The White House News

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent would be an “outstanding” choice as President-elect Trump’s Treasury secretary. 

“I think he’d be outstanding. He’s from South Carolina, I know him well, he’s highly qualified,” Graham told news outlet Semafor on Thursday. 

“I think he’s been well-vetted,” he added. 

Bessent, a hedge fund manager, has served as an economic adviser for the Trump campaign. He has reportedly emerged as the front-runner, alongside chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald Howard Lutnick, to lead the Treasury Department. 

Graham said that both he and his Palmetto State Senate counterpart, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), have a “good opinion” of Bessent.

Throughout Trump’s 2024 campaign, Bessent has supported the president-elect’s plans for energy independence and deregulation while slamming the economic proposals of his rival, Vice President Harris. 

“His skills are the sort of skills you need for the moment. We are going to [be] engaging in some potentially significant changes to America’s trading and financial relationships,” a former Trump Treasury Department official told The Hill.

“It seems like a no-brainer. It just seems like his skill set is tailor-made for what we have in front of us today,” the official added. 

Trump is expected to interview Bessent on Friday, The Washington Post reported Friday morning, citing two sources familiar with the matter. 

Lutnick, who is serving as co-chair of the Trump transition, has expressed support for Trump’s tariff proposals and has been an ardent backer of cryptocurrencies. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who Trump announced Thursday will not be a part of his administration, has a positive view of Bessent, the Post reported, citing one source familiar with the matter. 

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

The editorial board of the New York Post is admonishing President-elect Trump over his nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the department of Health and Human Services.

The Post called Kennedy’s views on health “a head-scratching spaghetti of what we can only call warped conspiracy theories, and not just on vaccines.”

“He told us with full conviction that all America’s chronic health problems began in one year in the 1980s when a dozen bad things happened,” the Post wrote of an interview it conducted with Kennedy as he was mounting an independent presidential bid.

“Convincing to the gullible conspiracy-hungry crowd on Twitter, but not to the rest of us,” the newspaper said. “In fact, we came out thinking he’s nuts on a lot of fronts.”

Kennedy, who dropped out of the race this summer and endorsed Trump, has drawn widespread backlash for his comments on vaccines, the coronavirus pandemic and other matters of public health.

Trump has touted Kennedy’s ideas, and vowed the former Democrat will help the president “Make America Healthy Again.”

The president-elect “won on promises to fix the economy, the border and soaring global disorder; his team needs to focus on delivering change on those fronts — not spend energy either having to defend crackpot theories or trying to control RFK Jr.’s mouth,” the Post wrote.

“We fear the worm that he claims ate some of his brain some years ago is contagious and there’s been an outbreak at Mar-a-Lago,” it said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) questioned President-elect Trump’s decision to elevate former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (R) to serve as his director of national intelligence (DNI), arguing the selection is a “pro-war nomination globally.” 

“I actually think almost more than Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment is devastating,” Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in an interview on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut.”

“And Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination, as much as she says that she’s an anti-war person, she’s not,” the New York lawmaker said. “She supports very pro-war individuals… and let’s be very clear — a Tulsi Gabbard nomination is a pro-war nomination globally. Point blank, period.”

Her comments came a day after Trump tapped Gabbard — a former Democrat turned Republican — for the top intelligence position. She will likely have an uphill battle when it comes to confirmation through the Senate.

The president-elect, however, has shown openness to sidestepping the process by relying on recess appointments.

Gabbard served four terms in the House before she ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in the 2020 Democratic primary. She exited the party in 2022 registering as an independent, and officially joined the GOP ranks last month.

The former lawmaker, who has long been critical of the Biden administration’s stance regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, endorsed Trump in August and helped him prepare for his debate against Vice President Harris. 

Her selection caught many in the national security realm by surprise. Some have expressed concern over her past controversial comments while others argued she does not have the requisite experience. 

“She’s never managed anything larger than a congressional office or maybe like a brigade. That’s a lot different than trying to orchestrate and coordinate this wild consultation of intel elements that we call the U.S. intelligence community,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior director of the White House Situation Room. “I think she isn’t really prepared for that.”

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who served under the Obama administration, argued that some skepticism of intelligence can be “good.”

“I’m going to surprise you a little bit. I don’t think that it is an absolute prerequisite that the Director of National Intelligence be someone of the intelligence community,” he said. “I also believe that on occasion it’s a good thing to be skeptical of the intelligence that we’re provided.”

During her interview on MSNBC, Ocasio-Cortez also criticized Trump’s nomination of environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to helm the Department of Health and Human Services.

“You have a baby, and anywhere in the world, I mean, protecting against polio, against measles, against very serious communicable diseases that, I mean, we would be talking about going back to the, what, the 1700s, 1800s,” she said. 

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

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) spoke out on President-elect Trump’s recent decision to tap environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), calling the former presidential candidate a “fringe conspiracy theorist.”  

Murray released a statement Friday morning in response to the appointment, citing Kennedy’s history as an anti-vaccine advocate to back up her criticism.

“There is no telling how far a fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set back America in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else,” she said in the statement. “The consequences here are not theoretical or superficial — health care access, coverage, research, and public health are life or death issues for people — and the COVID pandemic was an all too recent, all too painful reminder.” 

“Confirming RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary would be nothing short of a disaster for the health of millions of families,” Murray added. “I urge my Senate Republican colleagues to join me in forcefully condemning and opposing this catastrophic nomination.”

Kennedy’s position requires a senate confirmation before he can lead the department that includes 13 agencies and a nearly $2 billion budget. Following Trump’s announcement, he vowed to be an “honest public servant” if he is ultimately confirmed to lead HHS next year. 

Murray joins other Democrats and public health officials in denouncing Kennedy’s nomination to the post.

Kennedy ran an unsuccessful independent bid against President Biden before suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump. He was heralded by the president-elect in his announcement Thursday.

“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),” Trump posted Thursday afternoon on Truth Social. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.”

“Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” he added.

Kennedy wasn’t the only controversial choice that could test Senate Republicans next year, either. His tapping of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general, and appointment of tech billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new government efficiency department, has also raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.

The White House on Friday announced it had finalized an agreement with a major semiconductor manufacturer to invest billions of dollars in facilities in Arizona as President Biden looks to cement parts of his legislative legacy before leaving office in January.

Biden in a statement announced the government had completed a $6.6 billion grant agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company through the Chips and Science Act, a bipartisan bill signed into law in 2022 intended to boost U.S. production of critical semiconductor chips.

“Today’s announcement is among the most critical milestones yet in the implementation of the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Act, and demonstrates how we are ensuring that the progress made to date will continue to unfold in the coming years, benefitting communities all across the country,” Biden said in a statement.

The grant is expected to create $65 billion of private investment by TSMC in Arizona, Biden said, which will include three new facilities and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs by the end of the decade. The first of the company’s new facilities is on track to open next year.

Biden earlier this year announced a slew of preliminary grant agreements with companies, including TSMC, through the CHIPS law. The announcement of a final agreement underscores how the administration is hoping to get those deals across the finish line before President-elect Trump takes office.

Trump has during an October interview with podcaster Joe Rogan criticized the CHIPS bill as benefitting “rich companies” and claimed he could use tariffs to attract companies instead. Experts have warned tariffs would increase costs for consumers, something Trump has dismissed.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) earlier this month had to walk back a comment in which he said House Republicans would “probably” move to try to repeal the CHIPS and Science Act.

Biden has repeatedly touted the importance of the CHIPS and Science Act, citing the prevalence of microchips that are used in everyday technology such as phones, cars, home appliances and more. Officials have said the law is critical to bolster domestic production of the chips to make the U.S. less reliant on foreign supply chains.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) signaled Thursday that he’d be willing to serve under President-elect Trump when he returns to the White House in January.

“If there is a job that could help the country and that my skillset would be useful for. Anybody should consider that,” Phillips told NewsNation’s “On Balance.” 

“And if we come to a point where no Democrat will want to serve in a Republican administration, and conversely, we are limiting 50 percent of the universe of potential appointees and that’s what I am trying to overcome,” he added. 

Phillips, who mounted a long shot bid against President Biden before dropping out in March, has consistently warned his party about not having a competitive primary process and urged both parties to try to better understand the needs of the American people. 

The Minnesota Democrat said last week that Trump has “become a significant historical figure in American politics” and that he built a movement “that, frankly, snuck up on most Democrats.” 

“I am not a big fan of the President himself, but I understand the MAGA movement,” Phillips said Thursday. “I understand why people are angry. I understand why this federal government needs to be reformed. But then do it with people with competency and integrity to do it.” 

Trump has announced a slew of candidates for his Cabinet and other administration posts since being declared the winner of the presidential race, including picking two ex-Democrats, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be his director of national intelligence and head the Department of Health and Human Services, respectively. 

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s transition team spokesperson for comment. 

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