The White House News

Addressing the Federalist Society’s annual dinner on Thursday, Justice Neil Gorsuch sought to use a recent example to prove his point that government overreach has swept up ordinary Americans in the law. 

“I’ve just seen too many cases like that. You have just the other day, some of you might have seen one in the newspaper, if the newspapers are to be believed,” Gorsuch told the crowd of conservative legal minds packed into the Washington Hilton’s ballroom. 

“Yes, I’m speaking of P’nut the squirrel,” Gorsuch continued.

Sparking laughter and applause, the justice was referring to an Instagram-famous squirrel that entered the political fray before the election when it was seized and euthanized by New York state over rabies fears. Some conservatives held up the story to suggest that Democrats were willing to neglect the border while prioritizing something as trivial as tracking down someone’s pet.  

Gorsuch went on to joke there’s “maybe a sordid side” of P’nut’s tale, referencing reports that the squirrel’s owner has an OnlyFans account.  

“[It] may contain a website that’s called ‘just for fans,’” Gorsuch said. “I don’t know the details. I’m not aware of any allegation that P’nut was involved in any of those acts.” 

Gorsuch on Thursday became the latest conservative justice to deliver the keynote at the Federalist Society’s annual Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner, named after the late conservative justice, whom Gorsuch replaced on the Supreme Court. 

But perhaps more notably was who joined Gorsuch in addressing the influential conservative legal group: retired Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing. 

Breyer received a warm reception, however, reminding the crowd that he attended the first Federalist Society meeting at Yale University in 1982.

For a half-hour, the two jurists repeatedly heaped praise on the other, insisting they often agree, and projecting a united front amid low public approval of the Supreme Court. 

“Each case makes a difference to a lot of people,” Breyer said. “And those judges, you can’t say don’t criticize them — criticize them, fine. But the institution has to be independent.” 

Two other sitting justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, watched the after-dinner talk from the audience. The three other sitting Republican-appointed justices, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, did not attend. 

The dinner, part of the Federalist Society’s annual convention, comes barely a week after President-elect Trump’s White House victory, which has sparked anticipation he will be able to further solidify the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority for years into the future.  

The Federalist Society does not officially take political or legal positions, but the nonprofit has become an incubator for Republican judicial nominees and the conservative legal movement more broadly. Leonard Leo, a longtime former leader of the group, helped Trump select his three Supreme Court picks during his first term. 

“Some of you work in federal agencies, state agencies. Some of you might be about to,” Gorsuch joked. 

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) said Fox News’s Pete Hegseth was only selected to serve as the Secretary of Defense because President-elect Trump wants “yes men” around him.

“He’s unqualified to be the secretary of defense, what he’s being installed to do is to say yes and to supplicate himself to the will of the White House,” Auchincloss said during a Thursday appearance on “The Hill” on NewsNation.

Auchincloss argued Trump realized the importance of loyalty in his inner circle after his first term in office.

“In Trump’s first administration, his entire national security cabinet stood up for the country and for the Constitution over his diktats. He fired them, and they then disavowed him as commander in chief, and all endorsed Kamala Harris because they thought he was unfair to lead,” the Democratic representative added. 

“He does not want to make that mistake again. He wants yes men around him, so I’m actually not that interested in the character of Hegseth, because he’s not going to actually have control over the levers of power there,” Auchincloss stated. “This is clearly going to be run by the White House.”

Others have questioned the choice of Hegseth, arguing that he is inexperienced and unprepared to lead the military during global conflict. His appointment echoes Trump’s other picks for cabinet positions where he has tapped loyal supporters over those with traditional resumes.

Auchincloss touched on Trump’s decision to put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services earlier in the interview. 

“RFK is a quack and a conspiracist and has no place near the levers of health or human services,” he said. 

“What he obscures is the fact that he substitutes science in the place of his own opinions and his own quack theories and our biomedical enterprise in this country is built on randomized double blinds trials that ensure both the safety and efficacy of new medicines and of foods and RFK is a threat to the trust Americans can place on what they’re putting into their bodies,” he later added.

Trump touted Hegseth as a “courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy” and said Kennedy will help “end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

Lawmakers are eagerly awaiting Trump’s additional cabinet picks for high-ranking positions to fill out his administration.

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

President-elect Trump said Thursday he would nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to serve as secretary of the Interior. 

Trump made the announcement during a gala for the America First Policy Institute being held at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Burgum was in attendance. 

The North Dakota governor ran an unsuccessful primary campaign before endorsing Trump earlier this year, and the two developed a strong political and personal relationship. Burgum was among the finalists to serve as Trump’s running mate, a position that went to Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio). 

Burgum was on the short list to lead either the Department of Energy or Department of Interior. 

The Interior secretary oversees roughly 70,000 federal employees who manage the country’s natural resources and federal lands, including national parks and monuments. 

In addition, the department has control over energy development both on public lands and offshore. 

Burgum has taken climate change more seriously than many other major Republicans, including the president-elect, who has falsely claimed it is a hoax. As governor, he created the state’s Department of Environmental Quality in 2017 and in 2021 set a goal for the state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. 

However, he has also been historically friendly with the oil industry, a major money maker in his state, and was one of 19 GOP governors to sign a letter pushing back on the Biden administration’s push for environmental and sustainable governance in the finance sector in 2023. 

In his own presidential campaign, Burgum emphasized energy as one of his top priorities — saying he wanted to “dramatically increase energy production” on his campaign website.  

 Prior to his government role, Burgum worked in tech, playing a prominent role in a software company that was later acquired by Microsoft. He then worked at Microsoft as senior vice president.   

Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk contributed

Environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to be an “honest public servant” if he gets confirmed as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy wrote in a Thursday post on X. “I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families.”

“My commitment to the American people is to be an honest public servant. Let’s go,” he added. 

Kennedy was picked by President-elect Trump on Thursday to lead the department, which has a nearly $2 trillion budget and oversees 13 agencies. He would need to get confirmed through the Senate, which could prove to be a difficult feat as some upper chamber Democrats and public health officials expressed concerns over his selection. 

“Mr. Kennedy’s outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children,” Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said on Thursday. “When Mr. Kennedy comes before the Finance Committee, it’s going to be very clear what Americans stand to lose under Trump and Republicans in Congress.” 

Appropriations Committee chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Kennedy’s appointment at HHS “could set back America in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else.” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said Kennedy’s nomination was “f‑‑‑ing insane.” 

But, not all Democrats sounded the alarms. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said he was “excited” about the nomination but hoped that the former independent presidential candidate does not enact any vaccine bans. 

“I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health,” Polis wrote on Thursday. 

Other lawmakers have shown support for the selection.

“RFK Jr. has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said in a statement. “I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda.”

Kennedy initially ran in the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat but left the party to compete as an independent. He suspended his White House bid in August and endorsed Trump, who he then supported on the campaign trail as a surrogate. He thanked Trump on Thursday for his “leadership and courage,” and added that he was “committed to advancing your vision to Make America Healthy Again.” 

“I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth,” Kennedy wrote.

President-elect Trump has announced former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, as his pick for the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

A lawyer by trade and a member of Congress from 2013 to 2021, Collins is a staunch supporter of Trump and was one of his biggest defenders in the House during Democratic-led impeachment hearings against the then-president and attempted to use that stance during an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2020.

Since leaving Washington, D.C., he has served as a legal counsel for Trump, particularly on the MAGA movement’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen in Georgia due to illegally-cast ballots. 

Collins, 58, joined the Air Force Reserve in 2002 after serving for two years as a Navy chaplain in the mid-1990s. He later deployed to Iraq in 2008 as part of the 94th Air Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga. 

In a statement announcing his intent to nominate Collins as VA Secretary, Trump said he will “be a great advocate” for current and former service members.

“Doug is a Veteran himself, who currently serves our Nation as a Chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command, and fought for our Country in the Iraq War,” Trump said. “We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need.”