I’ve been mulling a post on Trump’s Cabinet appointments and had planned to share some thoughts about them this afternoon. Today’s appointments, which not surprisingly are of a different character, allow me to add a bit more.
Let’s start with everything up until today. I said the first-thing announcements were different from what many expected. They were mainly not ideologues. They were mostly ride-or-die Trumpers. They had shown Trump they’re 100% loyal and up for anything. In many cases, they had shown little or no Trumpiness before Trump came on the scene. And they were people who if you watch closely don’t actually show that much today that is coming from them organically. They’re just 100% on board for anything Trump tells them to do. There are a few who are ideologues but they’re mainly hawks. Some of those you wouldn’t have been surprised to see in a Mitt or Jeb administration. So in a very Trumpy way, those choices all appear to be totally about loyalty. The White House makes the call to this or that department and it’s “You got it, boss” from any of these people. Yes, some of them are true believers. But they’re true believers in Trump.
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to serve as attorney general, one of the most powerful positions in the Cabinet of an incoming president who promised to use federal law enforcement to harass and prosecute his political opponents.
Republicans have clinched the White House and Congress, though with a House majority so slim that it might hamper parts of President-Elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
Today is the anniversary of this site, founded 24 years ago today.
It’s always been one of the features of TPM’s history that these anniversaries come right on the heels of elections — so either another milestone amidst the reverie and relief of good results or a reminder of the long view in the daze of bad ones. And it’s no accident. The site literally began as an effort to cover an election that was already over, or that was supposed to be over. That wasn’t the only reason the site began. I had it hazily in my mind to do something like it. There were even a few false starts at it in the few months before I did. But the election was the trigger. I had planned to spend a week with my then-girlfriend in New Haven after the 2000 election was concluded. But it turned out not to be over. The story was fast-moving, couldn’t wait on daily publishing schedules, let alone the weeks-long ones at my day job at The American Prospect, where I wasn’t going to have free rein in any case. So I just dove in and it never stopped.
Current Republican Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) will be the next Senate Majority Leader, becoming the successor to longest-serving Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The Collapse Of The Trump Prosecutions Is Almost Complete
Special Counsel Jack Smith is planning to wind down his two cases against Donald Trump and step down before Trump’s inauguration in January, the NYT reported.
The exact mechanism by which Smith winds down his cases remains unclear. It’s also not clear whether Smith will issue an exhaustive final report that provides new details on Trump’s alleged wrongdoing in the Jan. 6 case or the Mar-a-Lago documents fiasco.
This paragraph from the NYT report is almost unbelievable in it degree of naivete, though it’s hard to suss out whether that’s the newspaper’s, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s, or both:
The big question now, assuming Mr. Smith finishes the report on his current schedule, is whether Mr. Garland will release the findings before he leaves office, or defer the release to the Trump team, which might not make its contents public.
The thrust of the NYT piece suggests Smith is trying not to leave anything to chance by finishing what is left of his work before the new administration takes over. He also seems to be intentionally averting a situation in which Trump gets to follow through on his promise to fire Smith within “two seconds” of taking office.
Judge Pauses Hush Money Case
The only criminal case which managed to get to trial before the election is now stalled in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision and Trump’s re-election. Prosecutors in Manhattan asked for and the judge granted a pause to assess next steps. They have until Nov. 19 to alert the court to their plans. Sentencing remains set for later in November.
Georgia RICO Case In Limbo
The Georgia RICO case is likely to proceed against Trump’s co-defendants without him. The Supreme Court rejected Tuesday Mark Meadows’ bid to remove the case to federal court.
Add Insult To Injury
As if the collapse of the Trump prosecutions wasn’t enough, the state judge overseeing the fake electors case in Arizona recused himself late Tuesday after it was reported that he had emailed fellow judges about defending Kamala Harris and equated the present moment with the failure to avert the Holocaust.
Happening Today
President-elect Trump is expected to visit Capitol Hill this morning.
Senate Republicans meet to elect a new leader for the first time since 2007, as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is stepping down. The House GOP will also hold leadership elections today.
President Biden hosts President-elect Donald Trump at the White House, a resumption of a tradition that Trump abandoned when Biden defeated him in 2020.
Trump wants to bring back his tariff-loving former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as White House “trade czar”
Is Trump really going to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a Senate-confirmed position?
‘Who The Fuck Is This Guy?’
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 04: Pete Hegseth celebrates Independence Day on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ on July 04, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
Of all of Trump’s announced nominees-to-be so far, Fox New host Pete Hegseth is probably the one most likely to run into opposition even among Senate Republicans. Light on substance, a history of controversial remarks, and a lack of relevant experience beyond being a veteran made Hegseth a sobering choice even by the low standards of Trump II.
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 reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.
Trump Transition Watch
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) says Trump is already breaking the law by not abiding by the provisions of the Presidential Transition Act.
“President-elect Donald J. Trump’s demand that Senate Republicans surrender their role in vetting his nominees poses an early test of whether his second term will be more radical than his first.”–NYT
Democratic Govs. J.B. Pritzker (IL) and Jared Polis (CO) announced the formation of a new group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to coordinate state opposition to Trump.
Good Thread
Dutch political scientist Catherine de Vries on the structural reasons we’re underestimating the risk of crony Orbanesque crony capitalism in a Trump II presidency.
2024 Ephemera
Success! Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) congratulates himself on the magical disappearance of noncitizen voting.
Historic: Only three states will have a party-split between their two senators, the lowest number since the direct election of senators began in 1914, a continuation of a long-term trend.
WI-Sen: “Republican Eric Hovde refused Tuesday to concede defeat in the Wisconsin Senate race, casting doubt on the results despite a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing in last week’s election.”–NBC News
Federal prosecutors have charged a man with disclosing classified documents that appeared to show Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier this year, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter.
The man, Asif W. Rahman, was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. He was arrested by the F.B.I. on Tuesday in Cambodia and brought to federal court in Guam to face charges.
Federal Judge Blocks Louisiana’s 10 Commandments Law
“A federal judge in Louisiana blocked a state law on Tuesday that would have required the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.”–NYT
Carbon Emissions Reach New Record High
New data released today at COP29 in Azerbaijan show that global carbon emissions will set another new record in 2024. The new data from the Global Carbon Budget project confirms that the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement targets for reducing carbon emissions. Researchers who compiled the latest data said there is “no sign” that the world has reached peak carbon emissions yet.
President-elect Donald Trump has been filling out his administration in the week since his landslide election. On Tuesday, he announced that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is his choice to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. The pick is notable because Huckabee has a long history with the country, including statements that indicate he doesn’t necessarily believe in the two state solution to the country’s conflict with the Palestinian people.
A top Kremlin aide took time this week to slyly poke at Donald Trump, his domestic political foes, and instances of Russian interference in U.S. elections.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said on Monday that President elect-Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law specific to presidential transitions — by not adhering to it.
“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law,” Warren wrote in a social media post on Monday. “I would know because I wrote the law. Incoming presidents are required to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement.”
“This is what illegal corruption looks like,” she added.
Warren is referring to the Presidential Transition Act — a law that facilitates an orderly and peaceful transition of power by helping involved parties create an early and organized transition plan. The Trump team already ignored a pair of key preelection deadlines set to start transition activities — including signing a Memorandum of Understanding and submitting an official ethics plan for the transition into the new administration.
In response, lawmakers like Warren are warning of the impacts ignoring these deadlines can have on the country’s national security preparedness on Trump’s first day back in the Oval Office.
Warren’s declaration comes just weeks after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Trump and Vice President elect-JD Vance warning them of the dangers of their failure to enter into presidential transition agreements with the federal government.
“Breaking the precedent set by every other presidential candidate since 2010, you have rejected these resources and refused to commit to a smooth transition,” Raskin wrote in his letter dated Oct. 23. “It appears your decision may be at least partially driven by your intent to circumvent fundraising rules that put limits on private contributions on the transition effort and require public reporting. You may also be acting out of a more general aversion to ethics rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest in the incoming administration.”
“Alas, your recent public statements and your conduct four years ago provide cold comfort to the American people, who have sought to create continuity and legitimacy in the transition between administrations,” Raskin continued, warning the two that if the new administration is not ready to govern, “our nation’s adversaries may well see and take advantage of the situation.”
“I strongly urge you to expeditiously sign both MOUs and submit your ethics plan,” he added.
Meanwhile, a Trump adviser tried to downplay the skipped deadlines, saying it is “not at all a concern,” according to CNN.
The adviser also told CNN that Trump intends to sign the ethics pledge — a part of the law in question — but did not specify when he will do so. Instead, he pressed that the main priority for the Trump team is to select and vet candidates for Cabinet positions.
For months now, Republicans have been setting the stage to cry voter fraud in the event of a possible Donald Trump loss — warning specifically about the supposed dangers of non-citizens voting.
However, unsurprisingly, outrage over non-citizens supposedly voting en masse for Democrats, and general, run-of-the-mill claims of voter fraud, have practically disappeared since Trump’s victory in last week’s election.
