The Hill

Less than one-third of Americans view President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), favorably, a new poll reveals.

The survey, published Tuesday by Yahoo News/YouGov, shows only 29 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Gaetz compared to 37 percent who have an unfavorable opinion. Just under 35 percent said they were unsure.

Trump has faced some backlash over several controversial picks for his Cabinet, including Gaetz. The former Florida congressman will likely face an uphill battle in light of a House Ethics Committee investigation into him over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other claims. The committee is expected to discuss its report in a meeting Wednesday in the wake of pressure to release the report.

The poll also comes as a hacker gained witness testimony related to the probe, according to reports. The file, which came from an unidentified person using the name “Altam Beezley,” contained 24 exhibits and is said to include testimony from a woman who said she had sexual relations with Gaetz when she was just 17 and another woman who said she witnessed the encounter, per The New York Times, which was the first to report on the breach.

In contrast, the survey found that several of the president-elect’s other picks for top roles in his administration have higher favorability ratings. Overall, about 45 percent of Americans said they approved of his nominees, compared to 37 percent who said the opposite.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s co-nominee for the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) focused on slashing government costs and restructuring federal agencies, has the highest favorability rating at 49 percent, the poll found. Just under 40 percent of respondents viewed him very or somewhat unfavorably.

Anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has faced some pushback, though the survey showed that 46 percent of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of him. That number is compared to the 37 percent of respondents who have an unfavorable view of the former independent presidential candidate.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who Trump has tapped for secretary of state, had a 39 percent favorability rating compared to the 34 percent who had an unfavorable opinion, the survey shows.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s set to lead DOGE alongside Musk, had a 35 percent favorability rating and a 29 percent unfavorable rating, per the poll.

Trump gave former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — who recently joined the Republican Party — the nod to serve as his director of national intelligence, a pick that has also come under scrutiny among allegations that Gabbard is too closely aligned with Russian talking points. Though, the poll revealed that 34 percent of respondents viewed her very or somewhat favorably, compared to the 28 percent who said the opposite.

The president-elect’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), had a 2-point difference in favorability ratings, with 30 percent viewing her favorably and 28 percent having an unfavorable opinion of her, according to the poll.

Veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick of head the Pentagon, has been in the spotlight within the last few days as he’s faced allegations of sexually assault. Hegseth, who has denied the claims and said he was subject to blackmail, had a 30 percent favorability rating compared to 25 percent who said the opposite, according to the poll.

The Yahoo/YouGov poll surveyed 1,612 U.S. adults from Nov. 14 to 18. The margin of error was about 2.6 percentage points.

Government watchdog group American Oversight has filed a motion in federal court to compel the Justice Department to release all records related to its investigation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who President-elect Trump has nominated to serve as his attorney general.

The motion for an injunction comes nine months into the group’s battle with the Justice Department to gain access to the records, and as members of Congress have been clamoring for the release of a related report assembled by the House Ethics Committee.

Gaetz was investigated as part of a sex trafficking probe by the Justice Department, which ultimately declined to bring charges against the congressman but secured a plea deal with one of his associates.

Trump nominated Gaetz for attorney general last week, and the lawmaker resigned his position in Congress the same day, raising questions over whether the House Ethics Committee will release its report about Gaetz. The former lawmaker may be visiting senators as soon as today to begin lobbying for his confirmation.

The House Ethics Committee has spent years investigating Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, and he has been accused of paying an underage woman for sex.

Gaetz has vigorously denied wrongdoing.

The committee is set to meet Wednesday to vote on releasing the report, though various outlets reported that a hacker has gained access to some witness testimony.

In its motion, American Oversight argues its bid to gain access to the documents is a “once in a lifetime” question before the court based on a “scenario so unusual” as a Justice Department nominee being trailed by an investigation into an agency they would be charged with leading.

“Sex trafficking, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power are not the kind of questions that should hang over the head of someone being considered for U.S. Attorney General,” American Oversight interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a new interview warned that losing unity between Ukraine and the U.S. would be “very dangerous.”

“This period, this moment depends, I think, on our unity in Ukraine. And I think that what is very dangerous if we will lose unity in Europe and what is most important, unity between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelensky told Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst in an interview on “Special Report.”

His comment comes as anxieties in Ukraine have ramped up amid the nearly three-year-long war with Russia — and in anticipation of the return of President-elect Trump to the White House.

The concerns stem partly from Trump’s apparent affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he called a “genius” after he invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and reportedly called seven times since leaving office in January 2021. 

Trump’s criticism of the Biden administration’s spending in Ukraine has also sparked concern. Following his presidential victory, however, Zelensky said he had a “productive” conversation with the president-elect.

The Ukrainian leader’s remarks also come as the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv closed Wednesday after it received what it described as “specific information of a potential significant air attack.”

The release follows a drone and missile attack that officials called “the largest in recent months, The Associated Press reported. The strike killed eight people and wounded dozens, according to an official, as more than 400 people were evacuated from a nine-story building in the city of Sumy, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said, according to the AP.

Zelensky’s comments also follow President Biden’s approval for the use of Western-provided long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike targets within Russia.

The decision enraged Russia and riled allies of Trump, who has previously been somewhat critical of Ukraine. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to end the war in a day.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday referred to comments by Putin in September that warned Moscow would view the U.S. and NATO in direct conflict with Russia if the U.S. granted permission to Ukraine to use missiles from the Army Tactical Missile System (ATCMS) far-beyond Russia’s borders to hit targets.

“If this decision is taken, it will mean nothing less than the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine,” Putin said at the time.

Ukraine used the ATCMS missiles for the first time Tuesday, striking the Bryansk region in Russia, according to local officials.

The selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent shock waves through the pharmaceutical industry.

But many of the industry sources and outside lobbyists who spoke to The Hill said they are not prepared to outright oppose Kennedy, at least for now.  

Lobbyists said they anticipated Kennedy would get some kind of role in the administration but were surprised at his being picked for HHS secretary. They are now scrambling to figure out what kind of damage Kennedy could inflict were he to be confirmed.  

“Striking at the heart of a science-based industry like this by saying nonsensical stuff and actually having power to do something about it is bad news,” said a lobbyist who works for drug companies. “I think right now they’re in sort of like ‘holy s— mode.'”  

Kennedy argues the rise of chronic diseases in America can be traced to ultraprocessed foods, environmental toxins and chemical additives. He wants to ban fluoridated water and increase access to raw milk.   

Even before Kennedy was officially tapped to lead the nation’s top health agency, public health experts were worried that he could amplify vaccine hesitancy and direct agency funding to favor his preferred views. 

Still, lobbyists said they are advising clients to let the nomination play out among Senate Republicans. They are preaching patience, as they don’t want to risk expending political capital to wind up on President-elect Trump’s bad side before he even takes office.  

“A lot of companies are going to be reluctant to engage in politics,” said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney at Epstein Becker Green. 

Hughes said it wasn’t necessarily a given that Trump would be friendly to the industry, but Kennedy’s confirmation would add a completely different element that could make the government outright hostile toward innovative drugs, especially vaccines.   

“The way that President Trump has set it up for him, you know, he’s basically said that [Kennedy’s] going to have carte blanche. So, will he check himself? Will members of President Trump’s party in Congress check him?” Hughes said. 

Another lobbyist who represents drug companies said the Kennedy pick was unexpected, but the reactions from their clients haven’t been uniformly negative.  

“We have some clients that are differently positioned, who are like, ‘Hey, this could be good for us because you said things that are supportive to our position years ago. So let’s hold our fire,'” said the lobbyist.

“And then you have others that are looking at whip counts to say, ‘Will we have votes on Senate Finance to kill this in committee?’ So I think it’s putting together a menu of options … and then waiting to see how things play out.”   

One source said the common consensus was that Kennedy would likely not be confirmed, so he’d be put in the White House as an adviser or “czar.” But that didn’t happen, and it clearly shook up the notion that a second Trump administration would hew toward traditional Republican choices as nominees.  

Now lobbyists are rereading the tea leaves. 

“There are some [GOP senators] out there that are noting some skepticism. I think most of them are leaving the pathway for them to vote yes for his confirmation, which would be … surprising,” said one source.  

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the powerful industry group that represents drugmakers, didn’t mention Kennedy by name in a statement after he was officially tapped by Trump as the nominee. 

It referenced the importance of the industry as part of the American economy, and emphasized how the group and industry could work with the Trump administration “to further strengthen our innovation ecosystem and improve health care for patients.” 

It’s not clear what Kennedy’s priorities as secretary would be, but he is a vocal vaccine skeptic who has also called into question the legitimacy of the entire regulatory process.  

First as an independent candidate for president and then as a surrogate for Trump, Kennedy has said federal health regulators are “sock puppets” held captive by industry special interests. 

In a social media post prior to the election, Kennedy said the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “war on public health is about to end,” and told anyone who was involved in blocking access to things like raw milk, “peptides,” sunshine, ivermectin and other controversial treatments should “pack your bags.”  

He’s also spoken negatively about the industry-paid fees that fund the staffing needed for relatively quick FDA drug and medical device reviews, saying it makes the agency too reliant on industry. Nearly half of the agency’s budget this year came from user fees. 

Multiple sources said one of the top concerns among pharmaceutical companies is that a Kennedy-run HHS would try to somehow change the user fee system.  

But while there are bipartisan concerns about the role of user fees and undue industry influence — current FDA Commissioner Robert Califf has previously said he wished FDA was completely funded by taxpayers — radically altering or ending the agreements would take an act of Congress. 

Still, if Senate Republicans are unwilling to stop Kennedy’s nomination from moving forward, there is not a lot of optimism among industry lobbyists that the party will be a check on the agency once he takes over. 

“I think to have a big disruptive impact, he needs support from Congress, and then it’s a matter of how much lease does he get from Trump? If he gets some cover there and the White House is willing to go to bat and twist arms, then perhaps he’s able to have a bigger impact than what we hope,” said one drug company lobbyist. 

“If not, if he’s kind of left as a free-floating electron on his own, we might be able to buttress any of his ideas and actions with some congressional resistance.” 

Trump is testing the loyalty of GOP senators from the get-go with his choice of controversial Cabinet nominees. They will have to decide where to draw the line for opposing someone.

“RFK Jr., I’m almost inclined to say unless something crazy comes out in his disclosures … are his stances in and of itself enough to prevent him from getting the spot? I’m not sure, with this list, right?” said another source.  

President-elect Trump is returning to the White House looking to dwarf his first term’s significant impact on immigration policy.

Eight years after he first won the presidency, Trump has remolded the GOP’s mainstream views on immigration, all but guaranteeing he will face less resistance in implementing his more extreme proposals.

But questions remain about the capacity of a new Trump administration — or of immigration enforcement agencies — to run a deportation program that lives up to his campaign promises.

Still, Trump’s first term brought deep behind-the-scenes changes to the immigration and border security systems, changes that took the Biden administration months to undo in some cases.

Trump’s new team is likely to quickly reinstate those policies, looking to pick up where they left off in 2021.

Border security

Trump left President Biden a border with relatively few unauthorized migrant encounters per month but primed to explode with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people bottlenecked south of the U.S.-Mexico line.

That bottleneck was exacerbated by quick expulsion policies such as Title 42, a measure Biden kept in place until 2023, drawing the ire of many in the immigration advocacy movement.

Title 42 and the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” were stalwarts of the Trump administration’s attempts to curb border crossings that Republicans routinely used as a cudgel to blame the Biden administration for the massive growth in unauthorized arrivals.

Those arrivals peaked with more than 300,000 migrant encounters last December.

Comparatively, there were nearly 74,000 encounters in December of 2020, Trump’s last full month in office, with Title 42 and Remain in Mexico in place, including 71,141 encounters between ports of entry.

In September of 2024, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 101,790 encounters at the southwest border, 53,858 of which were reported by the Border Patrol between ports of entry.

That suggests the border under Trump was in some ways more porous than under Biden, with a broad majority of migrants evading ports of entry to turn themselves over to the Border Patrol.

Biden ran a carrot-and-stick approach to border enforcement. The carrot — stay in line for a shot at legal entry into the United States — attracted migrants to CBP-run ports of entry.

The sticks — Biden’s draconian interpretation of asylum law and offshoring of immigration enforcement duties to Mexico — helped move the bottlenecks south, potentially at the expense of human rights violations within Mexico, and provided further incentive for migrants to line up for the Biden administration’s parole programs.

The incoming administration may keep the sticks, but it will almost certainly do away with the carrot, potentially ramping up the Border Patrol’s workload.

Mass deportations

Trump’s pledge to create the largest deportation force in U.S. history has taken center stage in the transition period, with incoming border czar Tom Homan making frequent media appearances to tout the policy.

Immigrant advocates have warned communities to take the threats seriously, while at the same time expressing skepticism that the new administration will overcome the hefty logistical, budgetary and legal limitations.

Those limitations, however, are difficult to define because much of the current deportation system operates in the shadows.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday launched a public records suit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seeking information about ICE Air, the government’s method for carrying out deportation flights.

While the suit would gain records about how the airline was used to carry out some 140,000 deportations in 2023 under the Biden administration, the ACLU is also eager to understand whether the network of private charter flights could be expanded.

“For months, the ACLU has been preparing for the possibility of a mass detention and deportation program, and FOIA litigation has been a central part of our roadmap,” Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said in a statement.

But Trump has made clear he wants to activate new powers to carry out his goals.

He confirmed Monday that he would declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation pledge

Numerous Republican governors have, under the Biden administration, already sent their National Guards to the border, though such units are not deputized to carry out any immigration enforcement roles.

It’s also not clear the extent Trump will have buy-in from border state governors, several of whom are Democrats.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) said that while she would continue ongoing partnerships with the federal government and advocate for border needs, that there are Arizonans who “are worried about threats from the Trump administration as well.”

“I will not tolerate terrorizing communities, or threatening Arizonans,” she said.

Rep.-elect Emily Randall (D-Wash.) expressed concern the Trump administration might try to “pull funding” from states that don’t cooperate with his immigration plans.

“I think we don’t know what it looks like in our communities. We don’t know the logistics of what is going to happen, but we know that there’s going to be increased pressure. And you know, as a former legislator, I’m worried about what kind of economic leverage the Trump administration is planning to use on states like Washington,” she said.

“I’ve heard talk about withholding federal funding for sanctuary states, states where we don’t plan to be complicit in mass deportations.”

Who would be targeted?

While past administrations have largely focused on more recent arrivals as well as those who pose a public safety threat, Trump has made clear that anyone who is undocumented could face removals.

It’s a large group, an estimated 12 million people, and one the government has traditionally indicated it simply doesn’t have the resources to prioritize.

Many have been living, working and paying taxes in the U.S. for decades.

Trump’s hardline immigration stance has also unnerved those who currently have work authorization under DACA, the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides protection for those brought to the U.S. as children but which has never been formally approved by Congress.

Incoming deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller has also said the administration will turn its efforts toward naturalized citizens, expanding the federal government’s oversight of past naturalizations.

Denaturalizations are fairly uncommon, and legal precedent is clear that only naturalized citizens who lied in their applications in a material way — about something that directly affected their eligibility for naturalization — are subject to legal review of their citizenship papers.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), a naturalized Dominican-born U.S. citizen, said he will oppose any efforts to pursue denaturalizations.

“I think it’s a radical approach, one that is unprecedented in America, and I think that the vast majority of American people will oppose it as well,” said Espaillat, who is running unopposed to lead the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the next Congress.

Still, the first Trump administration successfully re-tooled United States Citizenship and Immigration Services — the agency in charge of processing work permits, permanent residence and naturalizations — from an organization focused on providing services to applicants to one with a greater focus on reviewing past applications for indications of fraud.

Advocates fear that wide net, stretching from undocumented workers to naturalized citizens and from the border to sanctuary jurisdictions, will further stigmatize immigrants and prove disruptive to the communities that surround them.

“I expect to be flooded with calls and visits to my district office with immigrants and families or mixed-status families asking for help and being scared [about] what this means for them, and I hope to bring back the resources and that protection,” said Rep.-elect Luz Rivas (D-Calif.), whose district includes San Fernando, a city where more than 35 percent of residents were born abroad.

“You know, my hope is that they don’t — the community doesn’t stop going to the hospital when they need to, doesn’t stop sending their children to school. So I will be working along with local leaders in Los Angeles, like our mayor, our city council members, our state legislators, to send out a unified message to the community.”

CNN pundit Scott Jennings said he isn’t sure “how successful” President-elect Trump will be at getting former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) into the attorney general position.

As controversy swirls around several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, one that has disrupted Capitol Hill is the nod to Gaetz for attorney general, who was investigated on whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other allegations.

The probe into Gaetz opened soon after news reports emerged that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was reportedly investigating whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

Jennings joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday evening, where he was asked about the reported calls Trump was making to GOP senators in Gaetz’s favor.

“Obviously, there’s going to be tremendous resistance to Gaetz, and I don’t know how successful Donald Trump is going to be at this,” Jennings replied, highlighted by Mediaite. “I mean, this goes beyond just the handful of senators who normally have problems with Donald Trump or who have feuded with him in issues in the past.”

Jennings said, “We’ll see if Trump sticks with” his calls to lawmakers urging them to support Gaetz.

Pressure is mounting on the House Ethics Committee to release the findings of its investigation into Gaetz’s alleged misconduct, so the Senate has all information necessary to make its decision.

Gaetz resigned from the House last week, and the committee typically does not make its findings public for a former lawmaker. However, members of Congress are urging the committee to do so. The committee will meet on Wednesday to weigh its decision.

Even if the report isn’t released, Jennings argued there’s “still a lot of time” between now and when the next Congress convenes to vote on Trump’s nominations, and Trump may not want Gaetz to lose the vote and choose someone else before it gets to that point.

“At some point, when you’re the president and you’ve got a nominee for anything, you have to ask yourself ‘Do I want to suffer a defeat?’” he said. “Most people don’t get defeated; they just withdraw from the process.”

Jennings said he believes that of Trump’s controversial nominees, Gaetz is in a “separate category.”

“There’s more resistance to him than anybody else, and obviously, more issues coming out by the day,” he said.

President-elect Trump intends to nominate Linda McMahon, the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from his first term, to lead the Department of Education, which he has long threatened to dismantle.

McMahon, who could potentially be tasked with ending the department, will be put in charge of heading up changes to Title IX and determining how student debt is handled.

Here is what to know about the potential next Education secretary:  

First repeat from Trump’s previous administration 

McMahon is the first person Trump has nominated for a Cabinet secretary spot who also served in his previous administration. She was previously the head of the SBA from 2017 to 2019. 

She stepped down from that role in 2019 to take a position on Trump’s reelection campaign at the time.  

Shortly after resigning, McMahon was named chairwoman of a Super PAC called America First Action.  

McMahon has stayed in Trump’s good graces while he was out of office and is in charge of co-leading the president-elect’s transition team. 

McMahon was long part of the wrestling world 

McMahon brings in a unique background as she was CEO of World Wresting Entertainment (WWE), co-founding the organization with her husband, Vince McMahon. 

The endeavor started in 1980 with a small company called Titan Sports that transformed into a massive publicly traded corporation.  

She resigned as CEO in 2009, but during her time with WWE it donated millions of dollars to the Donald J. Trump Foundation. 

Trump himself has long maintained ties to the world of professional wrestling.

WWE did get involved in the education sector, with campaigns supporting arts education and encouraging young people to read with bookmarks and posters. 

Little direct experience with education 

McMahon has juggled many hats during her career but has spent little time in the education realm.  

Her most direct experience was in Connecticut, where she served on the State Board of Education for a year in 2009 before stepping down to run for Senate.  

When McMahon made it on the board, she was criticized for lack of experience in the area. 

She also served as a member on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in 2004, with the school naming a building after her in 2012. 

She most recently was the board chair of the America First Policy Institute, which touts policies such as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion offices. 

Named in sexual abuse lawsuit 

In October, McMahon was named as a defendant in a lawsuit related to sexual abuse of young boys by a WWE ringside announcer.  

The lawsuit said the company allowed “open, rampant abuse” of young boys by announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. in the 1980s and 1990s. It alleges Phillips told the young boys they would get to meet wrestling stars and lured them at venues and hotels rooms, NBC News reported. 

The lawsuit says McMahon and her husband knew for a long time of the “peculiar and unnatural interest” the announcer had in young boys.  

McMahon did fire Phillips for a few weeks before allegedly allowing him back on the condition he stayed away from the boys, but the suit alleges she knew he did not, according to NBC.

Vince McMahon has also faced his own allegations of sexual abuse and harassment.

Had been floated for Commerce secretary 

McMahon was not typically one of the names floated to lead education under Trump.  

Rumors swirled she might be nominated for Commerce secretary before Trump gave the position to Howard Lutnick. Lutnick was co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with McMahon, and a billionaire investor who has been on Wall Street for a long time.  

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board questioned Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, over a sexual assault allegation in a new op-ed published Tuesday.

The Journal’s editorial board suggested that when the Senate holds confirmation hearings over Hegseth becoming the head of the Department of Defense, they may question what he withheld from Trump’s transition team while he was being vetted.

“Whoever leads the Pentagon needs to have the President’s trust. If Mr. Trump wasn’t informed about this political liability before announcing the nomination, he might reasonably wonder what else Mr. Hegseth hasn’t told him,” the board wrote.

The Monterey Police Department confirmed an investigation last week of an “alleged sexual assault” involving Hegseth in 2017. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, spoke with Hegseth about the allegation, which he said stemmed from a consensual encounter.

Hegseth’s nomination to the Defense Department was surprising given his relative lack of experience. He was an infantry officer in the Army National Guard and later served as a host of Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” program.

Hegseth’s lawyer argued he is “completely innocent” and was actually the subject of blackmail from the woman in the situation.

The Journal’s board noted that what happened seven years ago “might be impossible to prove or disprove,” since the sides are saying differing things.

“But even granting Mr. Hegseth the benefit of the doubt, it raises questions about judgment, including whether he warned the President-elect that this might come out,” they wrote.

The Journal highlighted a Trump spokesperson who said they look forward to Hegseth’s confirmation to the department, but the board also left the door open, saying “nominations impulsively made can also be withdrawn.”

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

The Rev. Al Sharpton criticized President-elect Trump for lacking Black Cabinet or high-level administration appointees thus far. 

“In the two weeks since Donald Trump was elected to a second term, he has put forth a dozen troubling nominees, yet the most alarming factor in his proposed Cabinet is that not a single candidate is Black,” said Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network.

Sharpton blasted Trump for courting Black voters during the campaign — including using Black surrogates along the campaign trail — but for keeping a predominantly white Cabinet thus far. 

“Trump spent this campaign selling himself to Black voters, especially men, by peddling sneakers and implying his criminal convictions would resonate with our community,” Sharpton said. 

“Instead of meeting the demands of more Black voters who supported him, Donald Trump has proposed an attorney general nominee wrapped up in an ethics probe over trafficking allegations and a Health secretary whose views on vaccines and other safeguards could devastate our community.”

Some of Trump’s picks have been controversial, such as former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general. Gaetz was under investigation for illegal drug use and sexual misconduct. 

Trump also selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite a history of spreading misinformation about vaccines.  

But despite some backlash to the appointees, Trump has diversified his Cabinet with both women and other members of color. 

In addition to selecting Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security, Trump also appointed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State and Vivek Ramaswamy as co-leader of the “Department of Government Efficiency.” 

Still, Sharpton said after Trump’s efforts and history of controversial comments about and toward Black Americans, the lack of Black appointees is telling. 

“Right now, it appears that the self-proclaimed ‘best president for Black America since Abraham Lincoln’ has lost interest in us,” said Sharpton. “The president-elect needs to put his money where his mouth is if he actually wants to deliver for Black America.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) opened the door on Tuesday to supporting ex-rival Mehmet Oz as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator.

“If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” Fetterman said in a post on the social platform X.

President-elect Trump on Tuesday announced Oz as his pick for CMS administrator, a Senate-confirmed position.

“Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.

“He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget,” he added.

In the 2022 midterms, Oz and Fetterman battled for former Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) old seat, with the latter coming out victorious. During the campaign, Fetterman mocked Oz on multiple occasions, most notably over comments from the doctor calling “crudité” expensive.

Both Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Oz have a history of promoting unfounded medical claims. 

Kennedy has already faced blowback from Democrats as Trump’s HHS secretary pick, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) saying that with the former independent presidential candidate ascending to the head of the agency, “we would be talking about going back to the, what, the 1700s, 1800s.”

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