Trump picks Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense  —  President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he has chosen Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his secretary of defense.  —  The selection elevates the television personality to a Cabinet-level position in Trump's second term.

Trump Draft Executive Order Would Create Board to Purge Generals  —  The panel could upend the military review process and raise concerns about the politicization of the military  —  WASHINGTON—The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” …

Trump announces Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’  —  President-elect Donald Trump continued to fill his administration at breakneck speed Tuesday night, tapping SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Trump selects William McGinley for White House general counsel  —  President-elect Trump announced Tuesday evening that William McGinley, a lawyer who worked in the former president's first administration, will be White House general counsel in his second term.

It's 2004 all over again  —  I wish I could give you a crystal-clear sense of what Democrats felt like in 2004 after George W. Bush was elected to a second term.  But the truth is, my memories of that time are hazy.  That's partly because I was a twentysomething doing dumb twentysomething things …

Freedom Caucus backs off plan to push a challenger to Johnson  —  House conservatives are planning to force an internal vote on Mike Johnson's speakership during Wednesday's leadership election instead of throwing in an alternate candidate, two people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.

Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge  —  A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Massachusetts Air National Guard member to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reveals Plans to Fire 600 Federal Health Workers  —  The Trump ally and anti-vax conspiracist takes aim at the agencies he loathes.  —  At an event late last week in Arizona, anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump transition team member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he'd fire …

Scoop: The 2024 blame game finally comes for Hakeem Jeffries … - If Democrats had taken control of the House, Jeffries would have been seen as kind of “the one hero that's going to hold it down for all of us,” said one House progressive.  — But, the lawmaker predicted …

Putin Aide Issues Ominous Warning About Trump's New “Obligations” … Donald Trump may have secured a second term in the White House, but his Russia problems are far from over—at least according to suspiciously phrased comments by some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies.

‘Your Body, My Choice’ Posts Are Spreading Post-Election.  Anyone Who Says This Should Be Fired—Immediately  —  Women at work deserve respect.  Nick Fuentes's followers are not offering that respect and should not be working in your offices.  —  Last week, Nick Fuentes, who Wikipedia describes as …

Scoop: Senate Democrats are stressed about Dick Durbin … - Schumer's options include jamming up GOP attempts to adjourn the chamber for Trump to make recess appointments, sources tell us.  — But they can only delay the process as long as Senate Democrats have the energy to keep it up.

Trump's Cabinet moves hand Ron DeSantis a gift — but possibly with strings attached  —  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may get to appoint a Senate replacement for Marco Rubio.  But he'd need to balance the preferences of Trump and allies with his own wishes.  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. …

Incoming Trump admin is eyeing new immigrant detention centers near major U.S. cities  —  The plan would also include restarting the policy of detaining parents with their children, known as family detention, which immigration advocates have criticized.  —  The incoming Trump administration …

Mike Huckabee, Trump's pick for ambassador to Israel, has long called himself a Zionist  —  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Israel, has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel and has repeatedly signaled …

Exxon Chief to Trump: Don't Withdraw From Paris Climate Deal  —  Darren Woods was one of only a few Western oil executives attending a global climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.  —  Darren Woods, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, cautioned President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday …

They Turned Against Kamala Harris in Decisive Numbers.  They're About to Find Out if It Was Worth It.  —  Dearborn, Michigan, turned against Kamala Harris decisively.  Now the city is about to find out if Trump was worth it.  —  On election night, at a political watch party, Abbas Alawieh …

Ukraine loses fight to trademark ‘Russian warship, go f**k yourself’ slogan  —  The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Wednesday that the slogan “Russian warship, go fuck yourself” cannot be claimed by Ukraine as an EU trademark.  —  The accidental war slogan was at the center …