November 17, 2024 - Trump transition news

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FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr testifies during a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, DC, in 2023.

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Brendan Carr to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

The selection of Carr, who has previously used his perch to defend the president-elect, comes after Trump said on at least 15 occasions that certain licenses should be revoked.

Current FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel hit back last month, saying that the federal agency “does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”

Carr authored an entire chapter of proposed changes to his agency in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s much-maligned blueprint for a second Trump term, which the president-elect had tried to distance himself from while campaigning.

Some background: Local stations are licensed by the FCC, which grants eight-year license terms and hasn’t denied any license renewal in decades. National networks such as CNN and CBS — which Trump particularly targeted during his campaign — are not licensed by the FCC.

A spokesperson for Donald Trump’s presidential transition team declined on Sunday to address reports that President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to use powerful long-range American weapons inside Russia.

In a statement to CNN, Trump communications director Steven Cheung said, “As President Trump has said on the campaign trail, he is the only person who can bring both sides together in order to negotiate peace, and work towards ending the war and stopping the killing.”

Cheung did not respond to questions about whether Trump or his incoming national security advisers had received advanced warning from the Biden administration about a decision that could have profound implications on the war between Ukraine and Russia.

However, Cheung appeared to push back against a report in a Russian state media outlet that quoted an unnamed transition official suggesting Trump could reconsider Biden’s latest action once he takes office.

“Only official statements on this matter will come directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople,” Cheung said.

People are seen outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, on June 29.

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of two people leading the incoming Trump administration’s plan to drastically reduce the scope of the federal government, named the Department of Defense, the Department of Education and “health care” as areas they will target.

Ramaswamy also hinted at the legal justifications the administration may use to carry out those cuts.

Ramaswamy said in a interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo Sunday that the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency, led by him and Elon Musk, will take its first steps to cut federal spending through executive action. He argued that recent rulings by the Supreme Court around the legality of federal regulations clear the path for sweeping cuts without congressional approval.

“We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright,” Ramaswamy said. “We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are over-billing the federal government.”

Ramaswamy repeatedly pointed to the Supreme Court as an avenue by which the Trump administration would likely see the proposed spending cuts approved.

President Joe Biden signs a proclamation designating November 17 as "International Conservation Day" in Manaus, Brazil, on Sunday, November 17.

President Joe Biden described the fight against climate change as a “defining” part of his presidency during a historic first presidential visit to the Amazon, warning future administrations that undoing it would risk depriving the world of its benefits.

Biden didn’t directly name President-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned whether climate change exists and vowed to reverse Biden policies on gas and oil exploration, but he delivered a clear message to the country as he prepares to make way for the Republican president-elect.

Biden made his pitch that countries do not have to choose between the environment and the economy: “We can do both.”

Biden delivered the remarks following an aerial tour of the Amazon rainforest and then a walking tour of a nearby nature preserve. During the trip, he announced millions of dollars in funding for Amazon and environmental conservation efforts, and signed a proclamation designating November 17 as International Conservation Day.

Trump’s Cabinet: In a sign of the changes coming with the next administration, Trump has chosen a fracking CEO, Chris Wright, to be his energy secretary, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a conservative with close ties with oil executives, as interior secretary.

Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, in February.

President-elect Donald Trump has been announcing his choices for key roles in the incoming administration as he prepares for a return to the White House.

On Saturday, Trump chose fracking executive Chris Wright to be the next secretary of energy, placing an oil company CEO at the forefront of the country’s energy policy. He also hired another one of his personal lawyers, tapping William Owen Scharf as White House staff secretary — a powerful position that helps control the flow of documents to and from the president.

In the days prior, Trump roiled Washington with several controversial picks, including vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the country’s top public health official and Democratic-congresswoman-turned Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.

Two of his would-be Cabinet members are facing particular scrutiny over past allegations. The House Ethics Committee is under pressure to release its report on sexual misconduct accusations against Trump’s choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz. And sources say Trump’s team was caught off guard by a 2017 sexual assault allegation against defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, who received little internal vetting. Hegseth’s lawyer said Saturday that he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, but denies the assault took place.

Other Trump selections — including longtime Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and his 2024 campaign architect Susie Wiles as chief of staff — have been considered more conventional.

Keep in mind: Most of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet are subject to Senate approval, though he is pushing Republican leaders to buck recent norms and allow him to bypass confirmation hearings through procedural means. It presents an early test of loyalty for GOP senators.

Here are more of the officials Trump has chosen so far.

In this handout photo from the US Army, an early version of an Army Tactical Missile System is tested December 14, 2021, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

When he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a Russia-Ukraine war with even higher stakes, after President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light to use US precision missiles to hit deeper inside Russia.

Biden’s move is quite provocative, and while Moscow is militarily weak now — and unlikely to seek full conflict with NATO or the US — at some point, the Kremlin will seek to restore its deterrence.

Moscow’s intelligence services have been blamed for the sabotage of civilian targets across Europe, including recent reports that explosive packages were planted on courier planes inside Europe.

The Biden administration had to weigh the value of longer range strikes by Ukraine against the potential for civilian collateral damage in NATO member states, if Russia felt obliged to somehow hit back.

The wider goal seems to have been to get the Biden administration to put more skin in the game of Ukraine’s war — to truly takes the gloves off. And it follows months of efforts by the US and its allies to ensure Ukraine has what it needs through the end of 2025 — a way to “Trump-proof” US security aid.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the war would not have started if he had been president. In July, he said he could settle the war in one day — without saying how he would do so. Throughout his campaign, the president-elect and his running mate, JD Vance, cast strong doubts on continued US commitment to Kyiv.

Read more analysis on Biden’s missile decision here.

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin said he would put aside his personal issues with former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, and “give him a fair shot.”

Mullin said he believed the Senate should have access to the House Ethics Committee report from the investigation into allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.” Mullin stopped short of saying whether the report should be released to the public.

“I believe the Senate should have access to that. Now, should it be released to the public or not? That I guess that will be part of the negotiations, but that should be definitely part of our decision-making,” he said.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Some context: Mullin is among several Republican lawmakers who have been public in the past about their disdain for Trump’s would-be attorney general.

In one video that has circled widely since Gaetz was named, Mullin told CNN’s Manu Raju that Gaetz showed videos on the House floor “of the girls that he had slept with.”

“He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night,” Mullin said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries arrives at a news conference in Washington, DC, on November 15.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday said the House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz should still be released following President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of Gaetz as his pick for US attorney general.

“You have repeatedly seen Senate Republicans make clear, who are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, or throughout that chamber, say, that they want access to all available information so they can make a decision about whether the nominee for attorney general is qualified to serve in that office,” he added.

Remember: The committee has been investigating allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use,” including sex with a minor, among other things. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.

Many of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet, including Gaetz, require Senate confirmation, presenting an early test of loyalty for GOP lawmakers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans have argued that because Gaetz stepped down from Congress shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Ethics Committee no longer has authority to investigate him and should not release its report. But some GOP lawmakers, including Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have withheld public support for Gaetz until more information about the allegations is made available to them.

Ruben Gallego speaks during an election night event in Phoenix on November 5.

Democratic Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego criticized his own party for their mishandling of Latino outreach, after President-elect Donald Trump made substantial gains with the demographic in the 2024 election.

Gallego, who has represented Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District since 2015, defeated Republican nominee Kari Lake by 2.3 points for the Senate seat. Trump, meanwhile, defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona by 5.5 points.

The 44-year-old Gallego pointed to his background — he and his three sisters were raised by their mother, who was a secretary, and Gallego later served in the Marines for 11 years — as why he has “a really good pulse of what’s happening” with working-class Latinos. Gallego’s mother is Colombian, and his father is Mexican.

The senator-elect pointed to concerns among Latinos regarding the economy and border security that he believes Democrats at the national level failed to fully account for.

Democratic Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin says that while she wants to meet with all of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks before making a decision, she has “a real problem” with selections who could be more “beholden” to the president-elect than to their role in the intelligence community.

Slotkin highlighted Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, as one of particular concern for her, but did not say how she would vote on any nominee.

“I want to meet with people … I still want the opportunity to have that conversation, because it’s written in the Constitution. That’s what we should be doing,” she said of the Senate confirmation process.

Slotkin also said she is hearing concerns from women serving as senior officers in the military, as well as women she has recommended to the service academies, over Trump’s defense secretary pick Peter Hegseth previously saying women should not be serving in combat roles.

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas says the message surrounding the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort needs to be “positive” if the Republican Party wants to maintain their majority in Congress.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to deport all undocumented immigrants has become a main topic of discussion as the framework for his administration is slowly being built out. The plan will affect the large population of migrant workers on farms who may not have citizenship.

“If we’re going after the guy that’s picking tomatoes or the nurse at the hospital and not the convicted criminal, then our government has failed us,” Gonzales said.

“We need to focus on the convicted criminal aliens — that keeps all Americans safe,” he added. “We need to put all our time, all our energy into that.”

Some context: While Trump has repeatedly vowed to deport people who entered the country illegally at a large scale, Republicans have said the effort will initially focus on removing those who have committed violent crimes and other serious offenses.

Latino voters were among the key voting blocs that swung for Republicans in the 2024 election and handed Trump the White House.

The president-elect’s victory has been attributed in large part to concerns over high consumer prices and the state of the economy — which could be impacted directly if key workforces are depleted by deportations.

President Joe Biden, in Marine One, takes part in an aerial tour of the Amazon during his visit to Manaus, Brazil, on November 17.

When President Joe Biden works to burnish his climate legacy in the Brazilian Amazon Sunday, the unspoken presence of President-elect Donald Trump will shadow his historic stop.

A sitting American president has never set foot in the rainforest, and Biden wants to use his presence in the important environment to bring attention to his efforts curbing carbon emissions and helping the world guard against global warming.

Among the items he’ll announce are tens of millions in US dollars directed toward preserving the Amazon, whose trees act as a sponge for massive amounts of carbon dioxide but which is being threatened by rapid deforestation.

And he’ll pledge billions to help nations bolster resilience against climate change.

Yet whether any of the money makes it out the door will now largely be up to Trump, who has dismissed climate change — and appointed a fracking industry executive to a key post in his new administration.

Trump has already vowed to withdraw again from the Paris climate accord, which Biden entered back into when he took office four years ago. He and his team have pledged to ease restrictions on oil and gas exploration that Biden put in place. And Trump has cast a deeply skeptical eye toward foreign assistance of the type Biden will announce Sunday.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the Amazon. Aside from its role absorbing planet-warming gasses, the rainforest accounts for a major portion of the world’s biodiversity and is home to indigenous populations.

California Sen.-elect Adam Schiff on Sunday asserted he won’t be intimidated by anything Donald Trump says, following the president-elect’s controversial remarks about his political adversaries during the campaign.

Trump suggested using the military to deal with “the enemy from within,” a term he later used in reference to Schiff and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California.

“Look, I’m not going to be intimidated by anything he says, by anything he does,” he added.

Remember: Schiff played a key role in Trump’s first impeachment trial, leading Democrats in making their case against the 45th president, and has emerged as a prominent voice in the party’s resistance to Trump’s agenda.

CNN’s Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

Migrants pass through razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on February 1.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump’s promise for broad-based tariffs would be a “balancing act,” and indicated he would look to a hardline immigration bill supported by House Republicans to move forward on immigration.

“We have legislation that we passed in the previous Congress, in this Congress, HR 2, that would be the most secure board of legislation ever passed,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” He added that he expected Trump would use executive authorities on immigration “beginning on day one,” and that legislation would follow.

Johnson also indicated that Trump’s promised mass deportation program would not include all undocumented immigrants in the country at first, and instead focus initially on violent criminals.

Johnson said he has been speaking with Trump about how best to deploy tariffs, taxes on foreign goods that economists warn would likely raise consumer prices in the US.

“It will be a balancing act, as it always is,” the speaker said.

When asked about Trump’s vow to eliminate taxes on tips, Johnson said it is “an important promise” but that they would have to make sure the math is there to carry it out.

More from the speaker: In a separate interview Sunday, Johnson told Fox News he expects to pass a short-term spending bill lasting into early 2025 to avert a government shutdown before a December 20 deadline.

Johnson also indicated he would be open to joining the Senate in recessing Congress in order to push through some of Trump’s cabinet nominees in a controversial procedure known as “recess appointments,” which Trump has called for.

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” the speaker did say he was sympathetic to arguments that the move could backfire on Republicans the next time Democrats are in power, however.

CNN’s Gregory Clary contributed to this report.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is pictured during an interview with CNN on November 17.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats should not “freak out” about everything President-elect Donald Trump does, while Republicans are able to operate with unified control in Washington.

He added that the bigger concern Democrats should be focused on is that Republicans will be able to “run the table” for at least the next two years with control of the House, Senate and presidency, plus a conservative-leaning Supreme Court.

Fetterman also weighed in on the incredibly tight race between Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick, which is headed to a recount. While provisional and mail ballots are still being counted, unofficial results show the race to be within the one-half of 1% margin to automatically trigger a recount under state law.

Speaking on the recount ongoing in his home state, Fetterman said, “Bob Casey has never claimed fraud.” He criticized elected Republicans and other conservatives for not claiming there was widespread cheating in the 2024 election, now that Trump won, in contrast to 2020 when he lost.

Fetterman said once the recount is finished, if Casey still comes up short of the votes needed to change the outcome, he “can almost guarantee that he’s going to do the right thing and concede.”

Democratic Sen.-elect Adam Schiff is pictured during an interview with CNN on November 17.

Democratic Sen.-elect Adam Schiff described former Rep. Matt Gaetz as being “disqualified” for the role of attorney general in an interview with CNN on Sunday morning.

“Are we really going to have an attorney general who there’s credible allegations he was involved in child sex-trafficking, potential illicit drug use, obstruction of an investigation? Who has no experience serving in the Justice Department, only being investigated by it,” Schiff said.

Gaetz is at the center of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations including “sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.” He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including on claims he had sex with a minor or paid for sex. The Department of Justice had separately pursued a yearslong sex-crimes investigation into Gaetz but ultimately decided last year not to pursue criminal charges against him.

Schiff told Tapper that Trump is appointing several cabinet picks as a test for Congress.

Schiff added that House Speaker Mike Johnson has been “tying himself into a pretzel to placate Donald Trump.” Speaking to Tapper earlier Sunday, Johnson stood by his push for the ethics report on Gaetz not to be released, while insisting that position was not due to pressure from Trump.

CNN’s Casey Gannon and Kaanita Iyer contributed reporting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pictured during an interview with CNN on November 17.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has not spoken with President-elect Donald Trump about the House Ethics Committee report on sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice for the next attorney general.

Johnson is pushing against the report’s release, after initially saying he did not have a role to play in the process, and CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed the speaker Sunday on whether that was due to pressure from Trump to squash the report.

Johnson called on the ethics panel to withhold the report shortly after returning from visiting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. The speaker argued against the report’s release, given that Gaetz has resigned and is no longer a sitting member of Congress.

“My understanding is that the report is not finished, it’s in a rough draft form, was not yet ready to be released, and since Matt Gaetz left the Congress, I don’t think it’s appropriate to do so,” Johnson said Sunday.

“I don’t think you want the House Ethics Committee investigating Jake Tapper or any other private citizen — you’re not a member of the institution,” the speaker added.

Some context: The Ethics Committee had been set to vote on releasing the report last week, prior to Trump’s announcement on Gaetz.

Democrats have since been pushing to make the report public, and some GOP senators have said they would like to see it before considering confirming Gaetz as attorney general.

There is some precedent for breaking from typical protocol and releasing an ethics report after a member has left Congress: The House committee did so in 1987 with a report on Rep. Bill Boner, and in 2011 the Senate committee did so with a report on Sen. John Ensign.

Watch Johnson’s interview below:

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Johnson tells Tapper why House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz should not be released

04:00 - Source: CNN

Then-Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves a closed-door House Republicans meeting at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 20, 2023.

Several House Republicans, who have come to know former Rep. Matt Gaetz well over the last several years, are ripping into Trump’s pick for attorney general, with Rep. Max Miller describing his past behavior as “abhorrent.”

Pressed on the allegations against Gaetz of sexual misconduct, Miller replied, “I put the allegations aside. He’s never going to get confirmed. I’m looking at him as a member of Congress and the job that he has done here, and it has been abhorrent.”

Despite saying Gaetz’s actions should be disqualifying for the position, Miller was clear he wouldn’t break with Trump over the decision.

What other Republicans had to say: Rep. Austin Scott, another House Republican who has criticized Gaetz in the past, said the former Florida congressman would not have been his choice, naming Rep. Trey Gowdy and former Rep. Doug Collins as potential alternatives. But, he added, “I’m not Donald Trump.”

“It wasn’t my decision to make,” Scott said.

Rep. Tony Gonzales was sarcastic in his evaluation of Gaetz, who campaigned for Gonzales’ primary challenger this cycle, prompting Gonzales to call him a “scumbag.”

“Matt’s kind of a quiet guy. We’re all still trying to get to know who he is, but soon enough, the American people will get to know who he is,” Gonzales quipped.

President-elect Donald Trump attends an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 16.

President-elect Donald Trump walked out for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night alongside an entourage of Republican allies and newly selected administration picks, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson, Elon Musk, and Tulsi Gabbard.

Trump entered the iconic New York City arena alongside UFC CEO Dana White, another ally, with Johnson directly between their shoulders, as Kid Rock’s “American Badass” blasted on the speakers.

“I wish the people at home could hear the sound in this room,” UFC commentator Joe Rogan said. “It is so loud.”

Kid Rock, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also walked out behind the president-elect.

Trump lifted his fist up in the air and waved toward the spectators after walking down toward his seat, greeting people along the way. He gave a warm embrace to Rogan, the influential podcast host who endorsed Trump shortly before the election.

Trump’s trip to his hometown marked a return to the iconic venue where he held a campaign rally less than two weeks before Election Day. That late October rally proved controversial — particularly when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

At the time, the remark seemed like it could damage Trump’s chances of victory, particularly because the critical swing state of Pennsylvania has a large and fast-growing Puerto Rican population. However, CNN’s exit polls showed Trump bested Vice President Kamala Harris with Latino men nationally, and he won the Keystone State.

CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed to this report.