Trump cabinet updates: Two nominations under fire over sexual misconduct allegations

Brendan Buck, a longtime GOP adviser, said if Matt Gaetz has a Senate confirmation hearing, it will be one “of the most insane.”

He told MSNBC’s Alex Witt that he “wouldn’t want to be in [Gaetz’s] position” right now.

“He’s obviously not coming in with a strong hand. I’m not ready to say that Republicans are going to reject him,” Buck said. “I think you have to appreciate how many Republicans see what Donald Trump just did and would be very concerned about crossing him.

“We’ve seen reports of as many as 30 Republican senators willing to vote against him but that’s all said anonymously.

“I do think if he gets to this point this will be some of the most insane confirmation hearings we’ve ever seen,” Buck added.

“The things that the House Ethics Committee has been looking into, whether or not the report comes out, are going to be front and center. Don’t think that Democrats on the committee will just let that go if it does not come out.”

The lawyers who defended Donald Trump in his criminal cases and demanded the Supreme Court shield him from prosecution have been awarded job offers for some of the biggest roles in federal law enforcement.

Todd Blanche, who has steered the defense of the former president in courtrooms in New York, Florida, and Washington DC, is nominated for the second highest role in the Department of Justice.

If confirmed, he could serve as deputy attorney general to far-right Trump ally Matt Gaetz, who Trump has nominated for attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement official, in a role that is likely to be used to target the judges and prosecutors overseeing the mountain of litigation against the former president.

Emil Bove, Trump’s criminal defense attorney in his so-called hush money case, is nominated for principal deputy attorney general. He could be acting deputy attorney general while Blanche is awaiting confirmation in the Senate.

Alex Woodward writes how the three attorneys central to Trump’s criminal defense and ‘immunity’ victory could lead the daily operations of a Justice Department the president-elect wants to upend.

A former federal prosecutor has said that Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, would fail a background check for an entry-level role at the DOJ.

Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, said that Gaetz’s hire could prompt a “major exodus” at the agency.

“There’s never been someone as unqualified, no prosecutorial experience, no legal experience to speak of, but that’s the least of it. Someone who comes to the department with actual contempt and hostility for it, it’s gonna prompt a major exodus,” Litman told MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes on Friday.

“It’s gonna prompt judges and juries around the country to have less credibility in the DOJ, which is the really stock and trade of the DOJ,” he added.

He warned Democrats that they needed to “pace themselves” since it’s still very early days for the Trump presidency round two.

“And that’s the thing. If you’re already exhausted, freaking out, and it’s not even Thanksgiving, then you really ought to pace yourselves. Because he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet,” he said.

“So you really have to chill out, and you’re going to have to be more discerning or discriminate on what’s going to freak you out, or what’s just trolling, Because it’s not the weather, it’s the climate now for the next four years.”

Graig Graziosi has the details.

The second in command to the nation’s military could end up being a Fox News pundit who wants to launch a “frontal assault” against top brass, kick women out of combat, and implement Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda for the world’s third-largest standing fighting force.

The president-elect has nominated Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defense, overseeing a budget of roughly $850 billion and roughly 3 million service members and personnel serving in the nation’s oldest-running agency while the US is embroiled in global conflicts in a period of escalating tensions.

The office was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to centralize governance of the newly renamed Department of War and the various branches of the military.

Veterans groups and service members are warning against Trump’s ‘dangerous’ appointment to the Pentagon, as the president-elect rewards loyalists dedicated to his agenda, Alex Woodward reports.

There may be fewer Trumps in the White House this time around but ethical questions and party influence will continue to swirl around the famous family, writes Josh Marcus.

Here’s how Trump’s cabinet, along with other senior White House positions, is looking so far. Most of them are subject to Senate approval.

White House Chief of Staff – Susie Wiles

White House Communications Director – Steven Cheung

White House Press Secretary – Karoline Leavitt

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy – Stephen Miller

Secretary of State – Marco Rubio

Attorney General – Matt Gaetz

Defense Secretary – Pete Hegseth

Health and Human Services Secretary – Robert F Kennedy Jr

Homeland Security Secretary: Kristi Noem

Directional of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

EPA Administrator: Lee Zeldin

Veterans Affairs Secretary: Doug Collins

Interior Secretary: Doug Burgum

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: Elise Stefanik

CIA Director: John Ratcliffe

National Security Adviser: Mike Waltz

Needless to say, almost all, if not all, Democrats will oppose Kennedy’s confirmation. Plenty of Republicans might have some objections as well.

Eric Garcia breaks down just how much power Kennedy would have should he lead the agency.

In addition to the 15 officials Trump will choose to join his cabinet, there are hundreds of positions, including ambassadors and lower-level roles, that typically require Senate approval.

Nominees face a grilling during the Senate confirmation process as it typically requires them to submit financial disclosures and testify before a committee.

Members from both political parties get a chance to interrogate nominees about their plans for the post and their backgrounds.

The Senate committee votes on the nominee following the hearing and if it passes, it then goes to the full Senate for a vote.

However, last weekend Trump signaled he could bypass the process via recess appointments.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote in a social media post on X on Sunday before John Thune was confirmed as the next majority leader Wednesday, replacing the outgoing Mitch McConnell.

Recess appointments would allow Trump to make administration appointments without a vote in the Senate while the upper chamber is in recess. The process is not unconstitutional, and it has been done before by other administrations.