Newsletter: A Cabinet of Loyalists and Extremists
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Donald Trump announced several nominees for top positions ([link removed]) in his upcoming administration this week, among them staunch allies and loyalists who have vocally supported Trump and his anti-democratic actions, including former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

On Wednesday, Trump announced the nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz ([link removed]) for U.S. attorney general. Gaetz resigned ([link removed]) from the House the same day, just days before the House Ethics Committee was expected to release a report ([link removed]) on its investigation into allegations of Gaetz’s sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, prompting bipartisan
([link removed]) calls ([link removed]) for transparency about the investigation’s findings. Committee Chair Michael Guest has said he does not plan ([link removed]) to release the report.

Trump also announced this week that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is his pick ([link removed]) for secretary of homeland security. We previously obtained records ([link removed]) that show Noem spent about $60,000 between January 2019 and September 2021 on decor and furnishings for her office and residence.
* The Argus Leader ([link removed]) also found that more than $8,100 was spent on a sauna, which the governor’s office did not include in the documents it released to us.
* Earlier this year, we received about 130 more pages ([link removed]) of receipts from 2021 through 2023 related to Noem’s office and home renovations.


Also of concern was the news that Trump tapped Stephen Miller ([link removed]) for deputy chief of staff of policy. American Oversight previously sued for and obtained records that shed light on Miller’s influence on immigration ([link removed]) policy during Trump’s first administration, including emails ([link removed]) that show Miller spearheaded Title 42, the administration’s 2020 effort to expel undocumented migrants at the border under the guise of fighting the pandemic.
* Other records show that Miller worked with a Justice Department official to push controversial anti-immigrant messaging ([link removed]) during Trump’s first administration. He also collaborated with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ([link removed]) official to craft and spread narratives that served his hard-line immigration agenda.


American Oversight is prepared to fight the corruption and abuses of power that Trump has promised, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold the incoming administration accountable to the people.

Democracy 2025: Fighting for People, Freedom, and Democracy
This week, American Oversight joined Democracy 2025, a coalition of leading pro-democracy organizations fighting to ensure swift legal challenges and responses to the harmful and anti-democratic actions expected in the first days of the Trump-Vance administration.
* Democracy 2025, resourced by Democracy Forward, includes a growing roster of more than 280 legal, expert, and advocacy organizations and more than 800 individuals representing millions of people and communities across the country.
* The coalition has also launched Democracy2025.org ([link removed]) , a website that will serve as a central hub for tracking threats to freedom and democracy and responses to those actions.


“Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the rule of law and his contempt for accountability,” said Chioma Chukwu, our interim executive director. “American Oversight knows from his first administration the lengths to which he will go to line his pockets and shore up his own political power at the expense of the American people.”
* “Protecting our democracy and the vulnerable groups who will be disproportionately targeted by the Trump administration’s inhumane proposals will require an informed public and a broad coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to fighting those abuses of power,” Chukwu added. “We are proud to stand with our allies in the pro-democracy movement and are prepared to aggressively defend the public’s right to hold its leaders accountable.”

On the Records

Inside the Conservative Takeover of New College of Florida
Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off his massive overhaul of New College of Florida by replacing its board of trustees with conservative allies last year — an idea for which political operative Rober Allen has claimed ([link removed]) credit.
* Records we obtained ([link removed]) show that in April 2023, Allen recommended the school hire far-right political scientist Bruce Gilley. In 2017, Gilley had published a paper titled “The Case for Colonialism” in Third World Quarterly, prompting more than a dozen members of the journal’s board to resign.
* This week, the Guardian ([link removed]) reported that Gilley is being paid $130,000 for a year-long residency at New College.


We’ve been investigating the right-wing takeover of New College ([link removed]) and previously obtained records that shed light on controversial hiring and recruitment practices, including resumes ([link removed]) of newly hired visiting professors, some of whom appear to have conservative political connections.

Prompting Reform in Maryland
Last month, the Baltimore Banner ([link removed]) reported on records obtained by American Oversight showing that Maryland Board of Elections members Jim Shalleck and Diane Butler exchanged emails with election denial activists who were pursuing litigation against the board. Following the reporting, the board passed a bylaw ([link removed]) barring members from communicating with litigants.
* The lawsuit, brought by the far-right legal group United Sovereign Americans and Maryland Election Integrity, challenged the accuracy of voter registration lists. Shalleck and Butler had emailed Kate Sullivan, the director of Maryland Election Integrity.
* The records ([link removed]) we obtained also show that Shalleck forwarded inquiries related to unsubstantiated election fraud charges in other states to Butler.


Other Stories We're Following

Trump Accountability
* The Trump insiders who have outsize influence as he chooses his cabinet (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump draft executive order would create board to purge generals (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Trump holds up transition process over ethics code (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Trump plans to claim sweeping powers to cancel federal spending (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s team skips FBI background checks for some Cabinet picks (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Want to work for Elon Musk’s government-efficiency team? There’s a catch (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* EPA staff fear Trump will destroy how it protects Americans from pollution (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* Trump pledged to close the Education Department. What would that mean? (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump picks a pair of experienced advisers motivated to carry out his immigration crackdown (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Waves of Jan. 6 defendants cite Trump election in request to delay cases (CBS News ([link removed]) )
* Judge recognizes ‘real possibility’ of Trump pardons as he delays trial for January 6 riot defendant (CNN ([link removed]) )


Election Denial and Voting Rights
* RNC sues to keep undated mail ballots out of counties’ election results as Pa. Senate race drags on (Pennsylvania Capital-Star ([link removed]) )
* Hundreds of Wake ballots arrive too late to count as NC counties work to finalize election tallies (NC Newsline ([link removed]) )
* Defeated GOP Senate candidate Hovde calls loss 'painful' but refuses to concede to Baldwin (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Trump won, but amateur election audits proliferate in NC — fueled by misinformation (Charlotte Observer ([link removed]) )


State and National News
* The anti-fluoride movement vaults into the mainstream (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Georgia judge lets ‘forever chemical’ lawsuits over wastewater sludge advance (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Conservative group targets Cincinnati Children's over transgender clinic (Cincinnati Enquirer ([link removed]) )
* Ohio lawmakers send transgender ‘bathroom ban’ to DeWine’s desk (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* Appeals court rules Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors can remain in effect (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Federal appeal court to consider Florida’s Medicaid ban on gender-affirming care (Florida Phoenix ([link removed]) )
* Justice Department finds ‘abhorrent, unconstitutional’ conditions at Fulton jail (Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed]) )
* Attorney general announces first Open Meetings Commission hearing in nearly four years (South Dakota Searchlight ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Abortion opponents prepare to undermine just-passed ballot measures (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Study maps how nonprofit religious groups set up facilities near abortion clinics (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Abortion opponents back measure barring local support programs (Ohio Capital Journal ([link removed]) )
* Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’ (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with whether state’s 175-year-old abortion ban is valid (Associated Press ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism opens at Oklahoma Education Department (Oklahoma Voice ([link removed]) )
* Walters mandates schools show video inviting students to pray for Trump (KGOU ([link removed]) )
* From Angelou to Vonnegut, Florida schools pulled hundreds of books last year (Washington Post ([link removed]) )


Immigration
* ICE started ramping up its surveillance arsenal immediately after Donald Trump won (Wired ([link removed]) )
* 1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* ICE violated civil rights of Colombian detained in Louisiana, watchdog says (Louisiana Illuminator ([link removed]) )
* Nevada unprepared for Trump’s mass deportations (Nevada Current ([link removed]) )

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