Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister either withdrew or had his intended nomination as DEA administrator pulled by Trump after facing backlash for enforcing Florida’s pandemic prohibition on public gatherings against a mega pastor who ignored the law at the height of the pre-vaccine pandemic, reports Associated Press. He was also criticized for 2023 video statement in which he spoke of the “rich diversity” of his community and called it “a place…
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Outgoing President Biden’s pardon of his son on convictions arising from taxes and lying on a firearms form raised fears of Trump using the pardons as precedent to carry out his own unorthodox pardons as he did during his previous term. Trump has already suggested he might pardon January 6 participants. Biden is not the first president to pardon family members, but he had previously pledged not to do it.…
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Trump’s transition team reportedly discuss using recess appointments to skip the Senate confirmation process. If the Senate is in recess, the constitution allows a president to fill vacant positions for up to two years. Trump’s team is said to have discussed forcing the senate into recess through a never before used provision of the constitution. Conservative justices previously rejected an Obama recess appointment. That decision may interfere with Trump’s plans.
President Elect Trump nominated election denier Kash Patel as head of FBI. AP reports that Patel has vowed that, “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections…”. Patel has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s opponents, including the FBI. AP says Patel appeared in an interview earlier this year where he “vowed to sever the FBI’s…
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Mar-O-Lago to dine with President-elect Trump after Trump promised 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada, per AP and other sources. There were several nominees for various cabinet and administration positions at the dinner along with their wives as well as other politicians and Trudeau’s chief of staff. Trump previously said the Tariff’s would go into place unless Canada and Mexico staunched the flow…
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Rolling Stone reports that Trump and insiders are discussing plans to invade Mexico to attack cartels or Asante cartel leaders. According to Rolling Stone, a senior Trump transition team member said the question is “How much to invade Mexico?” RS reports that the idea has been endorsed by a wide range of key future administration insiders and other politicians. Even Senator Rudio endorsed on condition that Mexico approves of the…
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National Institute of Health will be led by a doctor who advocated for letting Covid spread instead of locking down. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has been nominated for the role which directs the nation’s medical research. He has advocated for so-called “herd immunity” before Covid vaccines were developed. The World Health Organization condemned the proposal saying using such a strategy in humans against a not well-understood virus was dangerous and unethical.…
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In an unprecedented historical move, special prosecutor Jack Smith requested dismissal of federal felony charges against president elect Donald Trump. The incoming president was indicted by multiple grand juries both for his involvement in the January 6 attack on the capital and for his handling of highly classified documents he took with him when he left office. Trump now faces no criminal charges for those alleged crimes. Smith cited the…
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Possible sex trafficker Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as Trump’s intended attorney general nominee after the senate indicated it would not support him. From the Washington Post: “Gaetz has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl, violating sex-trafficking laws and using illegal drugs. These allegations resulted in two separate investigations — one by the Justice Department and one by the House Ethics Committee. When Gaetz resigned…
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Trump will nominate WWE owner Linda MacMahon as education secretary. She believes in charter schools and school choice. AP suggests she may help Trump shutter the Department of Education, one of his campaign promises, which would presumably end her position as its head. McMahon once incorrectly claimed to have an education degree in connection with serving briefly on the Connecticut Board of Education. She has been involved in Trump world…
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TV’s Dr. Oz will be pushing the same health cures to the nation that he pushed to his fans. As the newly nominated administrator for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Setvices, he will oversea delivery of a trillion dollars in medical services to millions of older Americans. He has promised to base medical treatments on unbiased science. Dr. Oz has been accused of pushing misleading, science-free and unproven alternative therapies…
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Project 2025 contributor Brendan Carr has criticised the media for silencing conservative voices. He is now being nominated to head the Federal Communications Commission. Trump has regularly stated his intent to punish and delicense media that treats him in a way he disapproves. By free speech, Trump appears to mean unchallenged misinformation and no disagreement with he or his policies. Is Carr the man who will end independent press in…
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So far, the incoming president’s selection of cabinet and advisor positions has stunned many observers, some of whom feel many of the picks are unqualified and others are way too extreme. The BBC has a summary of the current state of the picks which includes links to articles filling in some of the details of the controversies surrounding them. Economic appointments are said to be coming this week. The picks…
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Vaccine denier and reputed conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was chosen by the incoming president to be director of Health and Human Services, America’s health agency. Reuters reported experts saying “Kennedy has a track-record of being a vaccine denier and has touted vaccine misinformation as scientific truth” and “(The nomination) once again demonstrates his disregard for science in favour of pseudoscience, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. If he is confirmed,…
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Trump says he will nominate “America First” Fox News Host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense to lead the world’s largest military. A major in the National Guard with no global experience, Hegseth was once identified by guard members as a potential “insider threat” due to sporting a white supremacist tattoo. Reuters quoted Congressman Adam Smith as saying “There is reason for concern that this is not a person who…
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