November 12, 2024 - US election

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom met Tuesday at the White House with President Joe Biden, a source familiar told CNN.

The meeting comes as Newsom has sought to codify some of his state’s priorities on abortion and climate change ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, calling state lawmakers for a special session later this year.

NBC was first to report news of Tuesday’s meeting with Biden.

In addition, the source told CNN, Newsom met with senior adviser Steve Ricchetti at the White House Tuesday. The California Democrat is also expected to hold meetings with members of his state’s congressional delegation while in town this week, his office told CNN Monday.

Pete Hegseth is seen at Fox News Channel Studios on August 9, 2019 in New York City.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Pete Hegseth to serve as Secretary of Defense.

The co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend “is an Army veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, earning two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge,” according to his website.

Hegseth’s name had not been on the initial shortlist of possibilities for the Secretary of Defense position, according to a source familiar.

But Trump was struggling to land on a choice for the job and liked Hegseth from his last term when he briefly considered him for Veterans Affairs before being warned that he may not get confirmed, the source said.

CNN’s Kaitlin Collins contributed reporting. This post has been updated.

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

Sen. Rick Scott pointed to his endorsements and alignment with President-elect Donald Trump as well as his experience as a businessman during a preview of his final message for his colleagues just ahead of Wednesday’s Senate leadership election.

The majority leader hopeful said he is “very appreciative” of the endorsements he’s received from Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson, and that he would welcome the endorsement from the president-elect himself.

Scott reaffirmed his alignment with Trump’s agenda, suggesting that there is no “need” for a Department of Education and that it should be “disbanded.” He also echoed Trump’s criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell.

“Jay Powell has been a disaster,” Scott said. “He’s built up a balance sheet when he shouldn’t have done it. He’s caused an unbelievable misallocation of capital. He should have never had the job.”

Some context: Scott, seen as a long-shot candidate, is up against Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn in the battle to succeed Mitch McConnell. GOP senators will vote on the new majority leader by secret ballot tomorrow.

President-elect Donald Trump announced a flurry of key appointments Tuesday as his Cabinet begins to take shape.

Here are some of the picks:

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are gearing up for a secret-ballot election tomorrow to choose a new leader after the party flipped control of the chamber.

Here’s the latest:

GOP Rep. Chip Roy told CNN “it seems likely” that House Speaker Mike Johnson will face a challenge to his leadership bid on Wednesday.

“I guess we will find out tomorrow,” Roy said when asked who he is voting for.

House Republicans are holding their closed-door leadership elections on Wednesday where Johnson is expected to win, given he only needs a simple majority to hold onto his post. But if Johnson faces any opposition, it could signal he has work to do to get the 218 votes he needs on the floor in January given that Republicans will have a very narrow majority if they do in fact keep control of the House.

What Johnson is saying: Earlier on Tuesday, Johnson said he was confident that he will become speaker on the first ballot in January.

“I’m talking with everyone. Everybody has ideas on how to better improve our processes. And some of the frustrations that we had over the last year with the smallest margin in history with control of only one half of one-third of the federal government will not be our concerns going forward because we have unified government” Johnson said. “I think you’ll have total unity in the party, I really do.”

Roy said he has spoken with Johnson, calling him “a good friend,” and said that he wants to see how the speaker negotiates the rules package and handles the lame-duck session.

Asked whether he is worried about facing retribution from President-elect Donald Trump, who supports Johnson, Roy said, “whatever we do, it’s going to be to ensure that we can actually advance President Trump’s agenda.”

“So I’m sure the president, in the end, will be supportive of what we’re trying to do,” he added.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville is seen in Washington, DC, on September 14, 2023.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is up for reelection in 2026, told CNN he’s running for a second Senate term, putting to rest speculation that he wouldn’t run.

Tuberville added: “I want to find out what it’s like to be in the majority. When you’re in the minority, you just get kicked in the mouth every day, you know. And we’ve been kind of sat on the back bench. Now it’s time to take over, see what can be done with President (Donald) Trump.”

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

House Republicans will hold leadership elections tomorrow when Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to be reelected as leader. Some House conservatives are privately discussing whether to float a challenger to Johnson in the speaker’s race, but it would be a symbolic gesture of protest.

Any real fight would come in January when Johnson will need near-unanimity of the conference to keep his gavel.

Here’s what to expect:

Remember: It will be a secret ballot and Johnson needs a simple majority at this point to win.

Here’s what else the conference will vote on:

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is seen in Washington, DC, on April 18, 2023.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen John Ratcliffe to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

More on Ratcliffe: Ratcliffe had been high on the list of potential attorney general candidates, sources tell CNN.

He is currently a co-chair at the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-linked think tank.

The Texas conservative served as the Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021 — and his appointment served as a key argument for critics who believed that Trump was using the intelligence community to serve his political needs. During his tenure, Ratcliffe publicly released unverified information about Russia’s influence in the 2016 presidential election over the objection of members of the intelligence community. Critics claimed at the time that Ratcliffe was using intelligence to help Trump politically as the 2020 presidential election approached.

Ratcliffe stayed in his position during the 2020 election and presidential transition, during which he personally told Trump and his allies that there was no evidence of foreign election interference or widespread fraud. Years later, he was forced to testify about the experience to a federal grand jury as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election.

Bill McGinley is seen in 2007.

Veteran Republican lawyer Bill McGinley will serve as White House Counsel, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

More on McGinley: McGinley served as White House Cabinet Secretary during Trump’s first administration, and during this election he served as the Republican National Convention’s outside counsel for “election integrity.”

He is a well-known longtime political lawyer, having previously been a partner at two of Washington, DC’s most powerful law firms, the former lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggs and the conservative-leaning behemoth Jones Day. He’s also worked as a lawyer for the Republican party for years, and his current firm has a smaller but well-respected stable of political lawyers.

Trump’s choice of McGinley as White House counsel puts him in line with the credentials of past White House counsels, who typically have ample experience working with major political campaigns on compliance issues and other legal questions, while also having experience in private practice at large corporate defense firms.

This post was updated with more background on McGinley.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected his longtime friend and real estate developer Steve Witkoff to serve as Special Envoy to the Middle East in his administration.

Witkoff was golfing with Trump at his Florida golf club when a second assassination attempt occurred in September.

Witkoff is also a chair of Trump’s presidential inaugural committee.

Sen. Dick Durbin speaks during a hearing at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 11.

Those on the left calling for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down so that President Joe Biden might replace her before the new administration begins is not realistic, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said.

“Whoever makes those calls can’t count. Take a look at the calendar and tell me how in the world you can achieve that without setting aside the budget and the Defense Authorization Act and all the other things that need to be done,” Durbin, a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.

As far as other judges awaiting appointment from Biden, Durbin said that he expects more nominations will come through committee before the end of Congress.

Despite Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump for the presidency earlier this month, Durbin said that he was proud of the vice president and her campaign, and that Democrats now need to focus on the “fundamental issues” that cost them the election.

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, a Democrat who was just re-elected, said the party should have honed in on their economic message nationwide, noting that focus worked well for his campaign.

“There were places we did that, but it wasn’t universal across the country, and I think it always needs to be at the core of who we are as Democrats,” Heinrich told CNN, adding that means, specifically, an economic message to “non-college educated, hard-working Americans.”

This post has been updated with remarks from Sen. Martin Heinrich.

CNN’s Morgan Rimmer and Manu Raju contributed reporting.

A draft executive order under consideration by the Trump transition team would create a so-called “warrior board” comprised of retired military brass who would have the power to review and recommend the removals of three- or four-star officers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The proposed panel would be in line with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign vows to rid the military of what he has described as “woke” leaders if he were to be elected president.

A source has confirmed to CNN the existence of the proposal, but a transition official said that this proposal did not originate with the transition team. CNN has not independently reviewed the draft proposal.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, said in a statement: “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”

Two Democratic House members are poised to announce their respective campaigns for governor of New Jersey in the coming days.

Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer are set to join an already crowded field of candidates seeking to follow term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, a former Democratic National Committee finance chair.

Sherrill plans to announce on Monday and Gottheimer will enter in the “coming days” according to multiple sources with knowledge of their plans.

The 2025 gubernatorial contest in New Jersey is among the first scheduled statewide elections that will take place following last week’s presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris won the Garden State by more than 5 points against President-elect Donald Trump, down from Joe Biden’s nearly 16-point victory there four years ago.

The state has shown signs of becoming increasingly competitive during the Trump years. Murphy, a big favorite for reelection in 2021, barely hung on to hold off Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli by about 3 points — an early warning sign of Democratic weakness even in traditionally blue states.

The soon-to-be-announced gubernatorial campaigns were first reported by the New Jersey Globe.

“Both plan to announce their runs for governor in the coming days, ahead of the Annual NJ League of Municipalities gathering in Atlantic City,” a source with knowledge of both members’ plans told CNN.

The announcements fulfill longstanding ambitions of both Gottheimer and Sherrill to seek higher office. Both briefly mulled running for the US Senate last year during the fallout of a corruption scandal centered on former-Sen. Bob Menendez.

Both members are also centrists in the House Democratic caucus with experience running in battleground races. Sherrill is known in the House for her national security background while Gottheimer works closely with his GOP counterparts in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus he co-chairs.

In a sign of the fight to come over government funding, the Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Sen. Susan Collins, expressed her opposition to extending current government funding levels through the end of September.

Current government funding lapses in mid-December, giving congressional leaders and President-elect Donald Trump a choice on whether to finish this year’s business and give President Joe Biden a say, or punt the package until next year, when Trump is in power.

However, punting would force Trump to confront a messy spending fight in his first year in office.

Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN today that he and Trump would discuss how to handle the expiring funding package, but some members of his leadership team are pushing for a stop gap measure that extends current funding until mid-September. Collins opposes that push.

Collins is the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which “writes the legislation that allocates federal funds to the numerous government agencies, departments, and organizations on an annual basis,” according to the committee’s website.

Sens. John Thunee, Rick Scott and John Cornyn.

Wednesday’s Republican leadership race could take a while to unfold given its contentious nature and the belief by some GOP senators that the election could require multiple rounds of voting.

The candidates: Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas remain the front-runners in the secret ballot elections. Sen. Rick Scott has received outside endorsements from President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit.

The expected process:

Following the results of the Republican leadership race, the conference will move in order to vote for, GOP whip, conference chair, policy committee, conference vice chair and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

CNN’s Ted Barrett contributed to this reporting.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the US ambassador to Israel, previously argued there was “no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Huckabee, who has been a strong defender of Israel throughout his career, made the statement during his 2008 presidential campaign, asserting that Palestinian identity was “a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

In a video obtained by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski during Huckabee’s 2015 run for president, Huckabee suggested that if a Palestinian state were to be created, it should be in neighboring countries like Egypt, Syria, or Jordan, rather than within Israel’s borders.

In response to a question from one of the men about the possibility of a Palestinian state existing outside of Israel, Huckabee said he believed this was the preferable option.

“You have Arabs and Persians,” Huckabee continued at the 2008 appearance. “And there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

In the video, which was previously published by BuzzFeed, Huckabee added that he thought a Palestinian state could be made out of land in Egypt, Syria, or Jordan.

“My point is, if that’s the issue, if it’s real estate, if you look at a map, and say here is how much Israel has and here is how much the Arab states hold, there is plenty of land.”

CNN reached out to Huckabee and the Trump transition team for comment on whether Huckabee stands by his comments.

Rep. Mike Waltz attends the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 23 in New York City.

Florida Rep. Mike Waltz said he is “deeply honored” President-elect Donald Trump placed his trust in him to serve as his national security adviser and said that America will “keep its allies close” and will not back down from confronting adversaries.

More background: In the role, Waltz would have to navigate a number of geopolitical conflicts that Trump’s administration will assume as part of his second term, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars.

Waltz, a Trump loyalist, is a combat-decorated Green Beret who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. He would be the first former Green Beret to hold the role.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.

Sen. Rick Scott speaks to reporters following a cloture vote on the Kids Online Safety Act in the US Capitol Building on July 25 in Washington, DC.

Republican senators are privately voicing frustration with the onslaught of calls coming their way pressuring them to vote for Florida Sen. Rick Scott — a campaign pushed by MAGA influencers on social media.

Several Senate GOP sources said that the effort is backfiring, given that the races often come down to personal relationships and promises the candidates make to the members to advance their priorities or give them more prominent perches.

Despite the backing on the outside, Scott is seen as a long-shot candidate. Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn are seen as the favorites, but it’s hard to say who has the votes between the two of them since it’s a secret-ballot election.

Sen. Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on November 6, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated Republican victories in last week’s elections during his Senate floor remarks Tuesday afternoon.

Congress is back in session for the first time since discovering Republicans would take back the Senate majority next year.

CNN has not projected that Republicans will hold the House majority at this time.

However, McConnell warned that Senate Republicans cannot rest on their laurels, pointing out that they still needs to fund the government, pass the annual national defense policy bill, as well as approve relief for victims of natural disasters across the country.

“I hope to work with the new Senate Republican majority as we begin to clean up the messes left over the last four years. The first opportunities to work together are already upon us. The Senate has a great deal of outstanding business that we have to tackle in the coming weeks,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Democrats to reflect long and hard on what led to their losses this election cycle during his first remarks on the Senate floor since discovering they’d be in the minority next year.

He added that Democrats should view these results as a “challenge,” as they engage in some soul searching – and noted that after massive losses in 2004, Democrats bounced back, and they will again.

“The American people have presented us with a challenge, and we must answer the call. We have to look at what we did right, what we did wrong, and what we didn’t do but should have done,” he said.

“We’ll have these important and necessary conversations in due course. And everyone must have a seat at the table. We must be honest. We must be practical. And we must never abandon the roots that have defined the Democratic Party for generations,” he continued.

The majority leader also warned Republicans to focus on bipartisanship, and not get too caught up in the idea of the mandate that they won last week.

Taylor Budowich, a longtime adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, is expected to be named Deputy Chief of Staff of Presidential Personnel and Communications in coming days, a source familiar with matter tells CNN.

Budowich served as spokesperson for Trump post presidency before transitioning to the head of the Trump-aligned MAGA, Inc PAC. He joined the campaign in August as deputy campaign manager and travelled with the president daily.

The State Department has been receiving messages for President-elect Donald Trump from foreign governments — but the department has not been able to share them with Trump’s team, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Typically, the State Department facilitates the incoming calls and shares messages for the president-elect during a transition. Due to that routine practice, foreign governments are accustomed to reaching out to the department to share messages with the incoming team.

What’s the holdup? CNN has reported that Trump has not signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Biden administration to unlock transition activities with the government agencies. As a result, there is currently no working relationship between the State Department’s transition team and the Trump transition team.

Former Trump administration officials expressed no concern about those messages. They presume that the countries Trump wants to be in contact with right now already have ways to get messages to him.

The State Department is also not facilitating phone calls for Trump with world leaders. The agency, however, is keeping track of who calls, a State Department spokesperson said.

The State Department’s typical role enables the president-elect’s team to sync up with the US government resources, but it does not ensure that the calls are secure. Even when the State Department serves as the facilitator, the calls take place on an open line, according to sources familiar with the process. In order for the calls to be secure, both parties would have to have access to a secure phone.

More than a year into the Israel-Hamas conflict and on the heels of last week’s US presidential election, some of the families of US hostages captured by Hamas are turning to one man with renewed hope: President-elect Donald Trump.

Ruby Chen, whose son Itay was a 19-year-old soldier in the Israeli military when he was killed on October 7, is still waiting for the return of his son’s remains. Chen, along with family members of a handful of other dual US-Israeli hostages — some of whom have been confirmed dead — plan to meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House today.

Chen told CNN Tuesday that with Trump now poised to return to the White House for a second term, he is not alone in hoping that the next US president — who has famously marketed himself throughout his career as the ultimately dealmaker — might be able to accomplish what President Joe Biden has failed to thus far: securing the return of the American hostages.

Chen added that he would be glad to see a social media post from Trump about the hostages, which he would take as a serious indication of the president-elect’s dedication to the issue.

The families of the American hostages have had numerous meetings with top American officials from both parties throughout the course of the conflict. They have yet to meet with Trump or Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to Chen.

Vice President Kamala Harris returned to the White House campus Tuesday to thank staff for their work while telling a group of staffers gathered on the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, “We still have a lot of work to do.”

The vice president told her staff she was very grateful to each person, adding she was “sending you all my love and thanks,” before headed into the West Wing.

Lara Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 22 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Donald Trump has yet to officially name Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as his pick for secretary of state, but there’s already pressure on Florida’s governor to appoint the president-elect’s daughter-in-law to fill Rubio’s Senate seat if he is announced.

Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt floated the idea to Axios, touting Lara Trump’s “historic win” while co-chair of the Republican National Committee. Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a close ally of Trump, also posted on X that Lara Trump “needs to be the nominated replacement” by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Two sources close to DeSantis told CNN that DeSantis was aware of the interest in having Lara Trump fill the seat and that there was already a pressure campaign to force his hand. However, the sources were unsure if the Florida governor would ultimately acquiesce.

DeSantis and Trump: The president-elect and governor have maintained a fraught relationship that blew into a full-blown rivalry during the GOP presidential primary. While DeSantis helped fundraise for Trump over the summer, he didn’t make any appearances on the campaign trail, and the two were on opposite ends of a contentious ballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana in their shared home state.

During the summer, when Rubio made Trump’s shortlist for vice president, CNN reported that DeSantis’ chief of staff and former campaign manager James Uthmeier was at the top of his list for the seat.

Under Florida law, whoever DeSantis picks would remain in the US Senate until the next statewide election in 2026.

According to the US Constitution, a senator must “be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.” Lara and Eric Trump purchased a house in the tony south Florida community of Jupiter in 2021.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee moderates a roundtable discussion with Donald Trump at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center on October 29, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to serve as United States ambassador to Israel.

Huckabee’s daughter, current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, formerly served as Trump’s press secretary during his first administration.

Huckabee has been a strong defender of Israel throughout the course of his career — including what he says is the country’s claims to the West Bank.

His selection will come as a welcome culmination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long mission to shore up ties to American Evangelical Christians. He’s been a supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including laying a cornerstone for a new neighborhood in one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, just east of Jerusalem, in 2017.

He told CNN’s Oren Lieberman at the time that he rejected the use of the word “settlements.”

“I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria,” said Huckabee, using the Biblical terms for the West Bank. “There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”

This post has been updated with additional details about Huckabee’s background.

President-elect Donald Trump officially announced GOP Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser Tuesday afternoon in a statement.

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Trump added.

Waltz’s wife, Dr. Julia Nesheiwat, a combat veteran, formerly served as Homeland Security adviser during Trump’s first administration.

CNN reported yesterday that Trump had picked Waltz for the position, according to a source familiar. In the role, Waltz will have to navigate a number of geopolitical conflicts that Trump’s administration will assume as part of his second term, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars.

Read more about Waltz and the position here.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune is expected to highlight a few themes over the next day as he closes out his campaign for majority leader, a source familiar with the conversations tells CNN. GOP lawmakers will vote tomorrow in the Senate via secret ballot.

Thune and Texas Sen. John Cornyn remain the front-runners in the secret ballot elections, despite outside endorsements from President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit for Sen. Rick Scott. Separately, incoming new members told CNN today that they are undecided, seemingly making this a very open race.

Here’s what the South Dakotan is telling undecided members he will do:

Making his case: During an appearance on Fox Radio Tuesday, Thune argued that his experience in GOP leadership and his close ties with colleagues across the chamber make him the best candidate for leader and most prepared to implement Trump’s policy agenda. Notably, Cornyn has also served as whip and is a member of McConnell’s leadership team.

When asked about Trump’s push for the Senate to confirm his cabinet as quickly as possible, even if that includes recess appointments, Thune replied that they are going to do “whatever it takes to get the president’s nominees across the finish line.”

This post has been updated with additional information.

The mayor of the nation’s capital said that Washington, DC, is “prepared to welcome” the new Donald Trump administration and said that there will be a smooth transition in January.

Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city is preparing for the inauguration. She said her office has communicated with Trump’s team about the inauguration and planning about the event will continue over the next few months.

“We are proud to host such an event and work with the United States Secret Service and federal partners and welcome our federal Americans to come to Washington, DC, at that time,” she said at news

Bowser that she has worked with three different presidential administrations and lawmakers from both parties during her time in office. She said she intends to collaborate again to do what is in the best interest of the city.

“With the new administration, we will continue to uphold our vision for our city,” she said, adding that they welcome discussions with the incoming Trump administration about the federal workforce and buildings and parks that are on federal property in the district.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name a slate of deputy chiefs of staff in the coming days, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Among them are some of his top campaign advisers, including James Blair, Dan Scavino and Stephen Miller.

CNN previously reported Miller would be tapped to be White House deputy chief of staff of policy.

Hundreds of White House staffers cheered and applauded Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrived on campus on Tuesday, following her loss last week in the 2024 presidential election.

The White House confirmed to CNN that staffers had gathered outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to greet the vice president.

The vice president had come to the White House on Monday, an aide said, but Tuesday marked the first time Harris was coming to the White House post-Election Day with most White House and EEOB staff present — given that Monday was a federal holiday.

Harris is scheduled to have lunch with President Joe Biden Tuesday afternoon.

Incoming Republican senators, who are at the US Capitol today to attend new member orientation, are not saying who they will back in the race to replace longtime Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell — and several say they are still undecided.

Senator-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio told CNN that he will support someone “who is 100% on board with President (Donald) Trump’s agenda,” and “somebody who can bring the caucus together to advance that agenda and make sure they sequence it properly and everybody’s voice is heard.”

Moreno noted that he had had many conversations with each of the three candidates, Sens. John Thune, John Cornyn and Rick Scott, and that he’ll support one of them.

Several said that they are undecided, including Senator-elect John Curtis of Utah and Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia. Senator-elect Tim Sheehy of Montana would not say who he is backing, and neither would Dave McCormick, who said he is “just happy to be here for orientation.”

CNN has not projected a winner in McCormick’s race, but Senate Republicans have invited him to vote in their leadership elections, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted a photo of McCormick holding up his place card from orientation calling him “Senator-elect Dave McCormick.” Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey has not conceded in the race.

President-elect Donald Trump has converted his presidential campaign committee into a leadership PAC, a move that will allow him to continue to raise and spend funds for political purposes, even as he is constitutionally barred from running for president again.

According to new filings with the Federal Election Commission, Trump converted his principal campaign committee, “Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc.” into a leadership PAC called “Never Surrender, Inc.” on November 12.

Leadership PACs are flexible vehicles for political fundraising and spending. Federal candidates or federal officeholders can create them — in addition to a traditional campaign committee, or as a replacement for such a committee — and use them to raise money and direct those funds to allies or other political causes.

Unlike super PACs, however, leadership PACs cannot receive unlimited contributions from megadonors, and face more restrictions on their activities in elections.

“Never Surrender, Inc.” becomes the second leadership PAC that Trump now controls, joining the “Save America” leadership PAC that Trump formed shortly after the 2020 election. He used it to cover tens of millions of dollars in legal fees stemming from several criminal cases that he faced after leaving office.

Sen. John Cornyn, who is a candidate for majority leader, vowed to be a leader who would empower the rank-and-file to shape legislation, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.

In the letter, Cornyn lays out a list of practices he said he would adopt to let the Senate work its will on Trump’s agenda.

“In order to Make America Great Again, we must Make the Senate Work Again,” he told his colleagues.

Cornyn is running against Texas Republican Sen. John Thune and Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott. Earlier, Thune told reporters he is “feeling good” about the Senate leadership election tomorrow.

Oil giant ExxonMobil opposes President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, a company spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

“A second US exit from the Paris climate agreement will have profound implications for the United States’ efforts to reduce its own emissions and for international efforts to combat climate change,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson told CNN in a statement. “We advocate for policy that accounts for security, affordability, reliability and environmental stewardship — not drastic changes that could hinder the progress being made today.”

Leaving the Paris climate agreement again would create uncertainty, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in interviews at the United Nations climate summit in Azerbaijan. The oil giant was supportive of President Joe Biden’s 2021 decision to rejoin Paris.

Woods told the New York Times he thinks government should create incentives for fossil fuel companies to transition to clean energy.

“The government role is extremely important and one that they haven’t been successfully fulfilling, quite frankly,” he told the Times.

As CNN has reported Trump’s transition team is preparing to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement again — something Trump vowed to do on the campaign trail.

“I don’t think the stops and starts are the right thing for businesses,” Woods told the Wall Street Journal. “It is extremely inefficient. It creates a lot of uncertainty.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, joined by Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee Rep. Richard Hudson, House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer and House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, speaks during a news conference on the results of the 2024 election outside of the US Capitol Building on November 12 in Washington, DC.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to meet with House Republicans Wednesday when he is in Washington, DC, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday.

Johnson said the plans are tentative, but Trump expressed a desire to meet with House Republicans while he was in town for his meeting with President Joe Biden.

“President Trump is going to meet with President Biden at the White House. And so it was suggested, in fact, I think it was — he said it first before I did — but that he wanted to come and visit with House Republicans,” he said.

The meeting would be in the morning before Trump goes to the White House, Johnson said.

House races: Johnson also said he has spoken with Trump about the narrow margin the Republicans are likely to govern with in the House as the president-elect plucks members of Congress to serve in his administration.

Johnson was also adamant he has Trump’s support to remain speaker, insisting that the president-elect backs him and isn’t concerned about problems on the floor.

GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota told reporters he is “feeling good” about the Senate leadership election tomorrow.

The Republican senator is running against GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott.

The latter has received several MAGA-world endorsements. Thune didn’t answer when asked if those endorsements could cost him.

On Tuesday morning, Thune published an op-ed on Fox News’ website focused on his vision for the GOP’s new majority.

Thune argued that Republicans must prioritize backing President-elect Donald Trump’s border policies, bringing down prices, increasing domestic energy production, and passing tax legislation, as Trump’s 2017 tax law is set to expire next year.

“We have an ambitious agenda, and it will take all of us – each and every Republican – working together with President Trump’s leadership to achieve it,” added Thune. “If we don’t successfully execute on our mandate, we risk losing the coalition that swept Republicans into office up and down the ballot.”

While he acknowledged that he expects Senate Republicans will “have disagreements along the way,” he called on them to “listen to each other” and embrace their differences. “This Republican Party listens to our voters and celebrates the marketplace of ideas,” he added.

The US Capitol building is seen in Washington, DC on November 11.

Republicans have clinched the White House and flipped the Senate, but unified control for the GOP remains a question as votes in House races continue to be counted.

CNN has not yet projected a winner in 14 House races. As of Tuesday morning, there are an estimated 790,000 votes remain to be counted, mostly in California. The remaining states include Alaska, Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Oregon.

Republicans are three seats away from retaining the majority, while Democrats are 12 seats away from taking the chamber.

In this August 2020 photo, a person walks past the US Department of Education in Washington, DC.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to abolish the Department of Education.

On the campaign trail, he repeatedly pointed to the agency as a symbol of federal overreach into the everyday lives of American families.

In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, signed legislation making the Department of Education a Cabinet-level agency – fulfilling a campaign pledge he made to one of the country’s largest teachers’ unions, the National Education Association.

Previously, federal education programs were housed in other agencies. Trump has not said exactly how he would want to shut the department down – which would require an act of Congress – or what would happen to federally funded education programs if he did.

Read more about what the Department of Education does and how eliminating it could play out here.

Rep. Andy Kim speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago.

Rep. Andy Kim, New Jersey’s new Democratic senator-elect, told CNN that Democrats failed to respond to anxiety from voters who are concerned about government ineffectiveness.

Kim said while speaking with voters, he saw “just how much people were just feeling really unsettled about their lives. You know, they talk about it as, like, this deep anxiety.”

He also highlighted distrust in government as a key issue for the Democrats.

“I think that they were deeper — just distrust and a lot of problems that people are facing right now that just don’t feel like government right now is at all tackling that in any meaningful way. So it’s gonna, it’s gonna be a big effort to try to re-earn some of that trust,” he said.

He noted that while incumbency worked against Democrats, “there is something deeper, not just about this particular last four years, but just writ large, in terms of how the Democratic Party is engaging, and I think that that’s something that we need to sort out.”

Vice President Kamala Harris had a much tighter race in New Jersey than had been expected, though she still won the state.

Donald Trump attends his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 30.

Donald Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office have agreed to delay activity in the hush money case until November 19 to give the president-elect’s lawyers time to make new arguments on how his election victory impacts the case.

Judge Juan Merchan was expected to rule Tuesday on whether to overturn the business fraud conviction based on this summer’s Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

The judge granted the motion for the district attorney’s office to file its views on the appropriate steps going forward by 10 a.m. ET on November 19.

Trump’s attorney Emil Bove argued the charges should be dismissed.

“The stay, and dismissal, are necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern,” Bove wrote.

More about the case: Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush money payment to an adult-film star in 2016. On May 30, he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree by 12 jurors. Trump pleaded not guilty.

Merchan announced on September 6 that he would sentence Trump on November 26 — if necessary — saying that part of his reason for the delay was to avoid the appearance that the sentencing was intended to influence the November election.

This post has been updated with additional background on the Trump case.

Lights are on at the world headquarters of Goldman Sachs in New York on in January 2023.

John Rogers, the executive vice president and secretary to the board of directors at Goldman Sachs, is advising former and incoming first lady Melania Trump on staffing the East Wing for Donald Trump’s second term, according to two people briefed on the role.

Rogers is providing advice to Mrs. Trump in his personal capacity while still serving in his roles at the bank. The two have gotten to know each other through Rogers’ role as chairman of the White House Historical Association.

His role in advising staffing comes amid questions about how Melania Trump will build out her team. Compared to other modern first ladies, Trump’s first term employed a skeletal staff in the East Wing, with less than a dozen full-time staffers. Trump has also lamented aides deemed to be disloyal, including Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who secretly recorded the then-first lady expressing frustration at criticism for her husband’s policy of separating families at the US-Mexico border while also needing to perform traditional first lady roles.

“I was in the White House before. When you go in, you know exactly what to expect. You know what kind of people to get – that they are on your team, that they have the same vision as me and to serve me because they serve the country,” she said in a recent interview with Fox News.

President-elect Trump has long seen a curriculum vitae, including Goldman Sachs, as a gold standard for potential hires. Gary Cohn, once a president and chief operating officer at the bank, ran Trump’s economic policy during his first term. Dina Powell McCormick, a partner at the bank, served as deputy national security adviser before returning to the bank to run its relationships with sovereign wealth funds. Trump’s first Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, had worked at the bank for 17 years in various roles.

Semafor was first to report Rogers’s role.

In this September 2022 photo, lawyer Mark Paoletta walks with conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, not seen, to a room at the O'Neill House Office Building in Washington, DC.

Conservative lawyer Mark Paoletta, whom CNN has reported has been pitched to President-elect Donald Trump as a potential attorney general, said on Fox News on Tuesday that federal employees who do not support Trump’s agenda should leave government.

His words echo previous statements in a post on X Monday.

“Those employees who engage in so-called ‘resistance’ against the duly-elected President’s lawful agenda would be subverting American democracy,” Paoletta wrote.

Speaking to Fox, Paoletta also weighed in on the upcoming ruling by New York Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the hush money trial against Trump and will decide on Tuesday whether to grant the president-elect’s motion to dismiss his conviction in the case. Trump is citing the US Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity that limits what evidence can come before a jury.

“I think he (Merchan) should dismiss it today, yes, the Supreme Court had to step in and make a ruling that every American, every legal person understood that the president is immune. The president did nothing wrong, the left drummed up these, invented these crimes, and so hopefully it’s put to bed today,” Paoletta said.

Sen. John Cornyn walks to a vote in the Senate Chambers at the US Capitol on February 7, in Washington, DC.

Sen. John Cornyn, who is vying for GOP leader, told CNN in a brief hallway interview this morning that he is “excited for January” and has talked to President-elect Donald Trump “many times,” as recently as two days ago.

But Cornyn wouldn’t engage in whether he’s worried that Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, long seen as a long shot in this race, is getting a slew of MAGA-world endorsements.

“I’m not gonna do this in the press,” Cornyn said.

But the lobbying has already been in full force today as the GOP leader candidates plan to have a flurry of meetings with their colleagues — and later pitch the full Senate GOP at a closed-door meeting at 6 p.m. ET where each candidate will make his case ahead of the secret-ballot vote tomorrow.

There are plenty of senators who are still undecided.

Bernie Moreno, the incoming Ohio senator, told CNN he hasn’t made a decision on which candidate he will support. Says it’s one of “the most important decisions” he’ll make. And also said he would only serve two terms.

He met with Cornyn this morning.

This post has been updated with additional details.

(L-R:) Arizona Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Ruben Gallego walks offstage with his wife Sydney after speaking at an Arizona Democratic election night watch party on November 5 in Phoenix, Arizona. Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick arrives to speak during an election night watch party, on November 6 in Pittsburgh, PA.

According to a spokesperson from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, “Ruben Gallego and David McCormick have been invited to attend orientation,” which begins Tuesday.

Previously, Schumer’s office said that neither had been invited, as their races had not been called yet. CNN has still not projected if McCormick will defeat Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey.

Senate Republicans and Independents from across the political spectrum had called for McCormick to be included in new member orientation, with GOP Sen. Mike Lee insisting that he and several of his colleagues would escort McCormick into the building if necessary. They also invited McCormick to participate in GOP conference elections on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on "American Diplomacy for a New Era" at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Virginia, on October 30.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Brussels Tuesday as President-elect Donald Trump’s possible moves on support for Ukraine, NATO and tariffs raise serious questions and concerns among European officials.

The trip comes a week after the US presidential election and as European leaders brace for another four years of Trump. In the wake of the US election, European leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron pledged “a more united, stronger and more sovereign Europe,” even as governments like Germany’s Olaf Scholz are on the brink of collapse.

Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have cast strong doubts on continued US commitment to Kyiv as the war drags on more than two-and-half years after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion. Moreover, Trump has made comments that suggest the US could pressure Ukraine to accept an uneasy truce with Russia. During his campaign, Trump also indicated he would only adhere to NATO’s mutual defense commitment for countries who are contributing enough of their annual budgets to defense.

During the campaign, Trump said “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the US would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled telling that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

Lee Zeldin speaks at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum during a rally held by Republican presidential nominees in Uniondale, New York, on September 18.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the Environmental Protection Agency questioned the scope and severity of climate change in 2014 comments.

CNN asked Zeldin’s spokesperson whether he still holds those views, and whether he agrees with the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and a serious problem.

“Congressman Zeldin was an outspoken leader in the House advocating for clean air and clean water throughout his time in Congress,” Zeldin’s spokesperson Daniel Gall told CNN in a statement.

Under President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, tackling climate change has become one of the main charges of the EPA. The agency finalized several major rules that would make power plants, vehicles and oil and gas operations slash their planet-warming pollution that comes from burning coal, oil and gas. One of Zeldin’s first tasks will likely be starting the process to overturn several of those regulations.

Zeldin on Monday told Fox News that he will pull back “left-wing” regulations and focus on “unleashing economic prosperity” through the agency.

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on November 11.

Donald Trump is doing exactly what his sweeping election win entitled him to do by systematically building a governing team in his own hardline MAGA image.

What may end up as the modern age’s most right-wing West Wing will target Washington elites and undocumented migrants, seek to shred the regulatory state and tell the rest of the world that, from now on, it’s America First.

The shape of Trump’s second administration is emerging from his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he’s being feted by club members amid a circus atmosphere enlivened by the presence of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

Each of the president-elect’s new picks for top jobs has been enough to send shudders down liberals’ spines. And that was part of the point.

Given Trump’s unpredictability, no staff pick is ever certain until it’s official. And even then, many staff don’t last long.

But each selection or anticipated pick so far has one thing in common: Ultra-loyalty to Trump, especially during his indictment-strewn post-presidency. Each person is known for paying the kind of exaggerated homage in television interviews that the president-elect adores. A sense of betrayal often burned in Trump’s first term when members of government prioritized their oath to the Constitution over their fealty to him.

Read the full analysis.

Plenty of House Republicans are privately jockeying for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet. There’s one big problem: Speaker Mike Johnson can’t afford to lose their votes in the next Congress.

Trump on Monday named long-time loyalist New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador and asked Florida Rep. Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser.

At least a dozen more House members — including Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers and Transportation Chairman Sam Graves — have been discussed as other picks.

But even as the House GOP conference remains one of his strongest bases of support in Washington, the Trump team won’t be able to poach many more of those lawmakers without risking Johnson losing control of what could be another slim majority in 2025. CNN has not yet projected control of the chamber.

“We have a lot of talent. There’s a lot of people who would be really, really good at this stuff,” he said. But, he added, referring to the speaker: “You have to give Mike some room to operate.”

Read more about the potential challenges to choosing a Cabinet here.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the morning trading on November 7, in New York City.

Donald Trump is returning to the White House, and the stock market is loving it.

Investors, relieved to have a clear-cut election winner and fired up about the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation, have sent US stocks zooming higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 44,000 on Monday for the first time ever. The S&P 500 last week notched its best week of the year and third-best presidential election week since 1928.

Big bank stocks have spiked on hopes of a lighter regulatory touch. Private prison companies are going to the moon as investors bet that mass deportations will boost demand for their services. And the crypto space is on fire as Trump has gone from a bitcoin skeptic to a believer.

And yet the bond market has some concerns that Trump’s tax cuts could add trillions to the national debt and his massive tariffs and other policies could stoke inflation.

US Treasuries, sniffing out a potential Trump win, sold off in the weeks before Election Day. And bonds kept selling last week as the full scale of Trump’s victory sent shockwaves around the world.

Treasury rates, which move opposite prices, have spiked, causing mortgages and other debt to get even more expensive.

Read the full story here.

President elect Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at the PPG Paints Arena on November 4, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to completely remake the US government and wield new power as president.

The ambitious promises, if enacted, would transform society. Some of his most-repeated promises on the campaign trail include things like mass deportation, ending birthright citizenship, tariffs on foreign goods and reforming the country’s health and food systems with help from vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Here’s what some of the those promises could mean:

Read the full analysis of Trump’s plans for his second administration.

President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House already carried the potential for sweeping changes to the Federal Reserve. But now a growing question is not how the central bank will operate under Trump, but if it’ll continue to operate at all.

Elon Musk, a key Trump backer who is expected to have considerable sway in helping shape Trump’s policies, included a “100” emoji while resharing Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah’s post on X calling for abolishing the Fed.

“The Executive Branch should be under the direction of the president,” Lee wrote Thursday in the post, hours after Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters he wouldn’t resign if Trump asked him to.

Asked where Trump stands on the matter, Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CNN: “Policy should only be deemed official if it comes from President Trump directly.”

Calls to abolish the Fed are hardly new. Former congressman Ron Paul, who ran for president once as a Libertarian and twice as a Republican, published a book in 2009 titled “End the Fed.”

Then in June, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Lee introduced corresponding bills aimed at uprooting the nation’s central bank and shifting its responsibilities to the Treasury Department.

But thus far, Trump has not publicly voiced his support for dismantling the Fed. On the campaign trail, he has, however, advocated for changing the central bank’s rulebook, to the dismay of many economists.

Read more about challenges to the Fed’s independence.

Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum speaks during the final campaign rally for Donald Trump before election day at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 4.

Less than a week into the Trump transition — with some of the most critical personnel decisions still underway — the president-elect has elevated a new class of candidates: the czars.

Discussions about a future role for North Dakota governor-turned-Trump-ally Doug Burgum have evolved into that of an “energy czar,” according to two people familiar with the discussions, with a broad mandate to run an interagency process that advances President-elect Donald Trump’s energy agenda. CNN reported on Friday that Burgum was under consideration for a role as energy czar.

Burgum had been in contention for a Cabinet-level position, like running the department of Interior or Energy, CNN previously reported. But in recent days, those conversations distilled into a role that would give Burgum oversight of policy without being encumbered by tens of thousands of employees or labyrinthine processes.

It’s just the latest example of a prominent Trump contender discussing a role that operates in the sphere between the agencies and the incoming president, a bid to skirt bureaucratic processes and exert more power over their portfolios. It also means those candidates — not burdened by a lengthy Senate confirmation process — can launch their work on day one.

Some background: The term “czar” has come to refer to a political appointee with a specific problem to solve. President Barack Obama appointed more than two dozen officials with that title, often used informally, to tackle issues like how to close Guantanamo Bay, contain the spread of Ebola and account for the vast stimulus spending during the Great Recession. President Joe Biden, too, appointed czars to help manage the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain snarls that erupted as a result.

The Environmental Protection Agency just finalized one of the Biden administration’s only outstanding climate rules, aimed at cracking down on leaks of methane — a potent planet-warming gas with an outsized impact on the climate.

The rule, proposed nearly a year ago, was mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act, which could make it more difficult for the second Trump administration to dismantle.

The new rule charges high-emitting oil and gas producers a fee for wasting methane above a certain threshold by venting or flaring it into the atmosphere instead of capturing it. The methane fee will be charged by the federal government until the companies fix the leaks.

This fee was paired with financial incentives for oil and gas companies to fix leaky pipelines or infrastructure.

Some background: Methane is an odorless and invisible gas that has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. Methane is the main component of the gas that heats our homes and powers our stoves, and it’s one of the main byproducts of oil and gas drilling.

It’s also dramatically warming the planet. An international body of scientists has concluded that the concentration of methane in the atmosphere is higher now than any time in at least 800,000 years. It’s responsible for as much as a third of the global warming the planet has experienced so far, according to the EPA.

The rule could prove tricky for the incoming Trump administration to overturn because the program was included in Biden’s climate law, which passed Congress in 2022. Undoing it would take another act of Congress; while not impossible if Republicans take the House of Representatives, it could be an uphill climb and take longer than if the Trump administration were acting on its own.

President elect Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at McCamish Pavilion on October 28, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Donald Trump won’t be leading the United States until January. But the president-elect will have fingerprints over every piece of the lame-duck session of Congress.

A week after Election Day, lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill to the fast-approaching threat of a government shutdown — which will require a legislative fix — as well as to internal Republican Party leadership contests that Trump is already wielding influence over.

For now, it remains an open question what strategy House Speaker Mike Johnson will pursue for the funding fight. Trump and his team haven’t yet informed GOP leaders how he wants to proceed on those key issues, including the December 20 government spending deadline, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

While many Republicans would prefer Johnson strike a spending deal with Democrats during the lame-duck Congress, plenty of conservatives are urging the GOP to punt everything until Trump has the reins in 2025 — a fight that could complicate Johnson’s road to the speakership in January if Republicans hold the House.

Pushing the funding fight to next year would put Trump in position to have far greater say. But Republicans would risk a chaotic fight in Congress that could dominate the early days of Trump’s second term in office, leaving little time for the GOP to address other priorities.

If Republicans decide to punt on that sweeping spending package, it will cut into critical floor time, which the Senate will need to confirm Trump’s nominees next year, and could interfere with the GOP’s plans to pass a sweeping tax and economic package.

The funding fight isn’t the only outstanding issue for the end of the year. Congress faces a jam-packed to-do list of critical legislative items, including the annual defense policy bill.

Read more about Congress’ to-do list.

Republican lawmakers are vying to become the majority leader in the new GOP-controlled Senate. The leadership election is expected to take place on Wednesday and will be submitted via a secret ballot, meaning that senators can vote anonymously.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott — the long-shot candidate who is winning support of a handful of conservative senators and MAGA influencers — is jockeying for the job. But Scott is still a significant underdog, with GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas seen as the favorites.

Senate state of play: Late Monday night, CNN projected that Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will win the closely watched seat in Arizona, defeating Republican Kari Lake to become the state’s first Hispanic senator. Gallego will succeed retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a onetime Democrat who still caucuses with her former party.

Winning the US Senate majority is a victory for Republicans, who have been locked out of the majority in the chamber since 2021. With one race still to be declared — Pennsylvania — Republicans will have at least 52 seats in the chamber.

And in the House: While Republicans have clinched the White House and flipped the Senate, votes in House races are still being counted.

There are 14 House races that have not yet been projected, and we still do not know who will control the lower chamber of Congress. Republicans are three seats away from holding on to the majority, while Democrats are 12 seats away from taking the chamber.

President elect Donald Trump plays during the pro-am round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, New Jersey, on July 28, 2022.

As countries around the globe prepare for a second Donald Trump presidency, one world leader is teeing up a carefully calibrated diplomatic strategy.

In South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol “recently began practicing golf again for the first time in eight years, in preparation for ‘golf diplomacy’ with President-elect Trump,” the presidential office told CNN.

It said Yoon had done so “following the advice of those around him,” but declined to say when the president practiced golf.

Since winning the US election, Trump has maintained a frenetic schedule as world leaders call to congratulate and court the incoming US leader, with analysts watching to see who will clinch a first meeting.

And golf has long proved to be a reliable pathway to Trump. The game is the profit engine of his business empire: his golf courses and the companies associated with them rake in hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a CNN investigation in 2018.

Trump visited more golf courses than any recent president during his first year in office in 2017, spending weekends at his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia, sometimes bringing lawmakers or business leaders with him.

Indonesia’s new President Prabowo Subianto posted a video of his phone call congratulating Donald Trump on his reelection, during which the former special forces commander referenced his American “training” and called the US-president elect “sir” multiple times.

Prabowo, who is in Washington to meet President Joe Biden, posted the almost three-minute phone conversation on his official social media channels Monday.

“Wherever you are I’m willing to fly to congratulate you personally, sir,” Prabowo said in the video. Trump can be heard replying: “That’s so nice. We’ll do that anytime you want.”

The US president-elect said he was “proud” of Prabowo for doing a “great job” in Indonesia.

“All my training is American, sir,” Prabowo replied, in an apparent reference to the officer training he received in the United States in the 1980s.

It is not clear whether Prabowo will meet with Trump while he’s in the US.

Some background: Prabowo was banned from the US in 1998 after he was dismissed from the military over alleged human rights violations following the fall of the late dictator Suharto, his former father-in-law. The ban was later waived.

During the Cold War, Indonesia was a member of the US-led anti-Soviet bloc, a period that saw the Indonesian military carry out huge anti-communist purges and massacres.

In recent decades, Indonesia has adopted a foreign policy of non-alignment, which means it does not side with one bloc or power on global affairs. But the resource-rich nation, which has the world’s largest nickel reserves, is also seen as a big prize for influence in Asia.

Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, speaks during a watch party on election night, November 5, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego on Monday thanked Republicans who voted for him in the Arizona Senate race, saying, “they took a chance on me.”

Gallego will win Arizona’s US Senate seat, according to a projection from the CNN Decision Desk, beating GOP nominee and Trump ally Kari Lake to replace Kyrsten Sinema.

Asked what he’d fight against with a Republican White House and Senate majority, Gallego said:

On what lessons Democrats can take from his win and this election cycle, Gallego said:

Gallego, who will be the first Latino senator from Arizona, vowed to “fight to fix a broken immigration system and security” and to “lower costs on everything, gas, groceries, rent and more.” He promised to support veterans and defend abortion rights.