President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be attorney general has set a new bar for in-your-face nominations.
NYT > U.S. > Politics
A Project 2025 Leader Is Back in the Fold
Bolton calls for FBI investigations before Gaetz, Gabbard confirmations
Former national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)—President-elect Trump’s nominees for director of national intelligence (DNI) and attorney general, respectively— should not appear for their Senate confirmation hearings until they are investigated by the FBI.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Bolton said the formal probes would send a message to China that the U.S. is serious about its national security.
“I don’t think either she or Matt Gaetz ought to have a confirmation hearing until they have both had full field FBI investigations,” Bolton told anchor Blake Burman. “And then I think the Chinese would say, ‘Maybe they are serious.’”
When Burman clarified, asking whether Bolton was calling for Gabbard to be investigated, Bolton said, “I think so,” adding, “Given the Russian propaganda that she has espoused over the past period of time, I think she’s a serious threat to our national security.”
In the interview, Bolton heavily criticized Trump’s choices for the positions, calling Gabbard and Gaetz the two worst cabinet appointments in recent history.
“With his announcement of Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence, he’s sending a signal that we have lost our mind when it comes to collecting intelligence,” Bolton said when asked about the message he thinks Trump is trying to send to China.
“Up until a few hours ago, I would have said that was the worst cabinet appointment in recent American history. Of course, since Matt Gaetz’s nomination, he clearly has taken the lead on that score.”
Bolton expressed concern about the message that Gabbard’s nomination sends to China.
“It’s not an indication that the administration is serious about one of the most important aspects of dealing with a threat like China, which is intelligence,” he said.
Bolton recalled an interview Gabbard gave in January 2020 after Congress was briefed on the Trump-directed assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
According to Bolton, Gabbard said in the 2020 interview that she was “concerned about the illegal and unconstitutional act of war that had been carried out under President Trump’s orders.”
Bolton asked: “So that’s the kind of person that we’re going to put in charge of our overall intelligence community?”
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
Go to Source: Administration News
Pennsylvania Senate Race Moves to Recount as Republican Dave McCormick Holds Lead over Bob Casey
Pennsylvania’s Senate race moved to a recount as Senator-elect Dave McCormick (R) continues to hold a lead over incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D).
The post Pennsylvania Senate Race Moves to Recount as Republican Dave McCormick Holds Lead over Bob Casey appeared first on Breitbart.
Go to Source: Breitbart News
Warring GOP factions strike deal to raise threshold to oust a House speaker
House Republicans have reached an agreement on raising the motion to vacate threshold.
Currently, House GOP Conference rules dictate that just one lawmaker is needed to call for a motion to vacate the chair, which would trigger a chamber-wide vote on removing the speaker.
But the deal, brokered during a meeting hosted by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and involving lawmakers from the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and the pragmatic Main Street Caucus, would raise the one-person threshold to nine.
JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’
In exchange, Main Street Caucus members agreed to withdraw several proposed changes to House GOP rules that would have punished Republicans who vote against the will of the majority.
The one-person threshold was part of a deal that ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., struck with conservatives in January 2022 in order to win the gavel.
That eventually came back to haunt him when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., triggered the vote that ultimately led to his ouster by all House Democrats and eight Republicans in October 2023.
It’s also been a threat over Johnson’s head since he took over for McCarthy.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., notably triggered a vote to oust Johnson using the same rule in March. Enough House Democrats helped Republicans block the House-wide vote, however, by voting to “table” it indefinitely.
HOUSE LEADERS MOVE QUICKLY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER IN SHOW OF CONFIDENCE FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., and Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., confirmed the deal in brief comments to reporters on Wednesday evening.
“ This started because Dr. Harris reached out this morning. He said, ‘Listen, we’ve got to cut a deal. We need to come together.’ Unity is important,” Johnson said.
“We spent more than an hour together. We made good progress. We understood that we had an opportunity to set the motion to vacate at a higher number…the motion to vacate will be set at nine, and in return for getting rid of some amendments that probably would have divided this conference.”
The Main Street Caucus chair said Harris “did a good job of explaining to mainstream leadership why those amendments would have divided the Republican conference.”
Moderate and rank-and-file Republicans have been pushing to raise the threshold since late last year, arguing it would just continue to fuel chaos within the House GOP.
But GOP hardliners insisted it empowered members who were not in House Republican leadership.
A fifth person who spoke with Fox News Digital stressed the deal was tentative, categorizing it as a “proposed” deal and adding, “It isn’t over until it is.”
House Republicans are expected to vote on proposed changes to their conference rules on Thursday.
DEMS PRIVATELY FRET ABOUT LOSING HOUSE AFTER GOP VICTORY IN WHITE HOUSE, SENATE
The news comes just after Johnson won a unanimous vote by House Republicans to be their speaker again, two more sources told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Conservative critics of Johnson’s handling of foreign aid and government spending had threatened to delay his victory by forcing a secret ballot vote rather than awarding him unanimous consent.
But they appeared to back off from that threat after the meeting, which delayed leadership elections by roughly an hour and a half.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Democratic stronghold state votes to protect natural gas and gas stoves, a Biden administration bugaboo
Voters in Washington state appeared Tuesday to narrowly approve a ballot measure that will protect access to natural gas in the near future.
Proponents of the measure declared victory on Tuesday, but the count remained tight, with provisional and other ballots yet to be counted, according to The Columbian newspaper.
As of Tuesday morning, the Washington secretary of state’s tally showed just under 1.8 million “yea” votes and 1.68 million “nay” votes, or approximately 52-48%.
The measure would prohibit state regulators from approving plans that encourage Washingtonians to end their natural gas service and mandate that utilities supply the energy source to those who ask for it, according to The Seattle Times.
EXPERTS RIP ‘TRIPLE CROWN OF BAD REGS’ AFTER BIDEN ADMIN POSTS GAS STOVE RULE IT DENIED WAS A ‘BAN’
“The people find that having access to natural gas enhances the safety, welfare, and standard-of-living of all people in Washington,” the ballot measure stated. “The people further find that preserving Washington’s gas infrastructure and systems will promote energy choice, security, independence, and resilience throughout the state.
“Natural gas is a convenient and important necessity because it: Serves as a backup source of energy during emergencies; provides consumers with more options for heating, sanitation, cooking and food preparation, and other household activities, helping to control their costs; and sustains essential businesses, such as restaurants.”
The measure also curtails future natural gas bans in the Evergreen State.
BIDEN ADMIN BACKS OFF GAS STOVE CRACKDOWN AFTER WIDESPREAD PUSHBACK
Proponents of the measure wrote that public and corporate policies have affected residents’ ability to make their own decisions about which energy source they choose to use.
Outgoing Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill earlier this year that would push utilities away from natural gas. Some reports said the measure was a response to that legislation.
Inslee and his successor, Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson, were lambasted by a top proponent of the ballot measure who accused Inslee of suggesting he would pursue litigation if it passed.
Brian Heywood called Inslee a “pompous turd” during an interview on KIRO radio after Inslee said there is a “very good chance the court will find [the measure] was defective” and that its text “did not adequately describe what it really was.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Biden administration seriously considered banning natural gas-powered stoves before it received widespread criticism for considering such a move, according to an internal memo obtained by Fox News Digital in 2023.
In the memo dated Oct. 25, 2022, Richard Trumka Jr., whom President Biden appointed to serve on the Consumer Product Safety Commission, wrote to a fellow commissioner that there was sufficient evidence for the agency to move forward with a “notice of proposed rulemaking” to ban gas stoves.
The ballot measure’s passage in a blue state runs counter to the machinations of the Biden administration, which has sought to stringently regulate natural gas and other power sources viewed as insufficiently green.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Warring GOP factions strike deal to raise threshold to oust a House speaker, sources say
House Republicans have reached an agreement on raising the motion to vacate threshold, four people familiar with the discussion told Fox News Digital.
Currently, House GOP Conference rules dictate that just one lawmaker is needed to call for a motion to vacate the chair, which would trigger a chamber-wide vote on removing the speaker.
But the deal, brokered during a meeting hosted by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and involving lawmakers from the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and the pragmatic Main Street Caucus, would raise the one-person threshold to nine.
JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’
In exchange, Main Street Caucus members agreed to withdraw several proposed changes to House GOP rules that would have punished Republicans who vote against the will of the majority, the sources said.
The one-person threshold was part of a deal that ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., struck with conservatives in January 2022 in order to win the gavel.
That eventually came back to haunt him when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., triggered the vote that ultimately led to his ouster by all House Democrats and eight Republicans in October 2023.
It’s also been a threat over Speaker Mike Johnson’s head since he took over for McCarthy.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., notably triggered a vote to oust Johnson using the same rule in March. Enough House Democrats helped Republicans block the House-wide vote, however, by voting to “table” it indefinitely.
HOUSE LEADERS MOVE QUICKLY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER IN SHOW OF CONFIDENCE FOR REPUBLICAN MAJORITY
Moderate and rank-and-file Republicans have been pushing to raise the threshold since late last year, arguing it would just continue to fuel chaos within the House GOP.
But GOP hardliners insisted it empowered members who were not in House Republican leadership.
A fifth person who spoke with Fox News Digital stressed the deal was tentative, categorizing it as a “proposed” deal and adding, “It isn’t over until it is.”
House Republicans are expected to vote on proposed changes to their conference rules on Thursday.
DEMS PRIVATELY FRET ABOUT LOSING HOUSE AFTER GOP VICTORY IN WHITE HOUSE, SENATE
The news comes just after Johnson, R-La., won a unanimous vote by House Republicans to be their speaker again, two more sources told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Conservative critics of Johnson’s handling of foreign aid and government spending had threatened to delay his victory by forcing a secret ballot vote rather than awarding him unanimous consent.
But they appeared to back off from that threat after the meeting, which delayed leadership elections by roughly an hour and a half.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Trump plans to shift school funding control to local communities, has yet to pick DOE secretary
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.”
“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.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News
Trump stuns with Gaetz, Gabbard picks
President-elect Trump stunned Washington with two controversial picks to lead important law enforcement and intelligence roles in his administration, tapping Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to serve as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic representative, to serve in the nation’s top intelligence job.
Trump tapped a loyalist to lead a Justice Department he has railed against both inside and outside of the White House — one he sees as a vehicle for carrying out the retribution he has vowed his perceived enemies would see under a second term.
In Gabbard, Trump selected a figure who has floated numerous conspiracy theories that defy the conclusions reached by the U.S. intelligence agencies she would oversee. She has routinely espoused narratives likewise peddled by Russia.
Gaetz’s selection seemed to catch lawmakers off guard. He was not among the names reported to be up for the position, and Democrats are sure to raise that he was previously investigated as part of a sex-trafficking probe launched by the Justice Department.
As House Republicans met Wednesday afternoon to start leadership elections, one source said there were audible gasps when Gaetz was announced as Trump’s pick for attorney general.
The picks also raise questions about Trump’s ability to get his nominees through even a Republican-led Senate.
“It’ll just be interesting to see what his organic base is,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said of Gaetz. “At the end of the day, Congressman Gaetz, he’ll have a hearing, but I’m all about counting votes and I would think that he’s probably got some work cut out for him to get a good strong vote.”
“We’re not going to get a single Democrat vote,” he said.
Gabbard is also likely to be a tough sell, and is expected to face opposition from a number of former high-ranking national security and intelligence officials.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence prepares the President’s Daily Brief, summarizing information collected among the 18 intelligence agencies so that the president can make key national security and foreign policy decisions.
Gabbard has made a slew of pro-Russia comments that have prompted criticism on both sides of the aisle.
She shared disinformation accusing Ukraine of creating biological weapons — a narrative pushed in Russian media — prompting Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to accuse her of spreading “treasonous lies [that] may well cost lives.”
And she also faulted the Biden administration for failing to acknowledge what she said were “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO” as the latter country was being invaded in 2022.
Her 2017 visit with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia who was accused of using chemical weapons on his own citizens during the country’s civil war, also prompted backlash.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said Trump’s latest picks were surreal, likening them to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
“Going through the looking glass,” he said.
“It’s starting to get bizarre. At first it just seemed like kind of standard Republican fare. And now we’re going into some interesting territory,” he said.
“It’s kind of a ‘who’s the last person you would ever imagine should be in a position?’ sort of territory. And … there could be potential problems in trying to get [them] through the Senate confirmation.”
Gaetz, who would leapfrog from never serving as a prosecutor to being the nation’s top law enforcement official, has many of the attributes Trump has said he wants in a future attorney general.
Even in the GOP conference dedicated to Trump, Gaetz has stood apart for his loyalty to the president-elect.
As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he’s berated the prosecutions of Trump and accused the Justice Department and the FBI of unfairly targeting the president and other conservatives. As attorney general, he would also have oversight of the FBI.
Critics of Gaetz on both sides of the aisle pointed to his loyalty to Trump as a factor in his selection.
“When it comes to the selection of Rep. Gaetz I just think it’s silly. I believe that the president is probably rewarding him for being such a loyal soldier to the president, but the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough, to know that Mr. Gaetz will never get confirmed by the Senate whatsoever,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), a former Trump aide, adding that Gaetz will get “excoriated by members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle.”
“Micky Mouse would be better than Matt Gaetz,” he added later.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, likewise said Gaetz is “not fit” for the job.
“The Attorney General of the United States must have strong judgement, moral character, and a deep respect for the law. As almost all members of Congress know, Matt Gaetz has none of those things,” Himes wrote in a statement.
“What he does have is unconditional loyalty to Donald Trump and a willingness to weaponize the government against his political allies — an affinity that he and the president-elect share.”
Trump has a history of turning to the Justice Department to go after his enemies, doing so at least a dozen times in his first administration. He has called for the arrest of figures including special counsel Jack Smith.
Gaetz has taken his own actions on those issues, filing a complaint with the Justice Department in March accusing Smith of election interference.
And he’s been aggressive in grilling Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and others when they’ve appeared before Congress.
He’s also a regular in floating Trump’s claims about a “deep state” within the government and has accused the Justice Department of being weaponized against U.S. citizens.
“We ought to have a full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people,” he posted on social media just hours before his nomination was announced.
“And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!”
Mike Lillis, Emily Brooks, Mychael Schnell and Alexander Bolton contributed.
Go to Source: Administration News
Special counsel Jack Smith asks court to halt his appeal against Trump in Florida case
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.
Go to Source: Latest Political News on Fox News