct allegations against nominees spark debates over accountability

Who's who in Trump's White House? Full list of Cabinet picks unveiled

Here is a list of individuals selected by US President-elect Donald Trump for key Cabinet positions and top roles in the White House

Donald Trump names Fox News contributor Nesheiwat as Surgeon General

The Office of the Surgeon General is responsible for providing Americans with scientific information about healthcare options and how to reduce the risk of illness

Donald Trump selects former Congressman Dave Weldon for CDC Director

If confirmed, Weldon takes the helm of an Atlanta-based agency that's been trying to regain public trust and address shortcomings identified during the pandemic

Donald Trump picks NFL veteran Scott Turner to lead Housing Department

Scott Turner is the first Black American picked for a Cabinet post in Donald Trump's second administration

Trump-backed Derek Merrin concedes to Democratic US Rep Kaptur in Ohio

Her Trump-endorsed Republican rival said on Friday that he had called Democratic US Rep. Marcy Kaptur to concede defeat in the 2024 election. In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, fourth-term state Rep. Derek Merrin did not rule out running for Kaptur's seat again in two years, but he said his immediate plans were to rest and recharge with his family. The race for Ohio's 9th Congressional District was not settled until this Wednesday, when official results landed Kaptur ahead of Merrin by about 2,300 votes, or 0.7 per cent of the vote. That narrowly averted the automatic recount that would have been triggered at 0.5 per cent. Libertarian Tom Pruss, whose campaign was boosted by more than USD 400,000 from the pro-Democrat Voter Protection Project, won more than 4 per cent of the vote. Merrin pointed to the contest's huge price tag as evidence Republicans were competitive against the longest-serving woman in Congress. Guys, they spent over USD 10 million against us. Democrats ..

Vance takes on visible transition role as he works to boost Trump's picks

After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks through Senate confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump's choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the Fox and Friends Weekend host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other

Trump picks Scott Bessent as Treasury secy, Vought as top budget official

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he'll nominate former George Soros money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Trump also said he would nominate Russel Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position Vought held during Trump's first presidency. Bessent, 62, is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation's first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump's campaign in part to attack the mounting US national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. This election cycle is the last chance for the US to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy, he said then.

Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be US attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name. Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused but not convicted of abusing his power as he tried to condition US military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Joe Biden. She has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers. Bondi is from Tampa and spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor. She was Florida's first female attorney general.

Trump considers Kevin Warsh for Treasury Secretary, later Fed chairman

Potential arrangement was discussed between Trump and Warsh, a former investment banker who served on the Federal Reserve Board, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat

Trump made Republicans ignore his misconduct, can he do same for nominees?

In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, he's tried to demonstrate his dominance by naming loyalists for top administration positions, even though many lack expertise and some face sexual misconduct accusations. It often seems like he's daring Congress to oppose his decisions. But on Thursday, Trump's attempt to act with impunity showed a crack as Matt Gaetz, his choice for attorney general, withdrew from consideration. Trump had named Gaetz, a Florida congressman, to be the country's top law enforcement official even though he was widely disliked by his colleagues, has little legal experience and was accused of having sex with an underage girl, an allegation he denied. After being plagued by investigations during his first presidency, Trump wanted a devoted ally in charge of the Justice Department during his second. However, it was never obvious that Gaetz could win enough support from lawmakers to get confirmed as attorney general. Trump chose for a replacement Pam

Trump, several of his Cabinet picks face accusations of sexual misconduct

While Matt Gaetzhas withdrawn from the nomination process for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump has picked several other people for his Cabinet and key staff positions who have been accused of some form of sexual misconduct. Trump himself has long been accused of abusing or mistreating women and once was caught bragging about grabbing women by the genitals. He was found liable by a New York City jury for sexual abuse and defamation and eventually ordered to pay the woman, E. Jean Carroll, USD 83 million in damages. Taken together, there are a striking number of incidents in which potential high-ranking government officials in Trump's second administration face allegations of sexual abuse. Trump and all of his picks for government have denied the claims against them, with some of the people accused arguing the cases are driven by politics. Here's a look at what's known about the cases: President-elect Donald Trump Jurors in New York last year found Trump liable for ...

Matt Gaetz drops bid for Trump attorney general amid Senate opposition

The announcement came a day after the House Ethics Committee deadlocked on releasing a report into allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use by Gaetz

US chief of staff a former lobbyist; will face raft of special interests

As incoming White House chief of staff, one of Susie Wiles' vexing challenges will be policing the buffet line of powerful interests who want something from Donald Trump. It's a world she knows well. During Trump's first presidency, she lobbied for many of them. Trump was first elected on a pledge to drain the swamp in Washington. But his transactional approach to the presidency instead ushered in a lobbying boom that showered allies, including Wiles, with lucrative contracts, empowered wealthy business associates and stymied his agenda after his administration was ensnared in a series of influence-peddling scandals. Now, as Trump prepares to return to power, his victory is likely to embolden those who think they can get his ear, raising the prospect that his second administration could face many of the same perils as his first. That will test the ability of Wiles to manage a growing number of high-powered figures including Trump's children, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and ...

Musk, Ramaswamy share their blueprint for govt reforms including job cuts

Tesla owner billionaire Elon Musk and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in an op-ed provided an insight into their blueprint for an unprecedented government reform that includes mass federal job cuts and massive expense reduction. Following his stunning electoral victory, President-elect Donald Trump entrusted Musk, 53, and Ramaswamy, 39, with government reform by appointing them to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The two confidants of Trump wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that they will serve as outside volunteers, assisting the Trump transition team in identifying and hiring a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget in the new administration. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrati

Marty Makary seen as leading candidate for Donald Trump's FDA pick

Makary, a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a health researcher whose latest book focuses on questioning medical orthodoxy on topics from peanut allergies to antibiotics

Trump team considers creating first-ever White House cryptocurrency role

Discussions about the crypto role have included the person leading a small staff, and acting as a liaison between Congress, the White House and the various agencies with jurisdiction over crypto

Lawmakers concerned about background checks of Trump's Cabinet picks

As senators prepare to consider President-elect Donald Trump's picks for his Cabinet, they may be doing so without a well-established staple of the confirmation process: an FBI background check. The Trump transition team has so far not signed the requisite agreements with the White House or the Justice Department to allow the FBI to screen his personnel choices, both for the process of obtaining security clearances and meeting the Senate's usual standards for nominations. That means the Senate could be asked to vote on Trump's picks without the usual rigorous background checking meant to uncover personal problems, criminal histories or other red flags that would raise questions about a nominee's suitability for the job. There already are questions about problematic issues related to a number of the people Trump wants in his administration. There are very real liabilities on the security side if you don't get this right, said Dan Meyer, a Washington lawyer at the Tully Rinckey law fi