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President-Elect Donald Trump has proposed a dramatic shakeup in American education: “disbanding” or drastically reducing the power of the Department of Education (DOE), a move that would shift control and funding of public schools back to local communities.

While Trump’s specific plan and choice of secretary have yet to be announced, Neal McCluskey, the director for educational freedom at libertarian think tank Cato Institute, said there’s a high likelihood Trump’s agenda of shuttering the DOE could be carried out through “block granting.”

“Block granting is a little easier for people to understand, because it takes money and it doesn’t just suddenly go away from states and districts, it keeps it,” McCluskey told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It just gives them more control over it.”

TRUMP’S FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY SAYS SHE IS ‘VERY OPEN’ TO DISCUSSION ABOUT RETURNING TO PREVIOUS POST

“This would be a pretty big change if it went from the federal government giving out money with all kinds of rules and regulations through a whole bunch of different programs, to the federal government consolidating almost every K-12 and giving them the money,” he said.

McCluskey noted a shift in the federal government’s role in education, moving from funding support to more direct control, particularly until the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, which rolled back some federal oversight due to backlash against standardized testing and federal mandates. While ESSA reduced federal intervention, he believes funding pressures keep pushing Washington to influence school operations.

“I think that higher education, the Department of Education, has proved itself to be just a bad administrator,” McCluskey said. “The bungling of simplifying FAFSA, the student aid for. It’s sort of ironic that it’s making it easier, making the form easier that they just couldn’t handle.”

“I also think the programs are really bad,” he added.

BETSY DEVOS JOINS TRUMP’S CALL TO ‘DISBAND’ THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND ‘RE-EMPOWER’ FAMILIES

While McCluskey acknowledged a legitimate role for federal civil rights enforcement, he argued it should be housed within the Department of Justice, not education. He cautioned against overreach, particularly with “Dear Colleague” letters from the Office of Civil Rights, which, he argued, altered policies unilaterally without formal changes in the law.

In 1979, Congress passed and President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act, leading to the creation of the department, which began its operations in May 1980 under the Carter administration. In his 1982 State of the Union address, former President Reagan called for shuttering the department.

McCluskey said the DOE started largely as a political move to gain National Education Association support and initially focused on K-12 and student-aid funding.

Although intended to equalize funding between low- and high-income communities, its role expanded over time to include accountability measures, especially from the Reagan era onward, as concerns grew about educational quality and outcomes. 

DEM REP RUBEN GALLEGO BEATS KARI LAKE IN BATTLE FOR ARIZONA SENATE SEAT

This push for accountability led to the “A Nation at Risk” report in 1983 and eventually to the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, positioning the federal government as a major driver of standards and test-based accountability. 

However, backlash against centralized standard testing like Common Core led to a retreat from heavy oversight, and today the department’s primary roles are K-12 funding support, federal student aid management, and civil rights enforcement, he said.

So far, Fox News Digital has learned former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Rep. Byron Donalds, Cade Brumley, Rep. Virginia Foxx, Tiffany Justice, Oklahoma public education superintendent Ryan Walters and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin could be possible contenders for the DOE secretary role.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Joshua Comins contributed to this report.

Special counsel Jack Smith is asking an appeals court to halt his appeal against President-elect Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified and top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Smith did the same in the D.C. election interference case last week.

The news comes after Fox News confirmed that Smith will be stepping down before Trump takes office.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

President-elect Trump announced Tuesday he had chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, an agency that addresses border security, emergency relief and cybersecurity.

In his announcement Tuesday evening, Trump emphasized Noem’s moves as governor to send National Guard soldiers to the southern border in Texas, arguing she is “very strong” on border security.

“She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the border and will guarantee that our American homeland is secure from our adversaries. I have known Kristi for years and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects. She will be a great part of our mission to make America safe again,” Trump said in a statement.

EX-TRUMP OFFICIAL PREDICTS ‘ENTIRE MINDSET CHANGE’ AT SOUTHERN BORDER, HAILS ‘FANTASTIC’ PICK TO LEAD DHS 

Noem said she was “honored and humbled” by the selection.

“With Donald Trump, we will secure the border and restore safety to American communities so that families will again have the opportunity to pursue the American dream,” she said.

Noem, a former member of Congress, was elected governor of the state in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. She has three children with her husband, Byron.

TRUMP’S ‘BORDER CZAR’ WARNS DEM GOVS REJECTING TRUMP DEPORTATION PLAN: ‘GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY’

Noem’s selection came as a surprise to some political watchers, but a source familiar with the appointment told Fox News Digital Noem had set a precedent for other states by sending National Guard soldiers, rather than more generic assistance, to the border. She also brings experience of other parts of the agency’s mission.

Noem banned TikTok from state-owned devices in 2022, citing the company’s ties to China. Separately, Dakota State University has one of the top cyber units in the country, and cybersecurity is the fastest growing industry in South Dakota, an expansion encouraged by Noem. The governor’s website says the state has invested $90 million to equip DSU in expanding cyber programs and allowing high school students to take classes for college credit. The state said last year the sector has added thousands of jobs in a few years and grown by 25%.

Noem has in-depth experience with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because the state has dealt with flooding, including in June when there were record-setting floods in the state. FEMA sparked controversy over its handling of hurricanes this year and is likely to be under significant scrutiny in the months and years ahead.

With respect to border security, Noem has backed a pause on accepting migrants from terrorist hot spots. As governor, she pledged in 2021 not to take any more migrants from the Biden administration. She is particularly in line with President-elect Trump on border security and prioritizing national security and public safety threats for deportations, a source noted to Fox News Digital.

“My message to illegal immigrants is — Call me when you’re an American,” she said on Facebook in 2021. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Noem briefly sparked controversy this year when she revealed in a memoir she had shot and killed a family dog that she said had become a danger to people. 

While her appointment was a surprise to some, she has received backing from major figures, including former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.

“Gov. Noem is a fantastic pick,” he said. “She has been a successful governor and has been forward-leaning and helping to support the Border security mission with her National Guard. She also has extensive experience working with FEMA on natural disasters. I’m certain she will succeed.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been on the front lines of the crisis, said it was an “excellent selection.”

“Governor Noem is a border hawk who has worked with me to secure the Texas border,” he said on X.

“She has a no nonsense, rule of law approach, that will repair America from the carnage caused by Biden‘s open border policies.”

The pick follows a number of other hawkish appointments to Trump’s administration. This week, he announced former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan will be the “border czar.”

On Wednesday, Trump officially announced that Stephen Miller, who spearheaded many immigration policies in Trump’s first term, will serve as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. 

GOP North Carolina legislators are poised to overrule outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s block on legislation mandating local law enforcement agencies cooperate with ICE, but Democrats narrowly ended the GOP’s veto-proofing supermajority for next session.

The news comes as President-elect Trump’s pick for “border czar,” former ICE Director Thomas Homan. has signaled agreement with mass deportation and other stringent enforcement operations.

Legislation that would require state-federal cooperation has languished for five years, and the GOP’s ability to continue its pattern of overriding the executive branch may soon end.

Raleigh Republicans appear to have lost their three-fifths grip by one seat after last week’s election but retained it in the Senate. The governorship will remain in Democratic hands with current Attorney General Joshua Stein succeeding Cooper.

COOPER, STATE DEM LEADERS RALLY BEHIND BIDEN AFTER LACKLUSTER DEBATE

A top Republican in the state House who is favored to succeed U.S. Rep-elect Timothy Moore as speaker, said the veto override will be taken up Tuesday.

State Rep. Destin Hall, R-Lenoir, previously said some criticism of the bill was “factually incorrect,” adding it only applies to people who committed “serious felonies … or violent misdemeanors” and that it will not prompt law enforcement to actively seek out illegal immigrants.

EX-ICE CHIEF SCOFFS AT HOCHUL’S SUDDEN OUTRAGE AT VIOLENT MIGRANTS: ‘POLITICAL COVER’

The bill includes both the ICE provision and additional funds for school vouchers. In his September veto statement, Cooper only referenced the school choice provision.

However, after he vetoed duplicate legislation in the 2022 session, Cooper said the policy is “only about scoring political points and using fear to divide North Carolinians.”

“As the state’s former top law enforcement officer, I know that current law already allows the state to incarcerate and prosecute dangerous criminals regardless of immigration status,” Cooper said, calling the bill unconstitutional and a misuse of local resources. 

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., responded by saying Cooper effectively declared North Carolina a sanctuary state.

Fox News Digital reached out to Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Reidsville, for further comment on the plan. A call to Cooper’s office was not returned.

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The North Carolina branch of the ACLU also slammed the bill, saying it “circumvents the local authority of sheriffs by requiring them to cooperate with ICE and assist in the federal government’s deportation pipeline.

“HB10 will not make our communities safer,” the group said in a statement.

Berger previously said other work in the upcoming legislative session “beyond the override… has not been determined,” according to The Raleigh News-Observer.

During the last Trump administration, some law enforcement in the Tar Heel State bucked Trump’s overtures, and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden ended the Charlotte-area jurisdiction’s “287(g)” agreement with ICE, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Additionally, sheriffs in Wilson, Asheville, Durham and Hillsborough publicly objected to the bill when it was first proposed.

A statement from the consortium of lawmen obtained by WNCN said it was concerned it “will jeopardize their ability to fulfill their local duties and set a dangerous precedent for overstepping local authority.”

Homan told Fox News Monday that if places like New York City won’t offer assistance, he’ll double the number of federal agents there.

“We’re going to do the job with you or without you,” he said. 

Republicans will retain their supermajority for the brief, four-day session next week.

When they return in 2025, one Democrat would have to cross the aisle to kill any Stein veto.

Just a week after former President Donald Trump won back the presidency, the new administration is quickly forming, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is asking ordinary Americans to make suggestions about what policies and people should be put in place.

To facilitate this, close Kennedy allies launched a website called “Policies for the People” that allows people to nominate, suggest and vote for the leaders and policies they want to see coming from the Trump White House.

Amaryllis Fox, who served as campaign director for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential run, tweeted out that “President Trump and RFK want your policy proposals,” adding that “the MAGA x MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] transition team belongs to YOU.”

The website says that the suggestions will help fill the over 4,000 appointments across the entire executive branch.

“President Trump has asked Bobby [Kennedy] to help ‘drain the swamp’ by giving him an influential leadership role on his transition team,” a post on the website says. “But Bobby cannot do this alone, so he is now turning to the wisdom and expertise of his supporters – and the larger community.”

“Unlike the backroom deals of past presidents, the MAGA/MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] transition team will draw directly from the input of we, the people,” another part of the website says.

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

There are a dozen categories on the website ranging from “America’s health” to education, the economy and the environment. Anyone can register on the site and suggest a policy or person for an executive branch role. Nominees who receive more votes by users are pushed to the top of the suggested list.

So far, over 70,500 people have registered on the site and there have been nearly 10,500 policy suggestions. Nominee suggestions for the new administration range from the Department of Defense to national intelligence to health.

Mark Gorton, a New York-based executive and Kennedy ally, is one of the driving forces behind the website. He explained to Fox News Digital that the intention of the Policies for the People platform is to create a way for Americans to become more involved with the political decision-making process beyond just voting.

He believes that the platform has the potential to help not only the Trump administration but could also be used by state and local governments to better understand the concerns of their citizens.

“Previously, we had a system where most of the interaction with government came from lobbyists and most of the bills in Congress, large parts of them or all of them, are written by lobbyists,” he said. “So, the idea is that this would be a crowdsource tool for people in government so that they don’t just have to rely on the lobbyists.”

While the Policies for the People platform includes many policy categories, Gorton said that, like Kennedy, his focus is primarily on health policy. He chaired the “American Values” political action committee that supported Kennedy’s presidential run until he dropped out to endorse Trump in August. He shares many of the same concerns as Kennedy about corruption within government agencies such as the FDA and CDC, which he believes have significant conflicts of interest with the companies they are supposed to regulate.

“We tell people, ‘If you vote, you’ve done your job.’ I think in a world that, you know, with a much healthier democracy, you have a more active, engaged citizenry who is not just voting, but is also involved in, you know, oversight in very targeted ways,” he said. “You can have systems that are different and that aren’t riddled with conflicts of interest and really insiders versus outsiders.”

While Gorton said that “taking back control of the health regulatory agencies and making them work for the American people” is a good slogan, he believes that the Policies for the People platform can help to actually accomplish that goal.

“It’s one thing to say a high-level slogan like that. It’s another thing to go piece by piece into the guts of each of these agencies and, you know, go through the minutia of what it takes to fix the system. And that’s exactly where this large, crowdsourced pool of energy can help with that,” he said.

ELIZABETH WARREN GETS SARCASTIC AFTER TRUMP TAPS MUSK, RAMASWAMY FOR DOGE: ‘YEAH, THIS SEEMS REALLY EFFICIENT’ 

The Policies for the People platform is also receiving approval from long-time health advisors in Republican circles. Avik Roy, a seasoned Republican health policy advisor, told Fox News Digital that he thinks the Policies for the People platform is a “terrific idea.”

“Oftentimes these transitions can be very insider affairs,” he explained. “So, the more you can democratize that and make it easy for highly qualified people who are not plugged into Washington already, I think that’s terrific.”

When it comes to health in the U.S., Roy said that his biggest concern is FDA regulation making innovation much more difficult and, by extension, much more expensive for Americans to get treatments and medicine.

But to Dr. Charles Fagenholz, a holistic health practitioner who has been nominated on the platform for a health advisory role, the problem goes even deeper. Fagenholz, who runs a popular online health forum called “In The Trenches,” is one of the top nominees on the site. He told Fox News Digital that he believes the changes being discussed by Trump and Kennedy are seriously needed and will have a massive impact on American health and on ending things like chronic disease as well as ADHD and learning deficit disorders among children.   

“We’re the most advanced medical society ever in the history of this planet, and we’re the sickest country. That is obscene,” he said.

Though he believes there is much that people can do on an individual level to improve their health, such as buying organic groceries, drinking spring water and exercising, he said that “we do need a massive change at the government level.”

He agrees with Kennedy that there is massive corruption within government agencies, such as the FDA, and believes that the No. 1 issue affecting Americans’ health is the American food supply, which he said is full of harmful chemicals and pesticides.

“The foods that people are eating are toxic, and these administrations or three letter agencies, as you call them, are a big reason why they’re so toxic,” he said. “Taking something like high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners and dyes, things like that, out of our food and make food real again is probably going to be the biggest bang for our buck as a country in health.”

If asked, he said that he would be happy to advise the new administration on health policy. The way he sees it is that “we have four years to get as much done as possible and so that’s full steam ahead.” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was selected to lead the GOP conference again during a closed-door vote on Wednesday.

It comes after President-elect Donald Trump addressed House Republicans earlier in the day and said he was “100%” behind Johnson, multiple sources in the room told Fox News Digital.

Several hard-line GOP members are still holding out their support, however, over his handling of government spending and foreign aid in the current Congress.

JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Louisiana Republican, who was a relatively little-known lawmaker when he was elected to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after he was ousted by all House Democrats and eight fellow Republicans.

Johnson has endured much of the same chaos as McCarthy while presiding over a razor-thin House majority, with GOP rebels weaponizing the small margin in efforts to force the conference to pass more conservative policy.

SHUTDOWN STANDOFF LOOMS IN CONGRESS’ FINAL WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP’S RETURN TO WHITE HOUSE

But Johnson did not face any significant challengers on Wednesday, nor was he expected to with House Republicans on track to hold onto the chamber majority in the 119th Congress.

It could be a different story in January, when he will need a majority of the entire House chamber to be elected speaker.

McCarthy infamously had to endure 15 rounds of House votes and was forced to make concessions to a small group of holdouts in exchange for their support.

HOUSE LEADERS MOVE QUICKLY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER IN SHOW OF CONFIDENCE FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

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With Johnson projected to win just a slim single-digit majority again, he can afford little opposition – or risk paralyzing the House under a new Trump administration.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., ran uncontested for their current roles and are expected to win.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— Tech billionaire Elon Musk earned “uncle” status in the Trump family, as he increasingly spends time at Mar-a-Lago and traveled with President-elect Donald Trump following his massive win last week. 

“Elon achieving uncle status,” Kai Trump, the president-elect’s granddaughter, posted to X over the weekend, accompanied by a photo of the pair, along with Musk’s young son, on the golf course. 

Musk officially endorsed Trump over the summer, when the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president survived the first assassination attempt on his life this election cycle, and proceeded to join the campaign trail, most notably in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. Trump sailed to victory last week, after securing electoral votes from Pennsylvania and other battleground states, such as Georgia. 

All in, Trump earned 312 electoral votes, sweeping all seven of the battleground states when votes were tallied. 

TRUMP PICKING CABINET AT BREAKNECK SPEED COMPARED TO 2016

Musk has been at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort and residence in Palm Beach, since last week for the election, where he was spotted dining with Donald and Melania Trump and has taken on the title “first buddy” due to his tight relationship with the former and upcoming president.

Musk traveled with Trump on Wednesday morning from Florida to Washington, D.C., where the president-elect met with House Republicans before meeting President Biden at the White House.

“I look forward… to having a smooth transition. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,” Biden said during his meeting with Trump when reporters were briefly allowed in the Oval Office. 

Trump added, “politics is tough and in many cases it’s not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today.”

“I appreciate very much the transition that’s so smooth. It will be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that,” he continued. 

The meeting between Trump and Biden lasted about two hours, with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and incoming Chief of Staff Susie Wiles attending the meeting. 

ELON MUSK, VIVEK RAMASWAMY TO LEAD TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

Musk joined a separate closed-door meeting with House GOPers, with a source telling Fox News that Trump praised Musk during his roughly 40-minute address. He noted Musk has been doing well since joining the Trump orbit at Mar-a-Lago, even reportedly joking he “can’t get rid of him.”

On Tuesday evening, Trump announced that Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new task force called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies,” Trump said in a statement on the announcements.

The SpaceX CEO had made cutting government fat and red tape a hallmark of his campaigning for the Trump-Vance ticket, noting while speaking to Trump supporters in Pennsylvania that he has personally dealt with a “bunch of nutty stories” related to government overregulation, including how SpaceX had to study the probability of its Starship rocket hitting a whale or shark. 

LOYALTY MATTERS: TRUMP PICKS ALLIES AND SUPPORTERS TO FILL OUT HIS ADMINISTRATION

“SpaceX had to do this study to see if Starship would hit a shark. And I’m like… it’s a big ocean. There are a lot of sharks. It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely. So we said, ‘Fine, we’ll do the analysis. Can you give us the shark data?'” Musk recounted during a Pennsylvania rally last month. He said the National Marine Fisheries Service ordered SpaceX to carry out the study. 

“They were like, ‘No, we can’t give you the shark data.’ Well, then, OK, we’re in a bit of a quandary. How do we solve this shark probability issue? They said, ‘Well, we could give it to our western division, but we don’t trust them.’ I’m like, ‘Am I in a comedy sketch here?'” Musk continued. 

ELON MUSK SLAMS ‘UNFUNNY’ SNL SKITS AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF MAKING COMEDIAN CRY

“Eventually, we got the data and could run the analysis to say, ‘Yeah, the sharks are going to be fine.’ But they wouldn’t let us proceed with the launch until we did this crazy shark analysis,” he added of the anecdote. 

After Trump announced Musk and Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk said DOGE will publicly release any actions made and will listen to the public on how to best cut government spending. 

“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” Musk posted to X later on Tuesday. 

Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Ken Calvert won re-election to California’s 41st Congressional District – which was deemed a tossup by observers – against Democratic challenger Will Rollins.

The current balance of power in the House of Representatives with Calvert’s win is 217 to 207, with the GOP now one call away from the 218 majority. Eleven races are yet to be called.

GOP REP. CALVERT WINS ELECTION IN COMPETITIVE CALIFORNIA HOUSE SEAT

This is the second attempt by Rollins – a former federal prosecutor – to unseat Calvert after a narrow loss in 2022. Ross – who is openly gay – has tried to position himself as a moderate candidate who can bring Republicans, independents and Democrats together. He has also championed some progressive causes, like climate change action and LGBTQ rights. 

The district underwent big changes in 2021 through the redistricting process, which added more liberal-leaning areas such as parts of Palm Springs and its surrounding communities. Consequently, the redrawn map made this historically red district a battleground.

Calvert, first elected to Congress in 1992 to represent the Inland Empire, is a seasoned conservative who has long held sway in this district, which covers parts of Riverside County, including red towns like Corona and Temecula. Calvert has built his political tenure on strong national security and pro-business stances.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Thune wins secret ballot to become new Senate GOP leader, succeeding McConnell

-Trump thanks Biden for ‘smooth transition’ during White House meeting

-Trump names Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino to senior White House staff

Since winning the election last week, President-elect Donald Trump has begun evaluating and rolling out his picks for his Cabinet and other top roles. 

Here’s a roundup of whom Trump has picked to fill top jobs in his administration…Read more

IN THE RED: Top Democrat officials worried tens of millions in Harris campaign debt could be their problem…Read more

REINFORCEMENTS: Trump inauguration: DC police chief expecting ‘4,000 police officers to assist us’…Read more

‘SECOND AMENDMENT WON’: Trump’s victory over Harris proves ‘Second Amendment won,’ gun rights groups say…Read more

QUITTING TIME: Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to resign, file report before Trump can fire him: report…Read more

‘CHILD MUTILATION’: Trump HHS could reverse Biden-Harris policies on gender treatments for minors…Read more

‘DEVESTATING IMPACTS’: Biden admin says climate change poses national security risks, sends delegation to address them…Read more

NUCLEAR CAPACITY: Biden admin sets new target to triple US nuclear capacity from 2020 levels…Read more

NOT ISOLATIONISTS: Trump’s first Cabinet picks decidedly not isolationists: Ukraine, Israel breathe a sigh of relief…Read more

SHORT LIST: Trump considers New York Rep Brandon Williams for possible Labor Secretary nomination…Read more

‘YOU GUYS ARE STUCK WITH ME’: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders to remain in office, will not join Trump administration…Read more

‘REALLY EFFICIENT’: Elizabeth Warren gets sarcastic after Trump taps Musk, Ramaswamy for DOGE: ‘Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient’…Read more

LONE STAR SPLIT: Ted Cruz gets behind Rick Scott for leader, in blow to fellow Texan John Cornyn…Read more

CABAL COVERUP: Ex-Pentagon official says government ‘cabal’ is hiding ‘the fact that we are not alone’…Read more

‘KEEP OUR NATION SAFE’: Senators vow to ban pro-Hamas migrants from entering US with bipartisan push…Read more

BALANCE OF POWER: Republicans 2 seats away from House majority, giving Trump leeway to implement agenda…Read more

‘IDLE SPECULATION’: Democratic committee chair pours cold water on replacing Sotomayor before Trump takes office…Read more

TRUMP ADDRESSES REPUBLICANS: Trump predicts GOP could win NY, CA next election and muses about running again himself…Read more

‘THEY’RE DETERMINED’: More migrants likely to rush border despite reports of splintering caravan: experts…Read more

‘TITAN OF THE PROFESSION’: Former solicitor general Theodore Olson, conservative lawyer who argued Bush 2000 recount case, dead at 84…Read more

‘THREAT REMAINS GREAT’: Democratic governors form resistance group against Trump…Read more
 

Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

President-elect Trump announced on Wednesday that he is appointing Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence in his new Cabinet.

In a statement, Trump said that the former congresswoman “has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans.”

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” the statement added. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf contributed to this report. 

This is a breaking news story – check back for updates.