Latest Government appointments and nominations News

Trump names fossil fuel executive Chris Wright as energy secretary

Nov. 17, 2024 01:17 AM EST

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, to serve as energy secretary in his upcoming, second administration. CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas...

Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far

Nov. 16, 2024 20:00 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears...

Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

Nov. 15, 2024 09:11 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, delivering what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans said is a mandate to govern, an uneasy political question is emerging: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet even...

The last actions the Biden administration will take before Trump takes over the White House

Nov. 15, 2024 05:24 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration officials are working against the clock doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president's legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. “Let’s make every...

The Latest: Trump selects anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

Nov. 14, 2024 21:01 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin...

What are recess appointments and how could Trump use them to fill his Cabinet?

Nov. 14, 2024 20:10 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump moves to set up a more forceful presidency than in his first term, he is choosing loyalists for his Cabinet and considering a tool known as recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for even some of the most powerful positions in U.S....

What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz's nomination for attorney general

Nov. 14, 2024 15:41 PM EST

Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general has created a remarkable amount of hesitation from Republicans, who are otherwise inclined to follow Trump’s wishes. Gaetz is unpopular with many fellow House Republicans for his...

Gaetz pick shows value Trump places on loyalty — and retribution — as he returns to Washington

Nov. 14, 2024 05:50 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican's rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are...

Liberals pressure Senate Democrats to confirm more Biden judges while they can

Nov. 14, 2024 00:26 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Demand Justice, a progressive organization focused on the judiciary, is set to bombard Capitol Hill with a message for the closing weeks of the 118th Congress: Do “whatever it takes” to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees as a second Donald Trump presidency looms. ...

Trump issues early challenge to GOP Senate with defiant nominations

Nov. 14, 2024 00:18 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general....