The House Ethics Committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss whether or not to publish a report into Donald Trump’s controversial choice for US attorney general, Matt Gaetz, examining alllegations against him that he paid for sex with a minor in 2017 that it investigated in 2022.
The former Florida congressman has always denied the accusations and resigned from the House of Representatives last week, ending the committee’s jurisdiction over him.
That has not stopped it facing pressure to reveal its findings just as Gaetz joins Vice President-Elect JD Vance and others on a mission to Capitol Hill lobby Republican senators ahead of January’s confirmation hearings.
Trump has meanwhile made a further series of additions to his new cabinet, moving on Tuesday to nominate former WWE boss Linda McMahon as education secretary, TV’s Dr Mehmet Oz as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary.
The latter, co-chair of Trump’s transition team along with McMahon, had been under consideration for treasury secretary, a role that has still yet to be filled.
Key Points
- House Ethics Committee to meet today to discuss Matt Gaetz report
- Vance, Gaetz, Hegseth and more heading to Capitol Hill to court Republican support
- Donald Trump nominates former WWE boss Linda McMahon as education secretary
- Trump taps Dr Oz to run Medicare and Medicaid
- President-elect names Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary as ‘consolation prize’ for missing out on Treasury
Trump transition team ‘quietly’ looking at alternatives to Pete Hegseth after he ‘wasn’t honest’ about past
13:20
Joe Sommerlad
Donald Trump’s transition team is said to be “upset” with Pete Hegseth because he “hasn’t been honest” about the sexual misconduct allegation from his past – prompting insiders to consider other options to lead the Pentagon.
Hegseth was tapped last week to become Trump’s defense secretary but now those in the president-elect’s inner circle are “quietly preparing a list of alternative” candidates, Vanity Fair reported.
“It’s becoming a real possibility,” a source told the outlet.
Here’s more from Rhian Lubin and Katie Hawkinson.
Trump demands the Senate stop doing its job confirming judges before he takes office
13:00
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect has called on Republican senators to grind the business of the upper chamber of Congress to a halt in order to stop Democrats from confirming any more judges before the end of President Joe Biden’s term.
Senate Democrats held votes late into the night on Monday to confirm Biden’s picks to the federal bench, prompting this angry Truth Social post from Trump:
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 19, 2024
There was also internal GOP annoyance with Vice President-Elect Vance, secretary of state nominee Marco Rubio and others who skipped those Monday votes, enabling Chuck Schumer’s Democrats to greenlight Biden’s choices with less opposition.
“If we don’t show up, we lose,” huffed North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, according to The Hill.
“I don’t care what the reasons were. We have fewer than 15 scheduled legislative days. You have to show up. Period. End of story. There’s nothing more important.
“We’ve got potentially dozens we could have shoved down our throat – except for us being here.
“We’ve got to talk to these folks like adults and show up.”
Gustaf Kilander has more.
Morning Joe suffers ratings nosedive after hosts met Trump at Mar-a-Lago
12:40
Joe Sommerlad
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s house call on the president-elect appears to have gone down extremely badly with their viewers, as well as pundits on both sides of the political divide.
James Liddell has the latest.
From ‘magic’ weight-loss coffee beans to red onion stopping cancer: Dr Oz’s history of baseless medical claims
12:25
Joe Sommerlad
Oh boy.
Here’s Rhian Lubin to look at the TV doctor’s long history of questionable quackery, from “miracle cures” to weight loss gimmicks and hydroxychloroquine advocacy during the pandemic.
WWE fans react to Trump picking ‘totally unqualified’ Linda McMahon as education secretary
12:10
Joe Sommerlad
If you’re not familiar with McMahon, here’s a starter pack:
Meet Trump’s new Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon pic.twitter.com/5IAWechZ6w
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 20, 2024
Linda McMahon to become the first Secretary of Education to have been a playable character in WWF No Mercy for the Nintendo 64. pic.twitter.com/n84BVSnQxT https://t.co/1hE0fZz8AJ
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) November 19, 2024
For more, here’s our resident wrestling buff Greg Evans with the insiders’ response to Trump’s choice.
Watch: Trump’s incoming border czar threatens prosecution for hiding illegal immigrants
11:55
Joe Sommerlad
incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan threatens people in blue states with prosecution if they hide migrants from ICE pic.twitter.com/VenTqWTKdv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2024
Manhattan prosecutors reject Trump’s attempts to derail hush money conviction
11:25
Joe Sommerlad
In New York, Manhattan prosecutors have urged the judge overseeing Trump’s criminal hush money trial to reject his attempts to toss out his conviction and derail his sentencing.
But District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team do not oppose a delay in the proceedings so they can address Trump’s upcoming arguments to dismiss the case, according to a letter to New York Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday.
Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for next week, on November 26, roughly three weeks after he won the 2024 presidential election.
He will return to the White House on January 20, potentially upending the multiple criminal and civil cases against him.
Prosecutors have also floated delaying a sentencing hearing until 2029, “after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term.”
While prosecutors are “mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency” and understand that Trump’s return to the White House “will raise unprecedented legal questions,” they also “deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”
Bragg’s office has asked to respond to Trump’s motion to dismiss the conviction no later than December 9.
“This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all.”
Here’s Alex Woodward’s report.
Vance, Gaetz, Hegseth and more heading to Capitol Hill to court Republican support
10:55
Joe Sommerlad
Vice President-Elect JD Vance is due on Capitol Hill today leading a delegation of Trump administration nominees that will reportedly include Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, Elise Stefanik and Doug Collins in order to lobby Republican senators and try to tie down their support ahead of the upcoming cabinet confirmation hearings, according to CNN.
Both Trump himself and Gaetz have reportedly been hitting the phones as part of their effort to secure the latter’s place as attorney general, with Missouri Senator Josh Hawley saying the ex-Florida congressman had implored him “to give him a shot” at the role.
Meanwhile, veteran GOP senator Chuck Grassley, who is set to be the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has stirred the pot by urging the House Ethics Committee to publish its report on Gaetz, perhaps suggesting he’ll use it to oppose his nomination.
“I think that if they want a speedy consideration of this nomination… we’ve got to have as much transparency as we can have,” Grassley said.
“You’ve heard my colleagues, especially on the Republican side, say that they have some questions… and I think it would help faster consideration, the extent to which they would make as much available as they can.”
Here’s more.
House Ethics Committee to meet today to discuss Matt Gaetz report
10:45
Joe Sommerlad
The House Ethics Committee will meet later today to discuss whether to publish its dossier on Matt Gaetz, Trump’s controversial candidate for attorney general, after it investigated him in 2022 over allegations he paid for sex with a minor.
It emerged on Tuesday that a hacker reportedly gained access to a computer file that contained damaging testimony made about the former Florida congressman.
The file is said to include testimony from a woman who claimed that she had sex with Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating evidence by a second woman who said that she witnessed the incident, a source told The New York Times.
It comes amid ongoing concerns over Gaetz’s nomination.
The 42-year-old previously faced a Justice Department probe into allegations he sex-trafficked a minor but this has since been closed.
The Ethics Committee likewise investigated allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz, with pressure now mounting for its report to be released ahead of the upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Trump watches SpaceX launch in Texas with Elon Musk and Ted Cruz
10:30
Joe Sommerlad
This is how the president-elect and his new tech bro billionaire buddy spent their Tuesday.
.@elonmusk greets President @realDonaldTrump on Starbase!! pic.twitter.com/fkMIubPHzp
— Margo Martin (@margomartin) November 19, 2024
President Trump has arrived to watch the SpaceX launch with @elonmusk! pic.twitter.com/D5awPUUQTC
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 19, 2024
.@SpaceX Starship pic.twitter.com/hiliGwkW9p
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) November 19, 2024
Trump names Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary as ‘consolation prize’ for missing out on Treasury
10:10
Joe Sommerlad
The last of yesterday’s major nominees was Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, whom Trump has chosen as his preferred commerce secretary, a gig CNN reporter Kristen Holmes characterised as a “consolation prize” for Lutnick missing out on the chance to be treasury secretary.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 19, 2024
Co-chair of Trump’s transition team along with McMahon, Lutnick had been under consideration to lead the Treasury, a role that has still yet to be filled and which is reportedly the cause of much disagreement behind the scenes among Trump’s courtiers at Mar-a-Lago – or even a “knife fight”, as Holmes put it.
Here’s more from Gustaf Kilander.
Trump names Dr Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid
09:50
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect also announced yesterday that he had tapped Dr Mehmet Oz, the TV personality and failed Pennsylvania Senate candidate, to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator.
Here’s his statement on that one:
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 19, 2024
Kelly Rissman reports.
Donald Trump nominates former WWE boss Linda McMahon as education secretary
09:30
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump has made a further series of additions to his new cabinet, among the most surprising of which was his move on Tuesday to nominate former WWE boss Linda McMahon as education secretary.
Here’s his statement explaining the choice:
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 20, 2024
Gustaf Kilander has the full story.
Could the stock market be the last guardrails to corral Trump’s wildest whims?
09:10
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has so far chosen only the most loyal supporters to join his cabinet, signaling that he intends to surround himself with officials who will carry out his agenda without question.
But there is one force that could keep some of his plans at bay — the stock market.
Rhian Lubin explains.
08:30
Oliver O'Connell
Joe Scarborough, Trump and 20 years of sick conspiracies about the death of ‘Morning Joe’ host’s aide
Since announcing their post-election meeting with Donald Trump, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have received a fierce backlash from the GOP and fellow members of the media, who described the stunt as “dishonest.”
The pair have defended their decision to visit the President-elect for the first time in seven years as an opportunity to “restart communications” after being fierce critics of Trump in the run-up to the 2024 election. In their coverage, Scarborough and Brzezinski described Trump as “erratic,” slamming his election fraud efforts and warning of “how dark of a place” the US would be if Trump won. In September, Scarborough said that it was “not a reach” to compare the President-elect to Hitler.
However, aside from the acrimony of the 2024 election cycle, a meeting between Scarborough and Trump is even more astonishing given their previous interactions, centered around the death of a young congressional staffer Lori Klausutis more than 20 years ago.
Mike Bedigan reports.
'Morning Joe’ forced to defend Trump meeting
08:00
Oliver O'Connell
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough has responded to backlash over his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump alongside Mika Brzezinski, his co-host and wife.
Scarborough said the backlash on social media to the meeting demonstrated a “massive disconnect” between the internet sphere and the real world.
Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington, DC.
Canada shares U.S. concerns about Mexican trade with China as possible trade talks loom
07:00
AP
Canada‘s point person for U.S-Canada relations said Tuesday she shares U.S. concerns about Mexico serving as a back door for China to import cheaper goods into the North American market as a review of the trade pact known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement looms.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said members of the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and supporters and advisers of President-elect Donald Trump have expressed “very grave” concerns to her about the issue and Canada shares them.
Continue reading...
With Lutnick at Commerce, who is still in running for Treasury?
06:00
Oliver O'Connell
There are reports that there is a “free for all” and a “mad dash to find someone pro-tariff” to take up the role of Donald Trump’s treasury secretary in his second administration.
Who is still in the running?
Ahead of Trump’s presidency, US will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons in push to bolster Kyiv
05:00
AP
The Pentagon will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as the Biden administration rushes to do as much as it can to help Kyiv fight back against Russia in the remaining two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The latest tranche of weapons comes as worries grow about an escalation in the conflict, with both sides pushing to gain any advantage that they can exploit if Trump demands a quick end to the war — as he has vowed to do.
In rapid succession this week, President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the authority to fire longer-range missiles deeper into Russia and then Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons.
Continue reading...
RFK Jr helps scandal-plagued TV chef who posted Nazi symbol on social media publish children’s cookbook
04:35
Graeme Massie
Pete Evans falsely labeled the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax in 2020.
Texas board advances plan to allow Bible material in elemetary school lessons
04:00
AP
Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.
The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.
The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.
Continue reading...
Trump’s approval rating now 20 points higher than when he left the White House
03:00
Oliver O'Connell
President-elect Donald Trump’s approval rating is now more than 20 points higher than when he left the White House in early 2021.
A majority of Americans now approve of the work Trump is doing as he makes his unorthodox cabinet picks, such as nominating former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general and Fox & Friends weekend host Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defense.
The Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that 54 percent approve of Trump, while 40 percent disapprove. Ninety-one percent of Republicans approved of Trump’s job performance, while 49 percent of independents and 22 percent of Democrats said the same.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
RFK Jr. once said Covid-19 pandemic ‘feels very planned to me’
02:31
Graeme Massie
Kennedy once suggested COVID was part of a ‘biosecurity agenda that will enslave the entire human race and plunge us into a dystopian nightmare’.
Profile: Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for secretary of commerce
02:00
Oliver O'Connell
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary.
The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.
Lutnick, a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration, once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show, “The Apprentice.” He has become a part of the president-elect’s inner circle.
Here are things to know about the billionaire who, if confirmed by the Senate, will lead the Commerce Department:
ANALYSIS: Where do Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema go for their apologies now?
01:30
Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
n Monday, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the soon-to-be retired Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona, responded to remarks from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging Republicans to not “misread the will of the people” and “abandon the need for bipartisanship.”
“What’s the one tool that requires the Senate to work in a bipartisan way?” she said on X/Twitter. “Oh look, the filibuster.”
Elsewhere, Senator Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat who also became an independent, made it clear that he felt a small amount of vindication, after he’d spent much of Joe Biden’s first two years in office harping about inflation.
“I’m not going to say I told you so,” he told The Independent on Monday, but, as he boarded the Senate elevator, he added that people should have been paying attention. He was sort of right, given that the 2024 election turned out to largely be a referendum on the high cost of living.
Continue reading...
MTG says she will expose ‘sexual harassment claims’ against Republicans if Gaetz report released
01:00
Oliver O'Connell
Right-wing lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will expose “sexual harassment and assault claims” against her fellow Republicans if the House Ethics Committee releases their “highly damaging” report on Matt Gaetz.
Representative Greene of Georgia defended Gaetz, Trump’s pick for attorney general, on Tuesday morning. She warned that “if we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that Trump has appointed,” she will “put it ALL out there.”
“Yes..all the ethics reports and claims including the one I filed,” Greene wrote on X. “All your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled paying off victims with tax payer money.”
Katie Hawkinson has the full story.
Joe Scarborough, Trump and 20 years of sick conspiracies about the death of ‘Morning Joe' host’s aide
00:30
Oliver O'Connell
Since announcing their post-election meeting with Donald Trump, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have received a fierce backlash from the GOP and fellow members of the media, who described the stunt as “dishonest.”
The pair have defended their decision to visit the President-elect for the first time in seven years as an opportunity to “restart communications” after being fierce critics of Trump in the run-up to the 2024 election. In their coverage, Scarborough and Brzezinski described Trump as “erratic,” slamming his election fraud efforts and warning of “how dark of a place” the US would be if Trump won. In September, Scarborough said that it was “not a reach” to compare the President-elect to Hitler.
However, aside from the acrimony of the 2024 election cycle, a meeting between Scarborough and Trump is even more astonishing given their previous interactions, centered around the death of a young congressional staffer Lori Klausutis more than 20 years ago.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Trump deportation surge: How many people did Obama, Biden and Trump actually deport?
00:00
Alicja Hagopian
Donald Trump has threatened to use the military to enact mass deportations after making illegal immigration one of his flagship policies during the 2024 election — with the president-elect saying he will boot millions of people from the country.
Trump has boasted of planning the “largest deportation operation in American history,” saying there is no price tag for the scheme. His chosen border czar Tom Homan is a hardliner, having promised “shock and awe” when he starts the job and describing current government policy on immigration as “national suicide.”
But beyond the hyperbole, how many migrants would Trump have to remove for it to be the biggest deportation the U.S. has ever seen?
Here is a look at the track record of the last three presidents — including Trump — on how many people have actually been deported:
Biden's $100 billion disaster aid request includes money to rebuild the collapsed Baltimore bridge
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:30
AP
President Joe Biden’s pending request for nearly $100 billion in emergency disaster aid includes money to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed under the impact of a massive container ship that lost power and veered off course in March.
Within hours of the disaster, Biden said the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort.” He visited Baltimore in the weeks that followed and reiterated his pledge of support.
Continue reading...
Watch: GOP senator says recess appointment of Gaetz ‘not even on the cards'
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:15
Oliver O'Connell
Sen. Thom Tillis says Trump recess appointing Matt Gaetz is “not even in the cards” if the Senate rejects his nomination. pic.twitter.com/4yQew892T2
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) November 19, 2024
Who’s who in Trump’s upcoming administration
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:00
Oliver O'Connell
President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, rewarding longtime loyalists and aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign and in his legal battles.
Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.
Full story: SpaceX aborts ‘chopstick’ catch of Starship rocket as Musk and Trump watch on
Tuesday 19 November 2024 22:45
Oliver O'Connell
If you listened to any of Trump’s rallies in the weeks before the election — and indeed (bizarrely) his victory speech — you’ll know that the “chopstick” catch is his favorite part.
Maybe they’ll pull it off next time.
In pictures: Trump joins Elon Musk to watch SpaceX test flight
Tuesday 19 November 2024 22:29
Oliver O'Connell
