November 10, 2024, election and Trump transition news

Our live coverage of the 2024 election and Trump’s presidential transition has moved here.

Elise Stefanik speaks at a campaign rally in Madison Square Garden, New York on October 27.

President-elect Donald Trump has just offered New York Rep. Elise Stefanik the job of US ambassador to the United Nations, two sources familiar told CNN.

Stefanik, the fourth-ranking House Republican, has been a strong ally of the president-elect and a major fundraiser for the GOP.

CNN reported Thursday that Stefanik, who is the House GOP Conference chair, met with the transition team about the prospect of the UN role.

CNN has reached out to Stefanik for comment.

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton from Massachusetts said on Sunday that he stood by his opinion on transgender athletes, saying that Democrats are out of touch with majority of Americans.

Moulton, who recently won his reelection bid unopposed, told New York Times that the Democratic party should shift its approach to transgender issues, and that as a parent, he does not want his daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.”

“I was just speaking authentically as a parent about one of many issues where Democrats are just out of touch with the majority of Americans and I stand by my position, even though I may not have used exactly the right words,” Moulton told CNN.

During the interview with CNN, Moulton said that he’s not an expert on this issue but is willing to engage in thoughtful debate.

“I think that there are some reasonable questions about what’s fair from a competitiveness perspective and also what’s safe at those levels,” Moulton added.

“The Republicans are banning both books. Democrats are banning debate. And if we don’t have this debate now and come up with a winning strategy going forward, then the Republicans are gonna wipe the floor with us in January just like they did last Tuesday.”

The Mar-a-Lago estate of President-elect Donald Trump is pictured on November 8, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mar-a-Lago is the epicenter of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition, and everyone from foreign leaders, contractors and those seeking a job in the administration, have descended on Palm Beach, Florida.

People are filling hotels and seeking rental properties for the next three months to get as much face-time with Trump and his top advisers as possible, as the administration and its priorities begin to take shape.

Members of Trump’s other properties throughout the country that normally get reciprocity to attend the clubs, but don’t for Mar-a-Lago, have reached out to the property’s management begging to get access to the club. And some Mar-a-Lago members have been offered money to be taken to the club as a guest from those seeking to rub elbows with Trump, three sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

Currently there are no restrictions on who members can bring as guests and outsiders are trying to take advantage of that while it still holds. “I don’t even know what member I went in with,” one source who visited Mar-a-Lago with several former administration officials said of a trip to the club last week.

Advisers insist that this time around Trump’s transition is much more orderly, and by all accounts, the transition itself has steered clear of the chaos. Trump tapping Susie Wiles as chief-of-staff signaled to those around Trump’s orbit that there was a grown up running the show.

Trump advisers have held formal meetings with the transition team and the president-elect during the day at the resort, presenting him with thought out plans for policy and personnel. But the circus begins after dark, when members and guests line the hallways to greet the president-elect and often, former first lady Melania Trump, as they walk to their known patio table for dinner.

While Trump has a US Secret Service detail, a bodyman and his own entourage, he often stops and engages with members and guests, shaking hands and thanking them for being at the club. Trump’s table is roped off but it often doesn’t stop people from visiting the president-elect during dinner or trying to stop him in transit.

Some members and guests, including those who have their sites on administration posts, have been seen having pull-aside talks with the president-elect, although advisers insist that everything is going through the proper channels.

Elon Musk joins Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5.

Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club has been brimming in the last 48 hours with two kinds of people: those angling for a job in the president-elect’s incoming administration, and those trying to influence him into hiring their picks for the top spots.

But the one person who has loomed over it all and has exerted a great deal of influence is Elon Musk, according to multiple sources. The billionaire has been seen at Mar-a-Lago almost every single day since Trump won the election, dining with him on the patio some evenings and hanging out with his family Sunday at the golf course.

Musk has been in the room when multiple world leaders have phoned Trump and he’s weighed in on staffing decisions, with the SpaceX and Tesla CEO even making clear his preference for certain roles.

On Sunday, Musk waded into the Senate leadership fight in the GOP, endorsing Florida Sen. Rick Scott after he swiftly endorsed Trump’s demand that anyone vying to be leader “must agree to Recess Appointments” to get his nominees “confirmed in a timely manner.”

Musk is not only close to Trump but also with his transition co-chair, Howard Lutnick, who is leading the personnel side of the transition.

While Musk himself is still not formally expected to take a position in Trump’s administration, he doesn’t really need to, one source commented, noting he’s having just as much influence from the outside.

Tom Homan speaks at the Columbiana County Lincoln Day Dinner in Salem, Ohio, on March 15.

Donald Trump is expected to announce in the coming days that he’s bringing back Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in his last administration.

Homan is expected to serve in a czar-like role, though the details are still being finalized and could change, sources familiar with the plan told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Homan for comment.

In a recent interview on 60 Minutes, Homan argued that “families could be deported together” when asked about Trump’s pledge to carry about mass deportations immediately upon entering office. He also argued that that effort would be targeted, though exact plans for how it would be carried out — and how much it would cost — remain to be seen.

“It’s not going to be a mass sweep of neighborhoods. It’s not going to be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous,” Homan told the program.

In a sign of his influence in Trump’s orbit, Homan spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.

“I got a message to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Biden has released into our country in violation of federal law: you better start packing now,” Homan said from the stage in Milwaukee. “You’re damn right.”

Laredo, Texas, Mayor Dr. Victor D. Trevino told CNN that President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportation will have a devastating impact on the economy if the incoming administration follows through.

“We have to understand that it can’t be done in that fashion. Mass deportations would actually devastate our economy, it wouldn’t probably be a functional way to do things,” Trevino said, adding, “Although, I think the reform is something that has to come about.”

Trevino said that it’s unreasonable to get “rid of all these people that are filling jobs that are functional for the country — we just have to understand that, that this doesn’t work that way.” He said it’s better to talk about more stringent immigration reform, better immigration reform, but mass deportations are not a practical way of going about it.

More on Trump’s immigration policy: Trump’s most aggressive promise is the rounding up and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump is expected to come into office with a series of executive orders already written to reinstate border policies unwound by the Biden administration. Trump’s adviser Stephen Miller said on Fox News to expect deportations to begin the moment Trump is again president on January 20, 2025.

Yadira Caraveo speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2023.

Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo has conceded the race in her reelection bid for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, with GOP state Rep. Gabe Evans flipping the seat for Republicans.

“Thank you to my family, volunteers, staff and supporters who believed in this campaign. While this isn’t the outcome we hoped for, the work is not over,” Caraveo wrote in a post on X Sunday.

Evans, an Army veteran and former police officer, leaned on his background as he attempted to paint Caraveo as a “soft-on-crime” liberal. Caraveo, a freshman representative, ran as a moderate willing to buck her own party on immigration — including by voting on a resolution “strongly condemning” the Biden administration’s handling of the US southern border.

The district, which includes Denver’s suburbs, was among the country’s most competitive races.

Where things stand: There are 16 House contests that have not yet been projected, and we still do not know for certain who will control the lower chamber of Congress.

Republicans are now four seats away from holding on to the majority, while Democrats are 13 seats away from taking the chamber.

After saying little about this week’s Senate majority leader election, President-elect Donald Trump is demanding a new form of presidential power to expedite the appointment of his Cabinet.

The president’s demand for “recess appointments” — appointments made by a president when the Senate is out of session, allowing the nominees to essentially bypass Congress — is now positioned as a defining issue in the battle to lead the Senate GOP.

Key context: Trump’s demand resurfaces a decades-old clash between presidents and leaders on Capitol Hill. Recess appointments were once controversial, last-ditch efforts for presidents to install their nominees after facing long confirmation odds in the Senate.

Through a practice used by majority leaders from both parties, the Senate has typically blocked recess appointments by procedural means, holding “pro forma” sessions when senators leave town to avoid a recess long enough to circumvent the legislature.

The Supreme Court weighed in on the issue back in 2014, siding with Congress, and the practice has continued since.

If the incoming Senate GOP leader did vow to allow recess appointments, it would be a notable expansion of presidential power, even for a leader in the same party as the president. In past decades, senators of both parties have been skeptical of the practice.

What leadership candidates are saying: So far, at least one Republican seeking to lead the Senate GOP conference has endorsed the idea. GOP Sen. Rick Scott said in a post on X: “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”

CNN has reached out to Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn, existing members of GOP leadership, who are also running to be leader.

CNN’s Ted Barrett and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania's Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick speaks to supporters in Pittsburgh on November 6.

Republican senators are insisting that the party’s Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, be invited to the chamber’s orientation next week, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet extended the offer.

CNN has not yet made a projection in the race, and the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Bob Casey, has not conceded.

Several of the key candidates for GOP leader have weighed in. Senate Minority Whip John Thune said in a post on X that it would be “unacceptable” to bar McCormick from participating in orientation, and Sen. Rick Scott said it was a “disgusting” move from the majority leader. Sen. John Cornyn called on Casey to concede, and reposted Sen. Mike Lee’s call for Schumer to allow McCormick into orientation.

A Schumer spokesperson says in a new statement that the majority leader is following standard procedures for close races by not allowing McCormick to attend until the outcome of the race is certain.

“With over 100,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, the race has not been decided. As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted,” the spokesperson said.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego has also not been invited to orientation, despite leading in Arizona’s Senate race, as it has not yet been called either.

The Capitol is seen in Washington, DC, on November 10.

While Republicans have clinched the White House and flipped the Senate, unified GOP control of the federal government remains in question, as votes in key races for the House of Representatives are still being counted.

There are 16 House contests that have not yet been projected, and we still do not know for certain who will control the lower chamber of Congress. Republicans are four seats away from holding on to the majority, while Democrats are 13 seats away from taking the chamber.

As we wait for the final calls, here’s what lawmakers have been saying today:

Incoming Republican majority: Republicans are preparing for Wednesday’s secret-ballot election to determine the new Senate majority leader. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is considered a long-shot leadership candidate, is winning support from a handful of conservative senators and MAGA influencers, including Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson. Scott is still a significant underdog, with Sen. John Cornyn and GOP Whip John Thune seen as the clear favorites.

Democrats take stock: Speaking on Sunday morning, Democrats have identified areas where they believe their party’s presidential campaign fell short. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said Democrats lacked a compelling economic vision and urged the party to unify behind issues like child care, factory development and the minimum wage. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the party, doubled down on his stance that Democrats have “abandoned working class people.” And Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who mounted an unsuccessful primary bid against President Joe Biden, said neither major US political party is “serving American interests right now.”

Trump transition: President Joe Biden will advocate for continued support to Ukraine — along with his views on other top domestic and foreign policy issues — when he meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, his national security adviser said.

Meanwhile, Trump’s transition team continues the process of vetting people for key positions in the new administration. Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is among the attorney general candidates, sources tell CNN. GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who has called for immediately cutting aid to Ukraine, is under consideration for several posts.

This post has been updated to reflect the latest totals in the race for control of the House.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16.

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the long-shot candidate for Senate majority leader, is winning support from a handful of conservative lawmakers and MAGA influencers ahead of Wednesday’s secret-ballot election.

Elon Musk became the latest prominent figure in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit to throw his support behind the Florida senator, writing, “Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader!” in a post on X Sunday.

Over the weekend, far-right media personality Tucker Carlson and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy announced they’d back Scott — and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested he backed him as well.

“Without Rick Scott, the entire Trump reform agenda (is) wobbly,” RFK Jr. wrote in a post on X.

Several GOP senators have also announced their support, including Rand Paul, Bill Hagerty and fellow Floridian Marco Rubio.

Scott is still a significant underdog, with Sen. John Cornyn and GOP Whip John Thune seen as the clear favorites. Thune has the backing of GOP Sens. Markwayne Mulllin, Mike Rounds and Steve Daines. Cornyn won the support of GOP Sen. Josh Hawley this weekend.

But most senators have not made their positions known, and Trump has so far stayed quiet on his choice.

This post has been updated to reflect that Elon Musk added his backing for Scott.

Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6.

Much of the federal workforce is on edge and bracing itself for the likelihood its ranks will be purged when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Trump’s loyalist vision is already having a profound chilling effect on career employees, some of whom told CNN they plan to stay into the new year, but don’t know what’s next beyond that.

“I would say there is a general feeling of dread among everyone,” one Energy Department employee told CNN.

Trump’s purge could be the biggest change to the federal workforce since the late 1800s, returning the federal government to the “spoils system” of 1883, when victorious political parties gave government jobs to their supporters, said Max Stier, the president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service. The spoils system was replaced by the current merit-based system, where career employees serve multiple administrations and carry out their jobs largely independently of politics.

Some federal workers and their unions are also warily eyeing Trump’s proposal for a government efficiency commission that would be headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who has pushed for such a task force and promised it could slash $2 trillion in government spending.

Read more about how Trump could overhaul the federal government here.

Donald Trump holds a press conference from inside a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 30.

Americans heard starkly different messages about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the final days of the 2024 election, according to The Breakthrough, a CNN polling project that tracked what average Americans actually heard, read and saw about the presidential nominees throughout the general election campaign.

In the final pre-election survey, fielded from November 1 through 4, the single word most associated with Trump’s winning campaign was “garbage.” That incorporated references to several stories: the racist joke about Puerto Rico told by a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, the former president’s own comment that the US was “like a garbage can for the world” and Trump’s seizing of a garbled remark from President Joe Biden to hold a news conference from inside a garbage truck while wearing a yellow safety vest and then rallying in the same attire with supporters.

The most common words used about the final days of the Harris campaign were, by contrast, remarkably generic: “campaign,” “rally” and “ad.”

The Breakthrough project also tracked the sentiment of survey responses — that is, not the feelings Americans expressed about the candidates personally, but whether the terms and tone they used to frame what they’d heard tended to be more positive or negative.

In the first months after Harris entered the race, her sentiment score was more positive than Trump’s, the poll found.

But that distinction largely faded in the last month of the campaign. Although Harris saw a small uptick in the final week before Election Day, sentiment scores for both candidates remained well under water.

Read more about what Americans heard here.

Rep. Ro Khanna waits to address a group in Dearborn, Michigan, on February 22.

The Democratic Party did not have “a compelling enough economic vision” this election cycle, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said Sunday, urging the party to unify behind issues like child care, factory development and the minimum wage to win future elections.

Khanna, who is the deputy whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, handily won reelection in California’s 17th district, which encompasses a portion of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Despite losses for Democrats, Khanna expressed hope for his party’s chances in future elections, saying Democrats “have the substance” when it comes to economic policies.

“You can’t build new factories just with tariffs and tax cuts. You need federal financing,” he said, referencing President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to place 60% tariffs on goods from China.

“We have actual investment in apprenticeships, and I think over the long-run the American people will see the truth of the policy ideas,” Khanna said.

CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Republican Rep. Jim Jordan on why he no longer believes there was fraud in the 2024 election, despite baselessly claiming there was widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, when Donald Trump lost.

Speaking on “State of the Union,” Jordan pivoted back to discussing policy differences between Republicans and Democrats, before Bash again asked about the change in the GOP’s election integrity claims when the party wins, rather than loses.

Watch the exchange below:

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Dana Bash presses Jim Jordan on why GOP dropped election fraud claims once Trump won

03:30 - Source: CNN

Sen. Rick Scott speaks during a press conference on September 11 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida says his skills at bipartisan negotiations make him a good fit for Senate majority leader, telling Fox News on Sunday that he could help find “common ground” among legislators in the upper chamber.

Republicans are set to hold an election for the position Wednesday. Other candidates eyeing the leadership are Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

Remember: Scott is coming off a successful bid for a second term in Florida — an election that helped demonstrate the GOP’s strength in a state that was once one of the country’s top battlegrounds.

Scott, a former health care executive and one of the country’s wealthiest elected officials, unsuccessfully challenged Mitch McConnell for his leadership position in 2022. But the Florida senator’s odds of succeeding McConnell this time could benefit from his close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

CNN’s Steve Contorno contributed to this report.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden will share his commitment to a “peaceful transfer of power” and a “responsible handoff” when he meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, sharing his views on top domestic and foreign policy issues, a key Biden adviser said.

Biden will also take an active role in making the case for the future of Ukraine aid in his final days in office, as Trump has cast significant doubt on the future of support for the war-torn country. Sullivan indicated Biden could frame that advocacy as a broader argument for US commitment to its allies.

The Biden administration is expected to spend the remainder of the aid and resources authorized by Congress by January 20 when Trump takes office, but Biden will also call for “ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term,” Sullivan said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks in Concord, New Hampshire on October 22.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont doubled down on his stance that Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election because Democrats have “abandoned working class people.”

Sanders’ remarks come after the senator, who caucuses with the Democrats, issued a statement Wednesday slamming the party for having “abandoned working class people,” and pointing to an increase in income and wealth inequality as a prominent issue among US citizens.

“Parents all over this country worry that their kids may have a lower standard of living than they do. That is the economic reality,” said Sanders, who has won a fourth term in the Senate.

Regarding a shift in support from Latino voters, Sanders said President-elect Donald Trump had been effective “in claiming that Democrats do nothing more than the woke agenda.” He said Democrats should focus on raising the minimum wage, building affordable housing and expanding Social Security to better resonate with the Latino community and working class Americans at large.

Watch a portion of Sanders’ interview below:

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'It's not messaging:' Bernie Sanders on what went wrong for Dems

04:08 - Source: CNN

Rep. Dean Phillips attends a House hearing on March 19 in Washington, DC.

Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who mounted an unsuccessful primary bid against President Joe Biden, told “Fox News Sunday” that neither major US political party is “serving American interests right now.”

The congressman, who ended the long-shot presidential bid in March, did not run for reelection in Congress. He expressed his frustration that the Republican and Democratic parties have not adequately addressed issues with immigration and health care that center-right and left voters — who he labeled the “exhausted majority” — care about.

Phillips said Vice President Kamala Harris’ negative messaging about President-elect Donald Trump was one of the reasons for her campaign’s failure last Tuesday.

“We’ve used condemnation of Donald Trump versus invitation to Donald Trump supporters,” Phillips said. “I’ve never known any industry — political or professional — in which a strategy of condemnation works better than invitation.”

As he gets ready to depart his congressional post, Phillips charged his Democratic and Republican colleagues to undertake some “soul-searching” in order “to prioritize problem-solving and demonstrate that democracy still works.”