(NEW YORK) — In the final week of his campaign, former President Donald Trump will cross off a campaign bucket-list item on Sunday: a rally in the iconic Madison Square Garden. The avid Broadway enthusiast will deliver a matinee performance, complete with musical guests and a host of Republican allies.
It’s a moment Trump has long said he wanted to have in the state where he has faced criminal and civil trials, becoming a convicted felon and mounted a business empire.
“I think it’ll be a great time, and it’s going to be really a celebration of the whole thing, you know, because it’s coming to an end a few days after that. The campaigning; I won’t campaign anymore. Then I’ll be campaigning to make America great,” Trump said about the upcoming Madison Square Garden rally during a local radio interview with Cats & Cosby on Thursday.
During his civil fraud trial, Trump decided to voluntarily attend his court hearings, splitting time between the courtroom and the campaign trail as he used his prosecutions to rally his supporters around what he argued was a weaponization of government, charges prosecutors have vehemently denied.
He made multiple smaller campaign stops during his seven-week criminal trial earlier this year, and held a rally in the Bronx and on Long Island in an attempt to court the Hispanic and Black voters that make up a majority of the area’s population.
Throughout the former president’s travels through the deep-blue Democratic state, he has long quipped he could flip New York, a state Democrats have won in the last nine elections.
In an arena format symbolizing confidence and celebrity status, Trump’s appearance will serve as his closing argument. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris makes hers on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The former president, reminiscent of the last nine years campaigning for the highest office in the land, has coined the event as a “celebration of the whole thing.”
“Well, it’s New York, but it’s also sort of, it’s the end of my campaigning. When you think, I mean, I’ve done it now for nine years, we’ve had two great elections. One was better than the other,” Trump said.
On Sunday, Trump will be joined by several surrogates who have appeared with him on the campaign trail — including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will also be in attendance as well as several family members and donors.
Trump’s close friend and donor Steve Witkoff, who was golfing with Trump during the second attempt on his life in West Palm Beach last month, is also scheduled to speak at the rally.
Trump’s rally in New York, while not a battleground state, will provide an opportunity to capture a vast national audience given the area’s media market and location.
It’s a strategy that campaign officials have been deploying in the last stretch of Trump’s campaign, seeing benefits in visiting venues outside of battleground states to help emphasize a message.
For example on Friday, Trump visited Texas to highlight immigration, creating a campaign split screen to Harris who was rallying in Houston later in the day for an event focused on abortion rights.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead via Flickr
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration, most recently naming nominees for energy secretary and to helm the Federal Communications Commission.
Meanwhile, fallout continues for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice to serve as attorney general. The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Calls are growing for the panel to release its report on Gaetz, who resigned from the House last week.
New details of Hegseth sexual assault claim documented in police report
The woman who accused Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017 told police at the time that he took her phone and blocked her from leaving his hotel room on the night of the incident, according to a 22-page police report obtained by ABC News.
The report, compiled in Oct. 2017 by the Monterey Police Department, provides graphic new details of an alleged altercation that now threatens to derail Hegseth’s bid to become President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary.
The report documents a police investigation that did not result in charges against the former Fox News star. It includes interviews with the woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe, and Hegseth, who told police that the encounter was consensual.
Pete Hegseth kicks off Hill meetings with Senate Republicans
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, is on Capitol Hill Thursday meeting with Republican senators and making his case for the job.
Hegseth is joined by Vice President-elect JD Vance, and the two huddled in Vance’s office Thursday morning.
Sen. John Barrasso issued a statement this morning following his meeting with Hegseth calling him a “strong nominee.”
“Pete pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power — not the current administration’s woke political agenda,” Barrasso said.
Hegseth’s nomination and eventual hearing will be managed by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Roger Wicker, was spotted entering Vance’s office and is meeting with Hegseth now.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Allison Pecorin
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for top intel role, draws scrutiny over Russia comments
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the director of national intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, has little experience working with the nation’s spy agencies and a long track record of echoing the Russian disinformation they work to expose and to counter — a combination her critics claim should be disqualifying.
Gabbard, who represented Hawaii as a Democrat from 2013-2021 and ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020 before becoming a Republican earlier this year, has been accused of harboring sympathies for the Kremlin and parroting propaganda generated by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
At the outset of the conflict, Gabbard blamed the Biden administration and NATO, claiming they had provoked Russia’s aggression by ignoring what she called its “legitimate security concerns” about Ukraine potentially becoming a member of the defensive alliance.
Comer to create ‘DOGE’ House Oversight subcommittee: Source
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is set to create a new “Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE)” subcommittee to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s incoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the next Congress, a source familiar with the plans tells ABC News.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will chair the new subcommittee, which will “support the Oversight and Accountability Committee’s mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government,” the source said.
Lawmakers involved in the future subcommittee have already met with members of the White House “DOGE” team, including Ramaswamy, who support the House Oversight Committee’s endeavor and are already working together, the source said.
“The subcommittees will be officially established early next year when the Oversight and Accountability Committee meets to ratify its rules for the 119th Congress,” the source said.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Trump promised to disrupt Washington. His Cabinet picks would do just that: ANALYSIS
President-elect Trump campaigned relentlessly on a radical overhaul of the federal government. His Cabinet picks, being unveiled at a breakneck pace, reflect he’s determined to keep the promises he made to millions of Americans who voted to put him back in the White House.
And while his first choices toed a more traditional line, his next round included a series of names that shocked even Trump’s close Republican allies in Congress: former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to oversee Health and Human Services.
“This will absolutely be a brand-new era in Washington, from the pledge to remake the civil service to a top-to-bottom change in federal policies. There’s nothing like it in recent memory,” said Donald Kettl, a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and former dean of its school of public policy.
Vance on Capitol Hill Thursday, this time with Trump’s defense secretary pick
Vice President-elect JD Vance will return to Capitol Hill on Thursday — this time accompanying President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, to meetings with senators, per a source familiar with the plans.
The visit comes after Vance accompanied Trump’s pick for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, to meetings with Republican senators on Wednesday.
Just as Gaetz did, Hegseth is expected to meet with GOP senators in hopes of helping his nomination process.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Ted Cruz says meeting with Gaetz and Vance was ‘productive’
Vice President-elect JD Vance and former Rep. Matt Gaetz met with GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, another member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
The meeting comes amid Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general and the House Ethics Committee being deadlocked on whether to release its report on him.
“I think it was a productive conversation,” Cruz told reporters. “I believe every one of the president’s nominees deserves a full and fair hearing and a swift confirmation process, and I hope and expect that’s exactly what the Senate will provide,” Cruz said.
“I think there will be a full and fair confirmation process,” he added.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump announces Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
President-elect Donald Trump has announced he’s nominating former congressman Peter Hoekstra to be the United States ambassador to Canada.
The role requires Senate confirmation for approval.
Most recently, Hoekstra served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump’s first term.
“Pete is well-respected in the Great State of Michigan – A State we won sizably,” Trump wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
“In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST. He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role,” Trump added.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Tillis slams colleagues for missing judiciary votes in fiery floor speech In a fiery floor speech on Wednesday, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis took his GOP colleagues to task for missing votes on Monday that he said could have helped Republicans block the Democratic effort to install lame-duck lifetime judiciary appointments.
Trump has made clear he wants Republicans to make every effort to block Democrats from advancing judicial nominations.
The Senate is again expected to be in quite late Wednesday evening trying to process judicial nominations, a process necessary because Republicans are objecting to placing votes on these nominees on the Senate calendar.
Republicans will be powerless to stop this if all Democrats show up to vote, as Democrats have the majority necessary to move nominees through. But there were enough Democratic absences on Monday that a full Republican showing could have defeated some of the nominations.
Tillis didn’t mince words on the Senate floor Wednesday as he called out his colleagues for missing votes.
“I think the American people are on board with me: We have to show up for work, right?” he said.
“We’ve got work to do here and I understand there are all kinds of good reasons but there’s no excuse to let Chuck Schumer force these judicial nominations down our throat,” Tillis said. “We’ve got to show up for work.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Gaetz says meetings have been ‘going great,’ not focused on Ethics Committee activity Reporters caught former Rep. Matt Gaetz re-entering the Capitol on Wednesday evening to continue meetings he has been having with senators and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
“It’s been going great,” Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general, said. “Senators have been giving me a lot of good advice. I’m looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive, and they’ve been saying we are going to get a fair process. So it’s a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration.”
Asked if he had any reaction to the House Ethics Committee being deadlocked on whether to release its report on him, Gaetz said he hasn’t been tracking the developments.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been focused on what we’ve got to do to reform the Department of Justice. I’ve been meeting with senators. I haven’t been paying much attention to that,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz said he hasn’t spoken to Trump today but “had a great time with the vice president-elect talking about how we are going to end weaponization at the Department of Justice.”
“We are going to tackle fentanyl. We are going to ensure that we don’t have the DOJ involved in censorship anymore and make sure that we get the country back on track and are there for President Trump’s total fulfillment of his promise on his immigration agenda,” Gaetz continued.
Asked if he was confident he could be confirmed, Gaetz dodged.
“It was a great day,” he said.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Scott Bessent emerging as treasury secretary favorite: Sources Donald Trump’s transition meetings Wednesday have been focused in part on the treasury secretary role, with hedge fund manager Scott Bessent emerging as a favorite, sources with knowledge of the proceedings told ABC News.
However, the sources cautioned that no decision has been made until Trump announces it.
Bessent has been a frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago and has met with the president-elect often. He’s become a favorite pick partly because he’s viewed as a credible choice with the necessary markets and macroeconomic knowledge for the role, according to sources.
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve board governor Kevin Warsh have also been in meetings with Trump about the role, according to the sources.
Veteran Investor Kyle Bass posted on X, “Scott Bessent is eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to run the U.S. Treasury. Scott understands markets, economics, people, and geopolitics better than anyone I’ve ever interacted with. Markets have already anticipated a Bessent choice. Lutnick is not Trump’s answer.”
In response, Trump adviser Elon Musk wrote, “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas (Lutnick) will actually enact change.”
-ABC News’ Selina Wang, Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Trump’s education secretary pick Linda McMahon says she’s ‘hopeful’ for confirmation Linda McMahon, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to spearhead the Department of Education, said she is “hopeful” for Senate confirmation in a post on X.
McMahon, who is a former WWE exec, wrote, in part, “I look forward to working collaboratively with students – educators – parents and communities to strengthen our educational system; ensuring every child regardless of their demographics is prepared for a bright future.”
McMahon added: “Thank you for this extraordinary opportunity. I am ready to Serve!”
This comes as a scathing lawsuit details how the education secretary nominee and her husband allegedly fostered a culture of sexual abuse while president and CEO of WWE.
McMahon’s lawyer, Laura Brevetti, told ABC News the allegations are “baseless” and filled with lies and misrepresentations.
-ABC News’ Arthur Jones II
2 House Dems formally move to force chamber vote on releasing Gaetz report
Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen appeared on the House floor Wednesday evening to file a privileged resolution to force the House Ethics Committee to release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Separately, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten also appeared on the House floor moments ago to release his own version of a privileged resolution calling on the Ethics Committee to release the report.
House leadership will have up to two legislative days to bring up these resolutions for a vote — either on Thursday or after the Thanksgiving recess.
House Republican leadership is expected to try to table the effort.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Lauren Peller
Ranking member Wild says there was ‘no consensus’ on whether to release the Gaetz report
Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, disagreed with Chairman Michael Guest’s characterization of what occurred in Wednesday’s meeting regarding the Matt Gaetz report, telling reporters, “There was no consensus on the issue.”
Guest told reporters following the meeting that “there was not an agreement to release” the report but didn’t discuss further.
Wild said the chairman has “betrayed the process by disclosing our deliberations within moments after walking out of the committee.”
“He has implied that there was an agreement of the committee not to disclose the report,” she continued. “To the extent that that suggests that the committee was in agreement or that we had a consensus on that, that is inaccurate.”
Wild said “a vote was taken” and suggested it was tied, implying no Republicans crossed party lines.
“I do not want the American public or anyone else to think that Mr. Guest’s characterization of what transpired today would be some sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus on this issue not to release the report. That would be an inaccurate portrayal,” she added.
Wild said the committee plans to meet on Dec. 5 to “further consider this matter.”
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia, Will Steakin and Lauren Peller
House Ethics Committee chairman: No agreement to release Gaetz report
House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest told reporters that “there was not an agreement to release” the Gaetz report while leaving the committee meeting room Wednesday.
Guest would not reveal to reporters what occurred during the meeting, including whether there was a vote, but only reiterated, “There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson, Chris Boccia, Jay O’Brien and Lauren Peller
Casten to introduce resolution to require House vote on Gaetz report
Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois said he is planning to introduce a privileged resolution Wednesday afternoon to force a vote on requiring the House Ethics Committee to release its Gaetz report.
Casten said if the House Ethics Committee chooses not to release the report, he will introduce a privileged resolution “to require a vote by the full House of Representatives on the release of the Gaetz report.”
“The allegations against Matt Gaetz are serious. They are credible. The House Ethics Committee has spent years conducting a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it,” Casten said in a statement. “This information must be made available for the Senate to provide its constitutionally required advice and consent.”
Once the resolution is introduced, the House will have to take it up within two legislative days. GOP leadership will decide when it’s brought up for a vote.
The House Ethics Committee wrapped its meeting moments ago, during which it was expected to vote on whether to release the report.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Musk and Ramaswamy outline plans for regulations cuts, ‘mass headcount reductions’ in op-ed
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — who will lead what Trump’s calling a new “Department of Government Efficiency” — outlined their plans for sweeping regulations cuts and “mass headcount reductions across the federal bureaucracy” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday.
In the piece, titled “The DOGE Plan to Reform Government,” they noted how they believe recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings give Trump constitutional authority to roll back many regulations via executive order.
They laid out scenarios for dramatically shrinking the federal workforce through various means including early retirement, voluntary severance, “large-scale firings” and requiring workers to come to the office five days a week which they said “would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.”
Citing areas of waste to be cut, Musk and Ramaswamy singled out funding for PBS, Planned Parenthood and “grants to international organizations.”
“We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” they wrote. “Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”
-ABC News’ Claire Brinberg
RFK Jr. involved in vetting potential Department of Agriculture appointees: Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team are involved in vetting potential appointees for top roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to multiple people familiar with the dynamics — indicating that Kennedy’s influence in staffing Trump’s administration extends beyond the department he was nominated to lead, Health and Human Services.
Kennedy allies began vetting potential USDA appointees prior to Kennedy’s nomination last Wednesday, but the vetting has continued in the week since, the sources said.
Kennedy himself in the past week has called at least one potential appointee — Jimmy Emmons, an Oklahoma farmer and regenerative agriculture advocate.
Emmons, who according to one source is being considered for USDA secretary, received a vetting call from Kennedy last Thursday, a representative for Emmons said.
“It was an honor to receive a call from RKF Jr.,” Emmons told ABC News in a statement. “Not only did my farming and business background catch their attention, but I was proud to be a Trump appointee within USDA during President Trump’s previous administration. The Trump administration and RFK Jr are going to put America’s farmers first because they know we are the key to bringing healthy products to market that are affordable and accessible to all Americans.”
A Kennedy spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in filling USDA roles.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Trump says ‘WE WILL WIN’ amid uncertainty about confirmation of some cabinet picks
As Vice President-elect JD Vance takes some of Trump’s cabinet picks around the Hill to shore up support, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump attempts to blame Democrats for the allegations launched against some of his controversial picks.
“They dirty them up, they destroy them, and then they spit them out. They are trying that right now with some great American Patriots who are only trying to fix the mess that the Democrats have made of our Country,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Wednesday’s House Ethics Committee meeting includes vote on Gaetz report: Ranking member
Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild, the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee, confirmed to ABC News that a vote on whether to release the Gaetz ethics report is on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.
Wild wouldn’t comment further on what to expect Wednesday.
Several senators have called for the House Ethics Committee to release its report into Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use before they consider his confirmation for attorney general.
All 10 members of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee have arrived at their meeting in Longworth.
Committee Chairman Michael Guest of Mississippi said he “can’t discuss anything we may or may not be taking up today” as he entered the room.
-ABC News’ John Parkinson, Jay O’Brien, Chris Boccia and Lauren Peller
Trump announces Matt Whitaker as NATO ambassador
In a statement Wednesday, President-elect Trump announced former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker as ambassador to NATO.
Whitaker was an active member of Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“Matt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended,” Trump said.
Gaetz, Vance meet with senators on Capitol Hill ahead of House Ethics Committee meeting
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, is meeting with senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance — hours before the House Ethics Committee is set to discuss its report on Gaetz.
The fate of the Gaetz report is in the hands of the committee, which has a reputation for being tight-lipped. It’s not clear if the committee will vote on whether to release the report.
GOP Sens. Josh Hawley and Lindsey Graham met with Vance and Gaetz Wednesday morning.
Graham told reporters that the meeting went well and that Gaetz deserves a fair nomination process.
“Here’s what I told him, no rubber stamps and no lynch mob. I’m not going to be part of a process that leaks information that shouldn’t be leaked,” Graham told reporters. “I’m not going to legitimize the process to destroy the man because people don’t like his politics. He will be held to account in the confirmation process. He deserves a chance to make his argument why he should be attorney general.”
Hawley was walking into the meeting when he told reporters that in his view, Congress should move forward with Gaetz’s confirmation process and respond to the allegations against him.
“Do the hearing and let him respond to everything under oath in public,” Hawley told reporters before entering the meeting.
-Allison Pecorin, Julia Cherner, Hannah Demissie
What to know about Dr. Oz
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that heart surgeon-turned-TV-host Dr. Mehmet Oz would lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
So is he a real doctor? What would he be in charge of in the role? And what are some of his past controversies?
Read more here about what to know about Oz, his medical career and some medical claims he’s made that have come under fire.
Lara Trump said she would ‘absolutely’ accept Senate appointment to fill Rubio seat if asked
Lara Trump, Republican National Committee co-chair and daughter-in-law of President-elect Trump, said Wednesday morning on Fox and Friends First that she would “absolutely” accept an appointment to the U.S. Senate to replace Sen. Marco Rubio Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chooses her.
DeSantis will need to appoint someone to replace Rubio, who has been nominated to be Trump’s secretary of state. Rubio has not resigned from the Senate yet and like all Cabinet picks, is not confirmed yet — although his confirmation process is expected to go smoothly.
“I would be honored … to serve as the next senator from my state — right now, I’ve lived here for three and a half years — of Florida. Absolutely,” Lara Trump said.
Later, she added that DeSantis would “choose the best person for this position.”
“If he asks me to do it, yes, absolutely. It would be an honor,” she said.
-Oren Oppenheim
Stephen Miller indicates Trump would use recess appointments for Cabinet
Stephen Miller, President-elect Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff of policy, joined Hannity on Tuesday evening where he discussed a wide range of topics including several of Trump’s day one missions — including recess appointments to his Cabinet.
Asked if some Cabinet appointments were to become troublesome if Trump would use the recess appointment process, Miller said he would.
“Yes, the president has won a mandate, and he will use all lawful constitutional means to fulfill that mandate on behalf of the people who voted for him in record numbers,” Miller said.
Indicating that immigration will be a priority, Miller said mass deportations will occur immediately.
“It is going to be at light speed,” Miller said. “The moment that President Trump puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office, as he has said, the occupation ends, liberation day begins.”
Miller added that Trump will “immediately sign executive orders sealing the border shut, beginning the largest deportation operation in American history, finding the criminal gangs, rapists, drug dealers and monsters that have murdered our citizens and sending them home.”
-Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim
Trump is the ‘decision-maker,’ his press secretary replies when asked about her role
Karoline Leavitt gave her first interview since being chosen as President-elect Donald Trump’s press secretary last week.
Asked if there would be daily press briefings during her appearance on Fox News, Leavitt punted to Trump.
“It’s certainly something I’ll discuss with President Trump. Ultimately, he is the decision-maker, as you know, that was the way in his first White House. It was the way on our campaign, and I will defer to him,” Leavitt said.
She didn’t address whether they’d knock traditional media aside for right-side broadcasters or podcasters, as some news outlets have indicated.
“We hope there will be decorum, certainly, and we will try to instill that. But we’re not shy of the hostile media,” she said. “We’ve dealt with that now in the campaign for the last year. Nobody does it better than President Trump.”
Explaining that the most effective communication methods might include “bringing different voices into the press briefing room” and vaguely stating that it might also “include some different rules,” she added: “Ultimately, it’s about serving the American people and getting President Trump’s message across to them.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Trump picks Linda McMahon for education secretary
President-elect Donald Trump announced he is nominating Linda McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive and the former Small Business Services secretary, to lead the Department of Education.
McMahon, who served as Trump’s Small Business Services administrator for two years, has no teaching or experience but served one year on the Connecticut State Board of Education.
Her appointment must be approved by the Senate.
ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim
Texas land commissioner offers 1,400 acres to Trump for ‘deportation facilities’
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is offering the incoming Trump administration 1,402 acres the office has purchased along the Texas-Mexico border to be used for a mass deportation operation, according to a letter on Tuesday to the president-elect.
Buckingham said she’s offering the land “to be used to construct deportation facilities.”
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote.
The move shows that despite the governors of border states California and Arizona pledging to not aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, the incoming administration will have allies in Republican-led states.
Buckingham said she is “100% on board” with the incoming administration’s promise to deport criminals in an interview with Fox News, which was the first to report the news.
The plot of land is in Starr County, about 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas. The Texas General Land Office purchased it from a farmer in October to facilitate Texas’ efforts to build a wall.
“It’s essentially farmland, so it’s flat, it’s easy to build on,” Buckingham told Fox News. “We can very easily put a detention center on there — a holding place as we get these criminals out of our country.”
-ABC News’ Armando García
House Ethics Committee to meet behind closed doors Wednesday
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss its report on the investigation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned from office last week after Trump chose him as his nominee for attorney general.
It’s not entirely clear if the committee will hold a vote on whether to release the report.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller, John Parkinson and Will Steakin
Dr. Oz picked as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been selected to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Trump announced.
The agency is within the Department of Health & Human Services. The position requires Senate confirmation.
Trump indicated that Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on chronic diseases.
Oz, a former heart surgeon turned TV talk show host, unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, losing to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.
Fetterman told reporters Tuesday that as long as Oz protects Medicare and Medicaid, he’s open to confirming him.
“He’s not my first choice and certainly, Trump was definitely not my first,” Fetterman said. “We’re going to have to work with these individuals, and if he’s about protecting and preserving Medicaid and Medicare, then, I don’t know why that’s controversial.”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Hannah Demissie
Trump says he’s not reconsidering Gaetz nomination
President-elect Trump attended Tuesday’s SpaceX launch in Texas, joining Elon Musk– SpaceX CEO and now a close ally of Trump’s.
Trump was asked by a reporter if he was reconsidering the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
“No,” he said.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Dr. Oz picked as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator
Dr. Mehmet Oz has been selected to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, Trump announced.
The agency is within the Department of Health & Human Services. The position requires Senate confirmation.
Trump indicated that Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on chronic diseases.
Oz, a former heart surgeon turned TV talk show host, unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, losing to Sen. John Fetterman.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim
Vance arranging meetings for Gaetz and Hegseth on Capitol Hill this week
Vice President-Elect JD Vance will make the rounds on Capitol Hill this week, arranging meetings between key GOP senators and Trump’s Cabinet nominees — attorney general pick Matt Gaetz and defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth — a source familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump’s transition team said it is working quickly to ensure the president-elect’s nominees get through their confirmation process. The statement also said that former Rep. Doug Collins, Trump’s pick for veterans affairs secretary, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was nominated as U.N. ambassador, will also visit the Hill.
“President Trump’s incoming administration is moving at an accelerated schedule in order to make good on getting key nominees confirmed in order to start delivering for the American people. Rep. Collins, Rep. Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Rep. Stefanik will all begin their meetings this week with additional Hill visits to continue after the Thanksgiving recess,” said Trump-Vance transition spokesman Brian Hughes.
Senators on Capitol Hill have told ABC News that they plan to meet with Vance and Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
Republican Sens. John Kennedy and Mike Lee told reporters that they would meet with Gaetz and Vance on Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Allison Pecorin
Trump nominates Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary
Trump has announced Howard Lutnick as his commerce secretary pick.
The appointment requires Senate confirmation.
CEO of investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick has been serving as co-chair of the Trump Transition team alongside Trump’s former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, spending the past two weeks at the Trump Transition War Room he has set up at Mar-a-Lago recommending and vetting potential candidates for Trump’s administration officials.
Lutnick has frequently joined Trump on the campaign trail and hosted numerous fundraisers for Trump alongside some of the major Republican donors like John Paulson, Duke Buchan and Woody Johnson.
The billionaire businessman was also vying for the job of treasury secretary, sources said, competing against investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, who has also been considered a top contender for the role.
Lutnick’s aggressive push to be tapped as Trump’s treasury secretary as he spent hours with the president-elect nearly every day as a co-head of the transition team had frustrated some close to Trump, sources said.
Elon Musk has been a close ally of Lutnick, publicly endorsing him for the treasury spot recently and often seen together at events, including at the AFPI gala last week.
He had donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee in 2017 and most recently donated $5 million to pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.
Lutnick has been a vocal advocate for cryptocurrency, speaking at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville earlier this year where Trump and RFK Jr. also spoke.
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh
Nearly 100 House Dems urge release of Gaetz draft report
Nearly 100 House Democrats urged House Ethics Committee leadership on Tuesday in a letter to immediately release their draft report of allegations into “serious misconduct” by former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
In the letter — which was led by Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten and sent to committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and ranking member Susan Wild, D-Penn. — the members wrote that “given the seriousness of the charges against Representative Gaetz,” withholding any findings of their investigation might “jeopardize the Senate’s ability to provide fully informed, constitutionally required advice and consent regarding this nomination.”
“Representative Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from Congress should not circumvent the Senate’s ability to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities,” the letter, signed by 97 Democrats, stated.
Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted the report should not be publicly released, as Gaetz is now a former member of the House. He has also stressed that the same principle should apply to potential access for senators reviewing the nominees.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray, Lauren Peller and John Parkinson
Speaker Johnson denies discussing Gaetz draft report with House Ethics chairman
House Speaker Mike Johnson denied that he has discussed the details of the draft ethics report on Matt Gaetz with House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, and further denied that President-elect Donald Trump or Gaetz have pressured him to bury the report.
“I haven’t talked to Michael Guest about the report. I talk to all my colleagues but I know where the lines are. I have no idea about the contents of the report,” Johnson told reporters as he walked back to his office after his news conference this morning.
Despite persistent questions, Johnson maintained his position that Gaetz’s resignation from the House last week should put an end to the ethics inquiry.
“My job is to protect the institution and I have made very clear that I think it’s an important guardrail for our institution that we not use the House Ethics Committee to investigate and report on persons who are not members of this body,” Johnson declared. “Matt Gaetz is not a member of the body anymore.”
Johnson denied that Gaetz or Trump had pressured him to block release of the draft report, repeating that the speaker “has no involvement” in the ethics report and “can’t direct the ethics committee to do anything.”
“I’ve simply responded to the questions that have been asked of me about my opinion on whether that should be released. Matt Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress and so we don’t issue ethics reports on non-members,” he said. “I think it’s an important guardrail for us to maintain for the interest of the institution so that’s my position.”
“I wouldn’t have that conversation with [Gaetz]. Because that’s not appropriate for us to do that,” Johnson continued. “President Trump respects the guardrails of our institution as well, and I’m very guarded about those things. So neither of those gentlemen would breach that.”
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Isabella Murray
Musk backs Gaetz for AG amid allegations: ‘Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice’
Billionaire Elon Musk is throwing his support behind Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, as allegations continue to surface surrounding what witnesses told the House Ethics Committee regarding the former congressman.
“Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind,” Musk wrote on X. “He is the Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison.”
“Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice,” he added.
Musk also directly addressed the allegations against Gaetz, stating that he considers them “worth less than nothing.”
Musk’s public support for Gaetz comes as the billionaire continues to play a large role in Trump’s transition, as ABC News has previously reported.
Speaker Johnson says he hasn’t discussed Gaetz ethics drama with Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday he has not talked to Trump about a draft report on the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz — as members on both sides of the aisle call on the speaker to release the draft despite Gaetz’s resignation and the committee’s lack of jurisdiction over former members.
“I have not discussed the ethics report with President Trump. And as you know, I’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Johnson, R-La., said. “He respects the House and the parameters, and he knows that I would not violate any of those rules or principles, and so it has not been discussed.”
The speaker also said he hasn’t discussed the report with Trump’s advisers.
“They’re busy filling the Cabinet,” he said. “This has not been a subject of our discussion.”
Johnson reiterated his position against the release of the draft report. He also brushed off the fact that there is some precedent for its release following a member’s exit from Congress, saying the House is now in a “different era.”
“I’ve made this really clear. There’s a very important principle that underlies this, and that is the House Ethics Committee has jurisdiction over members of Congress — not former members, not private citizens, not someone who’s left the institution,” he said. “I think that’s a really important parameter for us to maintain. I think it’s important for the institution itself.”
Johnson said that he would not support a private viewing of the report for senators under the “same principle.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson, Isabella Murray and Lauren Peller
Top Dem on House Ethics Committee says Gaetz report should be released
The top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee — Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild — told reporters Monday that she believes the committee’s report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz should be disclosed to the public.
“You either are going to disclose it or you’re not going to disclose it. So, and there’s plenty of precedents in the Ethics Committee to disclose the report even after a member has resigned,” Wild said.
Wild, who is leaving office at the end of this session, said it’ll take “one or more” Republicans to join Democrats on the committee to achieve a majority vote to release the report.
Asked if that’s a possibility, Wild said she hasn’t talked to all of the members and doesn’t know, but she stressed that all eight members of the ethics panel now have access to the draft report.
“I believe there will be a unanimous Democratic consensus that it should be released,” she added.
Wild said there is a scheduled committee meeting on Wednesday, but said it “remains to be seen” what the chairman’s agenda is.
“But I believe we should vote on whether we are to disclose it [Gaetz report] or not, and we’ll see what happens after that,” she said.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters Monday that he has read the Gaetz report but declined to comment further due to the confidentiality of the committee.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller, John Parkinson and Isabella Murray
Trump nominates Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Trump announced Monday he is nominating former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for transportation secretary.
The position requires Senate confirmation.
“He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security, and he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.”
Duffy co-hosts “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business and is a Fox News contributor.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump to attend SpaceX launch on Tuesday: Sources
Trump is expected to attend Tuesday’s SpaceX launch in Texas, multiple sources told ABC News.
SpaceX said it is planning to hold the sixth integrated flight test of its Starship megarocket from its Starbase in Cameron County, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who will co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, has rarely left Trump’s side since the election — appearing in family photos with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and even traveling with him to New York for Saturday’s UFC fight.
Trump frequently marveled at the intricacies of the SpaceX rocket launch while on the campaign trail.
“It was so exciting, so I’m watching it, and this monstrous thing is going down, right and it’s coming down, it’s first of all, doing all sorts of flips up in the air,” Trump said at his last campaign rally of the cycle in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Katherine Faulders
How Democrats could force the Ethics Committee to release the Gaetz report
All eyes will be on the House Ethics Committee’s expected closed-door meeting this Wednesday — but it’s possible that Congress can go around the committee entirely to release the panel’s findings on former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
According to House rules, any member of Congress can go to the floor and tee up a vote on a “privileged resolution” that would force the Ethics Committee to release its report on Gaetz, within two legislative days.
The member would only have to argue that not releasing the report impacts the “dignity” or “integrity” of the House or “reputation” of its members.
The action would be unusual, but not unprecedented. In the 1990s, Democrats repeatedly tried to force the Ethics Committee to divulge information about investigations into then-Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Those efforts came up short because Republicans closed ranks around Gingrich and the majority. But Gaetz is incredibly unpopular on Capitol Hill, and it would only take a handful of Republicans — along with all Democrats — to pass the resolution.
“If you’re a member of Congress, do you really want to be in the business of defending Matt Gaetz?” former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pennsylvania, who led the Ethics Committee, said to ABC News on Monday.
The Ethics Committee was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use against Gaetz, who resigned last week after being named Trump’s pick for attorney general.
If the Ethics Committee doesn’t vote to release its findings on Wednesday, expect more Democrats to raise the possibility of forcing a floor vote — one that would force Republicans on the record about Gaetz.
-ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel
Hegseth flagged as potential ‘insider threat’ by Guardsman who was ‘disturbed’ by ‘Deus Vult’ tattoo
The National Guardsman who in 2021 pegged Pete Hegseth as a potential “insider threat” clarified in an interview with ABC News that his complaint targeted a “Deus Vult” tattoo on the Fox News host’s arm, not a cross on his chest, as Hegseth has repeatedly claimed.
As Reuters and The Associated Press first reported, Sgt. DeRicko Gaither sent an image of the “Deus Vult” tattoo to Maj. Gen. William Walker shortly before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The phrase, which translates to “God wills it,” has since been co-opted by white nationalist groups.
“This information is quite disturbing, sir,” Gaither wrote in the email to Walker, who has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment. “This falls along the lines of (an) Insider Threat.”
Hegseth — Trump’s pick for defense secretary — claimed in his book, “The War on Warriors,” that he was removed from service ahead of Biden’s inauguration because fellow servicemembers had flagged a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross on his chest as a white nationalist symbol.
But Gaither clarified in a text message to ABC News that his complaint targeted the “Deus Vult” tattoo, despite “the narrative that has been out there.”
“Just so we are clear. This has NOTHING to do with the Jerusalem Cross tattoo on his chest,” Gaither said. “This has everything to do with the ‘DEUS VULT’ Tattoo on his inner bicep.”
Gaither, who confirmed the contents of his complaint to ABC News, emphasized that “this wasn’t then and isn’t now a personal attack towards Pete Hegseth.”
“The information received and [the] email sent on January 14th was the protocol that had to be followed because of the position assignment that I was assigned to,” explained Gaither, who was at the time assigned as the Guards’ head of security. “The protocol was followed and would be followed again if this issue involved any other service member, myself included.”
Hegseth fired back at the initial coverage of this matter in the AP by claiming it was “Anti-Christian bigotry.”
“They can target me — I don’t give a damn — but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD,” Hegseth wrote on social media on Friday.
-ABC News’ Nathan Luna and Lucien Bruggeman
Homan says he’s headed to Mar-a-Lago to put ‘final touches’ on deportation plan
Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan said Monday that Trump’s new administration is already working on a plan to deport undocumented immigrants and that he’s headed to Mar-a-Lago this week “to put the final touches” on it.
Speaking on Fox News’ America Reports, Homan reiterated his plan to “take the handcuffs of ICE” and ramp up arrests.
“ICE knows what they’re looking for. They just never go arrest them, because Secretary Mayorkas has told them [to] tone down the arrests,” Homan said.
Homan also repeated his claim that ICE will “arrest the bad guys first.” He said that under the Biden administration, the removal of “criminal aliens” has decreased 74%. ABC News has not independently verified the accuracy of that claim.
Homan acknowledged during the interview that a mass deportation plan will require significant resources and that he doesn’t know what the current ICE and Customs and Border Protection budgets are, though added that Trump is “committed” to getting the funding for his plan.
-ABC News’ Armando García
‘Dangerous’: Caroline Kennedy weighs in on RFK’s views on vaccines
Caroline Kennedy weighed in on her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s views on vaccines during remarks on Monday after he was announced as the nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
“I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, but I don’t think that most Americans share them. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” she said at the National Press Club of Australia.
“You know, I grew up with him,” she added. “So, I have known all this for a long time and others are just getting to know him.”
Kennedy added that her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, had fought for affordable health care, and that her family was proud of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, which she said was built on Sen. Kennedy’s work.
“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” Caroline Kennedy said.
–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Trump transition live updates: Ethics Committee expected to meet on Gaetz: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration, most recently naming nominees for energy secretary and to helm the Federal Communications Commission.
Meanwhile, fallout continues for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice to serve as attorney general. The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Calls are growing for the panel to release its report on Gaetz, who resigned from the House last week.
‘Dangerous’: Caroline Kennedy weighs in on RFK’s views on vaccines
Caroline Kennedy weighed in on her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s views on vaccines during remarks on Monday after he was announced as the nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
“I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, but I don’t think that most Americans share them. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” she said at the National Press Club of Australia.
“You know, I grew up with him,” she added. “So, I have known all this for a long time and others are just getting to know him.”
Kennedy added that her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, had fought for affordable health care, and that her family was proud of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, which she said was built on Sen. Kennedy’s work.
“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” Caroline Kennedy said.
–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
House Ethics Committee expected to meet to discuss Gaetz report
The House Ethics Committee is expected to meet on Wednesday and discuss its report of Rep. Matt Gaetz, multiple sources tell ABC News.
While the meeting can still be cancelled, sources said the committee could potentially take a vote on whether to release the report.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Will Steakin
‘Morning Joe’ co-hosts say they met with Trump on Friday
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said on Monday morning that they had met with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago.
The goal of the meeting, they said, was to “restart communications” among the liberal-leaning morning show hosts and the incoming administration.
“Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast, and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself. On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that. Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years,” Brzezinski said.
Scarborough said the hosts and Trump did not “see eye to eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so.”
“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Brzezinski added, noting that Trump seemed “cheerful” and “upbeat.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday thanked supporters during a virtual call and vowed that the “fight’s not over” in her first remarks since conceding defeat to President-elect Donald Trump three weeks ago.
“The fight that fueled our campaign, a fight for freedom and opportunity, that did not end on Nov. 5. A fight for the dignity of all people? That did not end on Nov. 5,” Harris said. “A fight for the future, a future in which all people receive the promise of America No. A fight that is about a fight for the ideals of our nation, the ideals that reflect the promise of America That fight’s not over.”
“That fight’s still in us, and it burns strong,” Harris later added. “And I know this is an uncertain time. I’m clear-eyed about that. I know you’re clear-eyed about it, and it feels heavy. And I just have to remind you: Don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5 and you have the same purpose that you did and you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.”
The grassroots call came immediately after Harris held a call with her campaign’s finance committee. The finance call was attended by more than 400 donors, according to a source familiar.
On the grassroots call, Harris also briefly discussed the historic sum of money that ran her campaign, though she did not address what went wrong as she and her campaign face intense scrutiny over how they could raise that money and lose to Trump so resolutely.
”The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted. It is not what we work so hard for,” Harris said. “But I am proud of the race we ran. And your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented.”
Harris said that over the course of those 100-plus days, her campaign raised $1.4 billion, much of which was from grassroot donors: “Nearly 8 million donors contributed an average donation of about $56.”
“You gave all that you could to support our campaign. Because of your efforts — get this — we raised an historic $1.4 billion, almost $1.5 billion from grassroots supporters alone, the most in presidential campaign history,” she said.
“Being involved can make a difference, and that remains true. And that’s one of the pieces that I just want us to please take away — that our fight for freedom and for opportunity and for the promise of America, it included, for example, nearly almost 4 million first-time contributors to our campaign because of the work you did, of helping people know that they can be engaged and that they’re not outside, that they’re inside, that we’re all in this together,” she added.
Harris was joined by her former running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on both calls — a rare appearance from the two, though Harris joined the call from San Francisco and Walz from Minnesota.
Walz on the grassroot donor call also spoke to supporters’ feeling of loss following the election and repeated Harris’ claims that she is not finished with fighting.
“I think all of us saw the possibility, and I know there’s a bit of a feeling of loss because we saw what a real leader looks like,” Walz said.
“She did deliver the best of our better angels,” he added. “She delivered a vision where all of us mattered. She did it with grace and dignity and continues to do that every single day. She is still in this fight. She is doing it every single day. She is not done with her current job. She’s not done being part of it with all of you.”
Harris’ and Walz’s remarks follow some postelection analysis from Harris campaign senior officials during an episode of “Pod Save America” that aired on Tuesday, including some reaction to finances.
Harris campaign Chairwoman Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said that during the cycle, the bulk of the campaign’s spending was used to reach out to “very-hard-to-find voters,” including low-propensity and young voters, while investing across all swing states because polling reflected that each was in play.
“We were trying to, yes, spend more resources on digital … because we’re trying to find young people, we’re trying to find these lower-propensity voters that were tuned out to politics,” O’Malley Dillon said.
“We had some unique things that we had to do in this race that I think were really critical to do early and spent a lot of resources at an earlier stage than we would have to,” she added, noting those resources were spent on both advertising and field programming. “We saw, up until the very end, that … every single state was in such a margin of error. There was nothing that told us we couldn’t play in one of these states.”
During the podcast, O’Malley Dillon and senior campaign adviser David Plouffe accused the Trump campaign of coordinating with its super PACs, a practice that is not legal, but noted the Democrats need to take note and do the same.
“We have to stop playing a different game as it relates to super PACs and the Republicans. Love our Democratic lawyers. I’m tired of it, OK? They coordinate more than we do. I think amongst themselves, I think with the presidential campaign, like I’m just sick and tired, OK? So, we cannot be at a disadvantage,” Plouffe said.
“I think our side was completely mismatched when it came to the ecosystem of Trump and his super PACs and ours,” O’Malley Dillon said.
“We had a super PAC that was helpful, very important and necessary for the work that they did because they were the kind of central recipients of a lot of the funding on our side and they staked a strategy and a plan, and we clearly could see it, and we knew what it was [going] to spend, but we did not have the ability to have people come in with us early. And so every ounce of advertising, every ounce of carrying these strategic imperatives, of defining the vice president and trying to bring down Trump’s numbers, all sat with us as a campaign,” O’Malley Dillon added.
Harris has rarely been seen since she delivered her concession speech at Howard University the day after the election. She attended the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery a week later and was seen making her first return to the White House a day after that. The vice president also spent the last week on vacation in Hawaii.
Walz, in the month since the election, has remained almost entirely out of the national spotlight, resuming his duties as the governor of Minnesota.
He delivered his final speech of the 2024 campaign cycle on Nov. 8 from suburban Minneapolis, joining a chorus of fellow Democratic governors who said they would protect their states from threats to reproductive freedoms, citizenship and other things under the Trump administration. The former vice presidential nominee also said he’d work to find common ground with swaths of people who voted “for the other side” on Nov. 5.
Harris and Walz remained mostly separate on the campaign trail in the roughly 15 weeks she had him as her running mate. The governor was present at Harris’ concession speech at Howard University the night after the election but did not speak or publicly interact with her. Before that, the two held a joint rally on Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, their first event together since late August, when they were seen together in Savannah, Georgia, on a bus tour.
Prior to that, their last time at a rally together was in Milwaukee for programming linked to the Democratic National Convention in August.
(WASHINGTON) — Several House Republicans stormed out of Tuesday morning’s conference meeting furious over Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the government funding bill – which still isn’t ready and puts the federal government on the brink of a shutdown at the end of the week.
Republicans had initially promised to release bill text over the weekend with the aim of holding a vote early in the week, but outspoken criticism from within their ranks has continually delayed negotiators from finalizing the legislation.
Johnson denied that the evolving package amounts to a so-called “Christmas tree omnibus,” but confirmed that the measure is not a clean continuing resolution and will include a disaster relief package — reported to be more than $100 billion — as well as $10 billion for the agricultural community.
Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison called the speaker’s funding plan presented at the conference meeting a “total dumpster fire.”
“I think it’s garbage,” Burlison said, adding that he has conveyed his frustrations to Johnson, who is seeking to retain the speaker’s gavel in the new year.
“I’m disappointed,” Burlison said when asked about Johnson’s future. “I think that he can do better. He can communicate better. The fact that we haven’t seen the language today and we’re supposed to vote on it this week is unacceptable.”
South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said he is frustrated with the funding plan as well.
“I’m not voting for the CR [continuing resolution],” he said.
Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a frequent critic of the leadership’s spending bills, said, “This is not the way to do business right.”
“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Roy said.
The Texas congressman did not respond when asked if he’ll support the speaker in January.
Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick said as he left the meeting, “I’m frustrated with the whole approach to this, because I think, once again, we’re just adding to the deficit without having any clear plan forward,”
After relying on Democrats for bipartisan support to pass the past five continuing resolutions, Johnson brushed off the criticism bubbling up within his ranks, stressing that the bill has not been released.
“I got a couple of friends who will just say that about any end of year funding measure,” Johnson said. “This is not an omnibus, OK? This is a small CR that we’ve had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not manmade disasters. These are things that the federal government has an appropriate role to do.”
Despite the growing tensions, Johnson expressed optimism that his speakership will overcome the challenges to buy the conference time until Republicans have unified control over Washington next year.
“I’m not worried about the speaker’s vote. We’re governing. Everybody knows we have difficult circumstances. We’re doing the very best we can under those circumstances,” Johnson said. “These are the hard choices that lawmakers have to make, but we will get the job done, as we always do. We will. We will keep moving forward, and in January, we have a new lease on all this.”
With government funding set to lapse at the end of the week, Johnson was steadfast that the House must abide by a 72-hour rule, where the clock starts to tee up a vote once bill text is released.
“I believe in the 72-hour roll rule,” Johnson said. “We’re committed to all of that. We’re going to take care of these obligations and get this done, and then we’re going to go to work in unified government in the 119th Congress. It begins in January.”
