Trump transition battle underway

[Valin]

Trump picks Congressman Tom Price as health and human services secretary
Washington Post Staff
November 28 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), an orthopedic surgeon who has been one of Capitol Hill's fiercest critics of President Obama's health care law, to be secretary of health and human services, a person briefed on the decision confirmed Monday night.

The public announcement of Trump's selection of Price, a six-term congressman who chairs the House Budget Committee and is regarded as a policy wonk, is expected to be made as early as Tuesday.

As HHS secretary, Price would become the Trump administration's point person on dismantling and replacing the Affordable Care Act, one of Trump's major campaign promises.

 

(Snip)

[Geee]

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

Donald Trump is expected to name Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary, a high-level source within the President-elect's transition team told Fox News Tuesday.

 

Chao, a Washington insider who met with Trump on Monday, is the former Secretary of Labor -- the first Asian American cabinet member appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2001.

 

Chao, who led the Department of Labor for eight years, is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

 

Trump's transition team has said the President-elect is seeking to select a diverse group of people to fill key cabinet and advisory roles within his administration.

 

Trump is expected to formally name Chao for the post in an announcement Tuesday afternoon.

 

Chao, 63, was the longest tenured Labor Secretary since World War II. She is the only member of Bush’s original cabinet to have served both two terms of his presidency.

 

Prior to serving as Labor Secretary from 2001 to 2009, Chao was the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/29/trump-to-pick-elaine-chao-as-transportation-secretary.html

[Valin]

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

 

 

Oh This Is Good...Very Very Good.

[Valin]

 

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

 

 

Oh This Is Good...Very Very Good.

 

 

 

DU

 

TOS

[Geee]

 

 

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

 

 

Oh This Is Good...Very Very Good.

 

 

 

DU

 

TOS

 

 

[Geee]

BET Founder Says He Turned Down Donald Trump Cabinet Position

 

BET founder Bob Johnson said on Tuesday he turned down a cabinet position offered by Donald Trump during a meeting with the president-elect earlier this month.

 

Johnson, a Democrat, told CNBC that Trump “hinted” about a role in the administration during Nov. 20 meeting with top advisers Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and Jared Kushner at the Trump National Golf Club.

 

“He hinted at something I could be interested in, and I quickly shut that down. It was a cabinet position,” Johnson said.

 

http://freebeacon.com/culture/bet-founder-says-turned-donald-trump-cabinet-position/

[Valin]

 

 

 

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

Oh This Is Good...Very Very Good.

 

 

DU

 

TOS

 

 

 

 

Ah, The Vox Populi!

[Geee]

Trump to pick Mnuchin for Treasury secretary: report

 

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to choose Steven Mnuchin, the national finance chairman of his campaign, to serve as Treasury secretary, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

 

The president-elect could make the announcement as soon as Wednesday, according to the Times.

 

Mnuchin is a former partner at Goldman Sachs who founded the hedge fund Dune Capital Management and began to invest in Hollywood.

 

He has never worked in government, and has close ties to Hollywood and Wall Street, according to The Times.

He told The Times in May he has focused on the "West Coast economy" in recent years.

 

As Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin would be influential in the administration's economic policies, such as tax cuts and increased spending on infrastructure — two proposals the president-elect has talked about on the campaign trail.

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/307980-trump-to-pick-mnuchin-for-treasury-secretary-report

[Geee]

Trump Considering Brown, Hegseth for VA Secretary

 

President-elect Donald Trump is said to be considering former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R.) and Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and former CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

The selection of VA secretary is one of Trump’s most anticipated moves, as the new leader will be tasked with reforming a government hospital system in need of “system-wide reworking.”

 

The selection list for the cabinet post has narrowed to Brown and Hegseth, sources told the Washington Free Beacon this week. Both have met with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York in the past few days.

 

http://freebeacon.com/issues/trump-considering-brown-hegseth-va-secretary/

[Geee]

Gov. Mary Fallin Leading Candidate for Interior Secretary

 

According to sources within Trump’s inner circle, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is the favorite to become the next interior secretary. The former chair of the Republican Governors Association and congresswoman met with the president-elect in Trump Tower last week.

 

The two are quite close. Fallin was an early endorser of Trump’s presidential campaign and was on the short list to become Trump’s running mate.

 

The Department of the Interior is responsible for federal land and natural resources. Whoever becomes the next leader of the department will be diving immediately into climate change issues – an agenda President Obama has been extremely stringent on.

 

The gig would be a good fit for the current governor of an oil-rich state. Governor Fallin has been an outspoken advocate of oil and gas development. She signed a bill in 2015 preventing cities in Oklahoma from enacting bans on drilling. She even issued an executive order announcing she would not comply with the Obama Administration’s climate change regulations on power plants. During their meeting at Trump Tower, she and the president-elect spoke about the oil and gas industry and Native American issues.

 

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/jasonhopkins/2016/11/30/cabinet-watch-gov-mary-fallin-leading-candidate-for-interior-secretary-n2252812

[RandyM]

 

Trump to pick Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary

 

 

Oh This Is Good...Very Very Good.

Reminiscent of Reagan making Elizabeth Dole the Transportation Secretary in the 80's.

[Valin]

Trump to name Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary: Report
S.A. Miller - The Washington Times -
Thursday, December 1, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis as secretary of defense, according to reports.

For the general to assume the post, he would need Congress to change a federal law that bars anyone who has been on active duty in the past seven years from taking becoming Defense secretary.

The announcement likely will come early next week, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the pick citing sources familiar with the decision.

 

(Snip)

[Geee]

TRUMP INTENDS TO NOMINATE DR. BEN CARSON AS HUD SECRETARY

 

 

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/308720-trump-picks-carson-for-hud-secretary

[Geee]

Hmm: Trump Is Considering Jon Huntsman For Secretary Of State

 

Via The Associated Press it seems President-elect Donald J. Trump is moving away from his initial frontrunners to be the top diplomat in his administration and could be adding former 2012 candidate and governor of Utah Jon Huntsman to the short list (via The Hill):

 

President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly open to expanding his short list of candidates for secretary of State to include former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

Huntsman was one of the possibilities reported by The Associated Press on Saturday night, citing a source close to the Trump transition.

Huntsman, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, previously served as ambassador to China and speaks Mandarin.

The AP reported that Trump is moving away from the two front-runners for the secretary of State position, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/12/04/hmm-trump-is-considering-jon-huntsman-for-secretary-of-state-n2254895

[Geee]

Romney fading, Rohrabacher, Bolton rising for State as 'consensus package

 

Mitt Romney's chances for being secretary of State in a Trump administration are fading amid a deep division among President-elect Trump's team, and that is giving rise to dark horse candidate Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a foreign policy tough guy who once arm wrestled Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to insiders.

 

The Trump cabinet executive committee is also eyeing long-time Republican diplomat John Bolton as deputy secretary of State, though there are some who prefer him in the top job.

 

Representative Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., left, meets with U.S. soldiers during a congressional visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan Wednesday, April 3, 2002. The delegation, which was on a fact finding mission to Afghanistan, stopped at Bagram to express their support for U.S. troops in the field. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Two sources late Saturday said that there is an emerging "consensus package" of Rohrabacher, a long-serving California lawmaker who heads a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, as the secretary and Bolton as his chief deputy.

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/romney-fading-rohrabacher-bolton-rising-for-state-as-consensus-package/article/2608799

[Geee]

Trump to meet with Laura Ingraham, Gov. Terry Branstad

 

President-elect Trump will meet with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, conservative commentator Laura Ingraham and South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney early this week, among other potential administration nominees.

 

Ingraham will meet the president-elect early this week amid rumors that she is a leading contender to become his press secretary. Trump spokesman Jason Miller didn't say what job Mulvaney might be up for, but Mulvaney has reportedly said he'd be interested in running the Office of Management and Budget.

 

Several others will be in New York this week to meet with Trump, including Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who will meet Monday amid rumors that Trump is considering him as a possible secretary of state nominee.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-to-meet-with-laura-ingraham-gov.-terry-branstad/article/2608870

[Valin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERsCcGmGVlE

[Geee]

Retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly picked to head Department of Homeland Security

 

Gen. John F. Kelly to run the Department of Homeland Security, turning to a blunt-spoken border security hawk who clashed with the Obama administration over women in combat and plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to people familiar with the decision.

 

Kelly, who retired in February as chief of U.S. Southern Command, would inherit a massive and often troubled department responsible for overseeing perhaps the most controversial part of Trump’s agenda: his proposed crackdown on illegal immigration. DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, with more than 240,000 employees who do everything from fight terrorism to protect the president and enforce immigration laws.

 

Kelly, 66, is a widely respected military officer who served for more than 40 years, and he is not expected to face difficulty winning Senate confirmation. Trump’s team was drawn to him because of his Southwest border expertise, people familiar with the transition said. Like the president-elect, Kelly has sounded the alarm about drugs, terrorism and other cross-border threats he sees as emanating from Mexico and Central and South America.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/retired-marine-gen-john-f-kelly-picked-to-head-department-of-homeland-security/2016/12/07/165472f2-bbe6-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.74e04b67c7cf

[Valin]

@Geee

 

Gen. John F. Kelly clashed with the Obama administration

Kelly, 66, is a widely respected military officer who served for more than 40 years,

 

You Suppose One Might Have something To Do With The Other?

[Geee]

Trump to pick foe of Obama climate agenda to run EPA

 

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will pick an ardent opponent of President Barack Obama's measures to stem climate change to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a Trump transition team source said on Wednesday.

 

Trump's choice, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has enraged environmental activists, but he fits with the Republican president-elect's promise to cut the agency back and eliminate regulation that he says is stifling oil and gas drilling.

 

Pruitt became the top prosecutor for Oklahoma, which has extensive oil reserves, in 2011, and has challenged the EPA multiple times since, including in a pending lawsuit to throw out the EPA's Clean Power Plan. The plan is the centerpiece of Obama's climate change strategy and requires states to curb carbon output.

 

In an interview with Reuters in September, Pruitt said he sees the Clean Power Plan as a form of federal "coercion and commandeering" of energy policy and that his state should have "sovereignty to make decisions for its own markets."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-to-tap-oklahoma-attorney-general-to-lead-epa-transition-team/ar-AAlgyDs?OCID=ansmsnnews11

[Geee]

Trump to pick fast-food exec Andy Puzder for labour department: source

 

 

President-elect Donald Trump will name fast-food executive Andy Puzder to head the U.S. Department of Labor, according to a source familiar with the matter, in an appointment likely to antagonize organized labor.

Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc, which operates the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains, has been a vociferous critic of government regulation of the workplace.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-election/trump-to-pick-andy-puzder-to-head-labour-department-source/article33265566/

 

Puzder frequently publishes commentary and gives television interviews in which he argues that a higher minimum wage would hurt workers by forcing restaurants to close and praises the benefits of automation in the fast-food industry.

[Geee]

Top Ten Reasons Andy Puzder Is a Great Pick for Labor Secretary

 

Reports indicate that Donald Trump has made another magnificent decision and will nominate Andy Puzder to be his labor secretary.

 

I do not know anything about Puzder’s thoughts on labor—I assume he thinks a $15 minimum wage is stupid, which is good enough for me. But I have closely analyzed his marketing strategy at Carl’s Jr. and let me tell you, the man knows a thing or two about business.

 

“I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis,” he has said. “I think it’s very American.”

 

We do too, Mr. Puzder. Here are the top ten reasons why this is a good choice by the president elect, ranked:

 

http://freebeacon.com/blog/top-ten-reasons-andy-puzder-is-a-great-pick-for-labor-secretary/

[Valin]

[Geee]

Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State: Sources

 

Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday.

 

The 64-year-old veteran oil executive has no government or diplomatic experience, although he has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pick would put to rest weeks-long speculation of who would earn the post as the U.S.'s top diplomat, and would place Tillerson fourth in line to the presidency.

 

He will also be paired with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as his deputy secretary of state, one of the sources added, with Bolton handling day-to-day management of the department.

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/rex-tillerson-exxon-mobil-expected-be-named-trump-s-secretary-n694371

[Geee]

What to Know About Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Trump’s Pick for Interior Secretary

 

President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly selected Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., to lead the Interior Department. She is the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress heavily involved in energy and environmental issues.

 

McMorris Rodgers is the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, and has also led on advocacy for people with disabilities and budget issues. If confirmed by the Senate, she’ll lead the department overseeing federal lands.

 

Here are some things to know about McMorris Rodgers.

 

1. Republican Leader From a Blue State

 

McMorris Rodgers represents the 5th District of Washington state, which consistently elects Democrats in most statewide elections.

 

However, she has found success in Washington’s eastern region. She was first appointed to a vacant seat in the state House of Representatives in 1994, then was elected to the seat.

 

She served as the House minority leader from 2002 to 2003. Then, after a decade in the state Legislature, won a seat in Congress.

http://dailysignal.com/2016/12/09/what-to-know-about-cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-trumps-pick-for-interior-secretary/