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Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Trump Continues to Fill Cabinet Ranks

Reuters: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement (Reuters). Eric Daugherty: Trump announces Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head the Department of Government Efficiency. It will “slash excess regulations” and “cut wasteful expenditures” (X). Vivek Ramaswamy: We will not go gently (X).

Donald Trump Names Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense

Fox News: Pete Hegseth has been selected by President-elect Trump to serve as his secretary of defense. “I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in a statement (Fox News). Karoline Leavitt: STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP. Congratulations, Pete Hegseth (X)!

Trump Names John Ratcliff as CIA Director

Townhall: President-elect Donald Trump has officially tapped former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliff as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. “I am pleased to announce that former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe will serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public. When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People,” Trump released in a statement Tuesday evening (Townhall). Trump War Room: President Trump announces the nomination of John Ratcliffe as Director of the CIA (X).

Donald Trump Picks Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

Katie Pavlich: President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as his nominee to become the next U.S. Ambassador to Israel… Huckabee is a longtime friend of the Jewish State and has led dozens of solidarity delegations to the country. He’s also a partner with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (Townhall). Sarah Huckabee Sanders: I went to Israel for the first time with my dad when I was eleven and it changed my life. There is no one President Trump could have picked with a greater love for the Israeli people and commitment to the unbreakable bond between America and Israel than him. Love you dad (X)! Eli David: Even in its wildest dreams, Israel couldn’t have imagined a better US ambassador to Israel than Mike Huckabee He is against the delusional two-state solution, and has stated that Israel has the right over Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Congratulations Mike! (X).

Attorney Mark Paoletta Warns DOJ Employees to Either Serve the Duly-Elected President or Find New Jobs

Daily Wire: Attorney Mark Paoletta warned employees within the Justice Department that they needed to be ready to help President-elect Donald Trump implement his lawful agenda come January 20, 2025 — or they should start packing up their desks. Paoletta, who served as General Counsel for the Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration, responded on Monday to a POLITICO article that suggested lawyers working within the DOJ were “terrified” of what to expect from Trump, who blames the DOJ under President Joe Biden for engaging in political prosecution (Daily Wire). Center for Renewing America: Mark Paoletta: DOJ career employees who plan to subvert President Trump’s agenda shouldn’t work at the Justice Department (X). Politico: A collective sense of dread has taken hold at the Department of Justice, which drew Donald Trump’s rage like no other part of the federal government during his campaign. Some career attorneys at DOJ are already considering heading for the exits rather than sticking around to find out whether threats from Trump and his allies are real or campaign bluster (Politico).

Fired FEMA Employee States Ignoring “Politically Hostile” Homes Was Widespread Agency Practice When Distributing Aid

Townhall: The former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor fired for reportedly directing disaster relief workers to avoid hurricane-hit homes in Florida sporting signs supporting Donald Trump is now spilling the beans on the department’s discrimination scandal. According to the ex-employee, this was not an “isolated incident,” as the agency insists, and the discriminatory practice is happening elsewhere in other disaster areas. In fact, it’s widespread FEMA policy to discriminate against “politically hostile” houses when allocating aid, she said (Townhall). John Podhoretz: If I’m registering this correctly, the fired FEMA person is saying that it was AGENCY policy to view a Trump supporter as a potential murderer and therefore it was best-practice to practice “avoidance.” Hoo boy. Some people are going to go to jail (X).

CNN to Undergo Layoffs Amid Withering Ratings

Daily Mail: CNN is reportedly set to nix some of its top talent in a round of post-election layoffs. The rumblings, first reported by Puck News, come as high-paid personalities like Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer were reportedly recently denied raises. The two already boast salaries of $7million and $3million, while stars like Anderson Cooper take home an annual $20million. Kaitlan Collins and Erin Burnett also command huge earnings – $3million and $6million respectively. Insiders told Puck the new round of firings will likely see on-air talent like them affected, as the network’s new CEO looks to free up finances amid waning ratings (Daily Mail). Collin Rugg: CNN will be firing hundreds of employees including some of their top stars according to Puck News. The news comes as CNN’s Chris Wallace says he is not returning after his contract expires (X).

MSNBC Ratings Fall After Trump’s Victory

Townhall: Progressive MSNBC viewers tuned out in droves last Thursday and Friday following President-elect Donald Trump’s historic landslide win against Vice President Kamala Harris. The drop in viewership came just days after the network beat CNN for the first time on a presidential election night, averaging 6 million viewers compared to its competitor’s 5.1 million (Townhall). Benny Johnson: MSNBC ratings have precipitously cratered since Trump’s sweeping victory on Election Day… On Election Night, 25% of cable networks’ usual viewers chose not to watch— instead tuning into independent creators’ record-breaking streams like ours (X). Robby Starbuck: MSNBC Primetime ratings are down 50% since Trump won. Remember how cable news got a ratings bump after the 2016 election? That’s not gonna happen again. The bump will be online this time. People are picking influencers/podcasts based on merit over DEI fueled legacy media (X).

Judge Juan Merchan Delays Decision to Rule on Trump’s Guilty Verdict

Ed Morrissey: Has lawfare come to an end in New York as well as Washington DC? It certainly appears that Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan have begun to seriously reconsider it. Over the weekend, Bragg’s office sent a request to postpone a key ruling today after Donald Trump’s defense team notified them of several potential challenges to Bragg’s 34 felony convictions. Trump’s legal team then told Merchan that they concurred with the need for more time to assess the impact of the election and the previous Supreme Court ruling on immunity, the issue on which Merchan was supposed to rule today. In response, Merchan kicked the can down the road another week (HotAir). Collin Rugg: Judge Juan Merchan delays ruling on whether or not to dismiss Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in the hush money case. The decision was supposed to be made today however it will be delayed until November 19. The freeze will allow prosecutors to respond to Trump’s demand that the case be dismissed now that he is president-elect (X).

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Mark Cuban Scrubbs X Account of Pro-Kamala Content

Townhall: “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban got to work scrubbing most of his political posts on X, including those that were supportive of Vice President Kamala Harris, after the Democrat got trounced in last week’s election. The clean-up began soon after the billionaire investor congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory early Wednesday morning…X account Libs of TikTok was among the first to notice, prompting a response from Cuban, who admitted to clearing his history and said it’s a practice he has done for years after elections (Townhall). Libs of TikTok: Mark Cuban is apparently deleting a bunch of his pro-Kamala posts. What’s going on Mark Cuban (X)? Collin Rugg: Cuban is so confident in his endorsement of Harris that he is now deleting all his posts about his endorsement of Harris (X).