The Hill

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday that former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), now a Republican and President-elect Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, is “a national security threat” to the United States.

“So, to have Tulsi Gabbard there now, who has basically said good things about [Syrian President Bashar Assad], secretly gone over to visit him, good things about [Russian President Vladimir Putin], shows to me that that’s a national security threat to the United States of America, and I think under ordinary circumstances, if you go through regular security screening, she would not pass the test to receive classified documents,” Meeks told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera.

Trump announced last week that he had selected Gabbard to be director of national intelligence in his next administration.

“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!” Trump said in a statement at the time.

Gabbard has in the past shared content implying that the U.S. was involved in making biological weapons in Ukraine, perpetuating a narrative from Moscow. She also met in 2017 with Assad, who has been accused of the use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians.

“She was … on the Foreign Affairs Committee, when she secretly went over to visit Assad. … She made … public statements about Russia,” Meeks said of Gabbard on Monday. “And I think that, you know, unfortunately it does follow what Donald Trump has done and what Donald Trump has said.”

“Because Donald Trump … said he trusted Russian intelligence above the United States intelligence,” Meeks added.

Multiple Democrats, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), a former CIA officer, have spoken out against Gabbard as Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence.

“As a former CIA case officer, I saw the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community put their lives on the line every day for this country — and I am appalled at the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead DNI,” Spanberger wrote on the social platform X last week.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

President Biden has sent Congress an emergency funding request for roughly $100 billion to help with recovery after natural disasters, including the recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Southeast, battered communities nationwide and depleted key programs.

“From rebuilding homes and reopening critical infrastructure, such as schools and roads — to supporting the Nation’s farmers and ranchers and ensuring access to healthcare services — impacted communities await your response.  There can be no delay,” Biden wrote in a letter to the House Speaker. 

“I urge the Congress to act quickly to pass a supplemental funding package to assist communities impacted by these hurricanes — and every other disaster since the Congress last passed a comprehensive disaster package in 2022 — so that the people, families, businesses, and communities affected have the support they need to respond, recover, and rebuild responsibly,” the president said. 

The request includes $40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). Without that, Biden said, the DRF will face a shortfall this fiscal year, impacting FEMA’s ability to aid disaster survivors and recovery efforts. 

The White House is also asking for emergency funding for more than a dozen other agencies to support health services, housing, transportation and infrastructure, among other areas. 

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, warned in a memo on Monday that various federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture, are running low on funds after the recent storms. Several of those agencies have written to Congress in recent weeks about “the need to replenish key disaster response programs and fund long term recovery for communities suffering since 2022,” she said.

The Department of Agriculture would get $24 billion to help impacted farmers, the Department of Housing and Urban Development would get $12 billion for its Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program and the Small Business Administration would get $2 million to replenish its disaster loan program.

In addition to helping respond to the devastation wrought by Helene and Milton this fall — which together killed hundreds of people and caused billions in damage — the funds would also help ongoing recovery efforts after last year’s fires in Maui and this spring’s tornadoes in Mississippi, Iowa and Oklahoma.

The Biden administration has made multiple requests for more disaster aid since 2022, Young noted.

Biden in his letter pointed to Congress’s bipartisan action in the wake of other recent natural disasters, including more than $120 billion provided after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017. 

“Just as the Congress acted then, it is our sworn duty now to deliver the necessary resources to ensure that everyone in communities reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton — and those still recovering from previous disasters — have the Federal resources they need and deserve,” Biden said. 

Lawmakers will now decide how to take up the request. Congress faces a Dec. 20 deadline to pass a government funding bill and avert a shutdown, and it’s possible the disaster relief funds will be packaged into that legislation.

In January, the GOP will take a trifecta of control over the House, Senate and the White House as President-elect Trump assumes the Oval Office.

Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the first Trump administration, gave a vote of confidence to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as potential head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

NewsNation Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin asked Redfield on Sunday whether there should be concerns that Kennedy, a well-known opponent of vaccines, will introduce a “no-vaccine culture” into public policy.

“No Brian, I don’t think that. I mean, I’m probably one of the biggest advocates for vaccine. You mentioned that — I, when I was CDC director, I would say that I think vaccines are the greatest gift of science to modern medicine and I still believe that,” Redfield said.

“Kennedy is not anti-vaccine. What Kennedy is about is transparency about vaccine, honest discussion about vaccines, asking for the data to show that these vaccines are safe and they’re efficacious.”

Redfield served as CDC director from 2018 to 2021.

Since at least 2005, Kennedy has been one of the most well-known vaccine skeptics and opponents, pushing the claim that vaccines are linked to autism despite a lack of scientific data to corroborate those claims.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate named Kennedy among the top 12 spreaders of online anti-vaccine content.

In 2021, Kennedy described the COVID-19 vaccine as the “deadliest vaccine ever made,” citing data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). VAERS, established in the 1980s, is run by both the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration. The systems allows anybody to report any effects observed following vaccines, but these reports are not verified before being entered into VAERS.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

President-elect Trump is promising to make himself available to the press and keep an open mind when dealing with journalists when he takes office next year.

“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press,” Trump, who has long had an acrimonious relationship with the media, said as part of an extensive interview given to Fox News Digital.

Trump confirmed a Mar-a-Lago meeting he hosted late last week with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” during which the three re-opened communication ahead of his second term in the White House, saying, “in many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.” 

“I expect this will take place with others in the media, even those that have been extremely hostile,” Trump told Fox News, noting he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press.” 

“If not treated fairly, however, that will end,” the president-elect added. “The media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America.” 

Trump made attacks on the press a hallmark of his campaign messaging this year. He regularly ridicules “the fake news media” and has threatened to use the power of the federal government to crack down on broadcast news networks he says is unfair to him.

The former president last month sued CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview it aired with Vice President Harris that he and his allies have argued was edited in a way to cast her in a positive light ahead of the election.

But during his conversation with Fox, Trump struck a different tone.

“And while many others are calling for meetings, I am not looking for retribution, grandstanding or to destroy people who treated me very unfairly, or even badly beyond comprehension,” Trump said. “I am always looking to give a second and even third chance, but never willing to give a fourth chance — that is where I hold the line.” 

Reince Priebus said that President-elect Trump made it “very clear” to him that the decision to nominate now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general was a “big middle finger” to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI.  

“He made it very clear to me that the Matt Gaetz pick is not three-dimensional chess to help another nominee get through, that this was what he wanted to have happen,” Priebus, who served as chief of staff in the first Trump administration, said Sunday during a panel discussion on ABC’s “This Week.”

Priebus also said the nomination was a response to those who voted to impeach Trump in his first term.  

“He had a list of who those people were, and almost all of them in the House are gone,” Priebus said. “He feels like he has gone to hell and back ten times. So, this is also a big middle finger to the DOJ and the FBI.” 

The House Ethics Committee had been investigating Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. That investigation came to an end after the Florida representative resigned from Congress shortly after the nomination, as the Ethics panel does not have jurisdiction over former members of Congress. However, pressure on the Ethics Committee to release its report has been increasing, with some lawmakers in both parties pushing for its release.  

Additionally, Gaetz’s office said early last year that the Justice Department decided not to charge him in a sex-trafficking investigation.  

Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Priebus visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida last week – a place the former Republican National Committee chair called “the center of the political universe.” 

“The issues with the nominees are not really penetrating there. They’re pushing forward,” he said on Sunday. “They feel like they’ve got a mandate.” 

President-elect Trump on Monday recirculated a social media post suggesting his incoming administration will declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation pledge, labeling the claim “TRUE!!!”

On his Truth Social site, Trump at 4:03 a.m. re-posted Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative organization that’s been active, both in courts and social media, on a number of culture war issues, including questioning the legitimacy of elections.

“GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program,” wrote Fitton.

Trump’s single-word response appeared to confirm the report.

Immigration advocates are bracing for swift executive action on immigration from the incoming administration, but questions remain about the potential legal, logistical and budgetary limitations of plans to carry out mass deportations.

The Department of Defense, through the National Guard, has been actively supporting border security missions for years.

That support is generally limited to background logistics, including communications and transportation, freeing up more Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection officers to directly engage with migrants.

Trump and his inner circle have suggested greater military involvement in immigration enforcement both at the border and in the interior.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18^th century law that allows the summary detention and removal of any foreign national over the age of 14 who hails from a country at war with the United States.

The United States has not formally declared war on any nation since 1942.

But Trump’s incoming administration is looking to kick off its deportation policy with massive media coverage.

“I don’t think we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people being arrested. They were never able to get to that capacity in the first Trump administration on like, a single day or a single single week,” a top immigration advocate said on a background call with reporters on Friday.

“But they’re going to build up that capacity, and I would assume a kind of shock and awe attempt that they will do raids. They will try to make them high profile. They’re going to try to spread fear because it appeals to their base, but also because it is part of their strategy, which is to get people to self-deport.”

Regardless of the scope, efforts to expand the detention and deportation system will face budgetary and logistical concerns, military involvement or not.

Some of Trump’s supporters see the potential for more transparency in how, when and where the administration carries out deportations, even as the program expands.

“I believe the president, I believe whoever is the attorney general, whoever is head of, if it’s governor, [Kristi] Noem [R-S.D.], head of Department of Homeland Security, and [incoming border czar] Tom Homan, will come together on a succinct not just reasoning, but a process to give people notice about what would happen,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) told The Hill Friday.

“I think it’s important that you tell people what the plan is. As we recall President Obama had a lot of deportations, and it created a wider viewpoint that that we were without a plan, rather than telling people. And I think the President needs to, and will say more than — or Tom Holman — more than, ‘mass deportations.’ ‘Here’s how we intend to follow through with this process.’ A mandate? No, I don’t think it’s a mandate just to go round up people and haul them out. I think there is a need to effectively know what the plan would be and then follow the plan,” added Sessions.

Former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner said if President-elect Trump chooses loyalist and former Trump administration aide Kash Patel to lead the FBI, it would do “massive damage” to the agency.

“Putting someone like Kash Patel in the position of Director of the FBI is, I believe, extremely, extremely dangerous because … his resume isn’t traditional,” Brunner said Sunday on CNN.

Brunner later added that Patel “has no experience leading an organization, no less a Cub Scout pack.”

Reports have surfaced that Trump is eyeing Patel for the position and may fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray, after the president-elect takes power.

Patel, who was the chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, has defended Trump and testified on behalf of the president-elect against states that were considering taking Trump off the ballot over Jan. 6.

Patel works as an adviser to Trump for national security issues and as a board member for Trump’s media company.

In the interview Sunday, Brunner noted that Patel “clearly stated” he wants to seek revenge on those who investigated Trump and his allies.

“He will conduct a massive amount of damage to the interior of the FBI,” he said.

Brunner noted there will be hundreds of employees who are “unjustly fired.” Patel’s hypothetical position would mean he’s in charge of “tens of thousands” of employees, including special agents, analysts and “everyone that is enforcing the law” federally.”

“So, I think he’ll be very, very dangerous,” he said.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

President Biden will send Congress an extensive emergency funding request in the coming days, the White House said Monday, as administration officials called on Congress to approve more money following a wave of natural disasters.

Various agencies, including the Small Business Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are running low on funding following Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton and other severe storms, Budget director Shalanda Young wrote in a memo to interested parties.

“To ensure these communities get comprehensive recovery assistance, our Administration has made multiple requests to Congress outlining the need for emergency funding to address these disasters, and detailing the consequences of failing to deliver this aid. To date, Congress has yet to act,” Young wrote, noting lawmakers last passed a comprehensive disaster aid package in December, 2022.

Young wrote that FEMA needs additional funding so it can provide assistance to repair housing, rebuild infrastructure and work to prevent damage in future storms.

Additionally, the Small Business Administration is managing 36 disasters across 24 states, Young wrote, and a lack of funding could prevent it from providing loans to businesses in need. 

The Department of Agriculture needs additional funding to assist rural communities, Young added, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires more money for its grant programs.

“In the coming days, the Biden-Harris Administration will send to Congress a comprehensive disaster package,” Young wrote. “We look forward to working with Congress to quickly pass emergency funding so the Federal Government can meet its obligations to the American people.”

Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas in September, killing more than 200 people and causing more than $50 billion in damage in North Carolina alone. Hurricane Milton hit Florida in early October, killing more than 30 people and causing billions more in damage.

Congress must pass a government funding bill before Dec. 20 to avert a shutdown. The White House is expected to push lawmakers to include disaster relief funds in that legislation.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said Monday they had traveled to the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate late last week to talk to Donald Trump about unifying the country and toning down political rhetoric.

Brzezinski told the program’s audience on Monday it was the first time the two hosts, who are married, had met with Trump face-to-face in seven years.

“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and we told him so,” Scarborough said, reading from a script in the teleprompter.

“What we did agree on, was to restart communications,” Brzezinski added, noting the couple had not spoken to Trump since early in 2020 outside of a personal call Scarborough placed to Trump the morning after an attempt on his life at a rally over the summer.

“In this meeting, he was upbeat, cheerful and he seemed interested in finding common ground on some of the most divisive issues,” Brzezinski said.

“For those asking why we would go speak with the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us,” she continued. “I guess I would ask back, why wouldn’t we?”

Scarborough said a close ally of the former president suggested to him after their meeting that because Trump is not seeking another term after 2024, “now could be the time to get to work.”

Top Democrats, who often appear on Scarborough’s show, have also told him, he said: “We are willing to work with the former president, if he’s willing to work with us.”

Scarborough and Brzezinski for years have been among Trump’s most vocal critics on cable news. They host a program that Trump has clearly watched, and that counts President Biden as a viewer.

“Don’t be mistaken, we’re not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump,” Scarborough told his audience on Monday. “We’re here to report on him and to hopefully provide you insights and better equip all of us to understand these deeply unsettling times.”

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who accepted a role alongside Elon Musk in President-elect Trump’s incoming administration to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said “certain agencies” are expected to be “deleted outright.”

“We expect mass reductions,” said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright. We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated.”

Ramaswamy also said “massive cuts” are expected among federal contractors “and others who are overbilling the federal government.”

“I think people will be surprised by, I think, how quickly we’re able to move with some of those changes, given the legal backdrop the Supreme Court has given us,” he added.

The biotech entrepreneur, who ran in the Republican presidential primary but dropped his bid at the beginning of this year, described a “historic opportunity,” noting that “if we don’t downsize the federal government now, it’s never going to happen in the future as well.”

“We’re not actually going to squander this. But I think part of the key is to move quickly, to move effectively,” he added.

Last week Ramaswamy, along with Musk, were announced as heads of DOGE, which Trump says will aim to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures,” as well as restructure federal agencies.

Ramaswamy became one of Trump’s most vocal allies in the past year and hinted at his interest in a position. He even appeared on the trail supporting the president-elect near the end of the race.