Vance to set up meetings for Gaetz, Hegseth with senators

WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect JD Vance is arranging meetings between key Republican senators and attorney general pick Matt Gaetz as well as Pete Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump selected to run the Defense Department, according to people familiar with the matter.

Vance will be making the rounds with those candidates, two of Trump’s most controversial nominees. Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, while Gaetz has been investigated for sexual misconduct. They have both denied any wrongdoing.

“President Trump’s incoming administration is moving at an accelerated schedule in order to make good on getting key nominees confirmed in order to start delivering for the American people,” Brian Hughes, a Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, said in a statement.

He added that Gaetz, Hegseth, United Nations Ambassador pick Elise Stefanik and Veterans Affairs chief nominee Doug Collins will all begin meetings on Capitol Hill this week.

Hegseth is the host of Fox News Channel’s weekend morning program and an Army National Guard officer, an unconventional choice for Defense secretary, a role that has often gone to former military leaders, lawmakers or government officials with decades of experience. If confirmed, he would be taking over the Pentagon at a time of increased tensions in the Middle East and with Russian forces continuing to gain on Ukraine.

Gaetz’s selection to be the nation’s top law enforcement official is another polarizing choice. If confirmed, he would be responsible for carrying out Trump’s pledge to reshape the Justice Department and on the front line of a promised crackdown on urban crime and mass deportation of millions of undocumented migrants.

Trump on Tuesday attended a launch of billionaire backer Elon Musk’s Starship rocket in Texas. The president-elect responded “no” when asked if he was reconsidering Gaetz’s nomination.

Here is how Trump’s transition is shaking out on Tuesday:

Education pick

Trump is expected to name Linda McMahon, his former Small Business Administrator and the onetime CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the Department of Education, CNN reported.

Trump has pledged to abolish the Education Department, a move that would require congressional approval. He has called for many its duties to instead be left to the states, though much of K-12 education oversight already rests with local jurisdictions.

McMahon, who is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, is a longtime ally and donor of the president-elect. She has overseen much of the transition’s policy work, organizing executive orders and other priorities for the incoming administration.

McMahon was also considered to be a contender to lead the Commerce Department, a job that Trump announced earlier Tuesday would go to Cantor Fitzgerald CEO and fellow transition co-chair Howard Lutnick.

Vance says Trump interviewing FBI candidates

Vance suggested that Trump is looking to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray in a social media post Tuesday that the vice president-elect later deleted.

In a post on X defending his absence from a Senate vote on a judicial nominee, Vance wrote that while the “vote happened, I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.”

“I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” he added.

Trump has long clashed with the FBI, including under former Director James Comey, who opened an investigation into whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Trump fired Comey in 2017 and tapped Wray as his replacement.

Speculation has mounted that the president-elect may seek another FBI chief. Wray’s ten-year term will expire in 2027.

After Trump’s first term, FBI agents raided his Florida Mar-a-Lago club to seize classified documents and have investigated him over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

During his reelection bid Trump assailed the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing that its criminal cases against him were politically motivated and vowing to reshape the nation’s top law enforcement office.

Musk defends Gaetz

Earlier Tuesday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk defended Gaetz, who is facing intense scrutiny from Republicans over the House sexual misconduct probe that threatens to upend his confirmation.

“Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind,” Musk, the world’s richest person and a prominent Trump backer, wrote in a post on his social-media platform X.

“He is the Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison,” he added, referring to a fictional comic book character. “Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice.”

Senators in both parties are requesting more information on the House ethics probe of Gaetz ahead of his confirmation process. Trump has been personally appealing to senators to support his nominee, Axios reported.

Republican Senator John Cornyn, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday that he expects women who spoke privately with the House Ethics Committee will testify before senators – and that he expects the details of a House report to come out one way or another.

The House Ethics Committee, which is under pressure to release its findings, plans to meet Wednesday. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged the panel to keep its findings confidential.

The Justice Department investigated allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor in exchange for money but decided in February 2023 not to file any charges against him. Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Gaetz resigned from Congress days before the Ethics Committee was scheduled to deliberate on how to handle results from its investigation.

Musk, in another post on X, said he considered the accusations against Gaetz “worth less than nothing” adding that “a man is considered innocent until proven guilty.”

He also noted current Attorney General Merrick Garland did not seek charges against Gaetz, saying that if he “could have secured a conviction against Gaetz, he would have, but he knew he could not.”

Border czar warning

Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming border czar, warned U.S. cities not to thwart efforts to carry out the mass deportation of migrants the president-elect has promised, vowing that he would deploy “twice the amount of resources” to urban areas that resist those plans.

“If they don’t help us, get the hell out of the way; we’re going to do it,” Homan said on Fox News’ "Fox and Friends." “If they will give us access to the jail, that would mean less agents in the community. For them pushing back and not letting us in the jail, it just means more agents will be in the community so they hurt themselves.”

Homan’s comments come a day after Trump confirmed that he would use the U.S. military to deport migrants. Homan also reiterated his willingness to deputize local law enforcement to help deport migrants and said he had heard from former military and police officers who he said are asking to assist.

“We’re going to fund the 287(g) jail program, 287(g) Task Force programs with law enforcement agencies that want to help,” he said. “Since I’ve been announced, I’ve gotten thousands of soldiers that just recently left the military, they want to join forces. Police officers that retired want to join forces, retired ICE agents that want to come back.”

“There’s a lot of excitement to do this job for the president of the United States,” he added.

The 287(g) program allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to partner with state and local agencies to remove criminal non-citizens.

Trump and his team have not outlined how they will carry out mass deportations, which will require substantial funding from Congress and the cooperation of countries to accept returned migrants. The plans are also likely to face legal challenges.

Judicial confirmations

Trump on Tuesday urged Republicans to prevent Democrats from confirming more federal judges, as President Joe Biden’s party moves to quickly approve more nominees before the GOP assumes control of the Senate.

“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network. “Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!”

Senate Democrats have ramped up their efforts to confirm as many of Biden’s judicial nominees as possible and minimize the vacancies left to the president-elect. On Monday, senators voted until midnight after Republicans sought to slow votes on judicial nominees.

Both parties are facing pressure from allies — with those on the left worried about Trump’s impact on the federal judiciary once he retakes power in January, and conservatives urging Republicans to do more to block Democratic nominations.

Trump was able to dramatically reshape the federal bench with conservative-leaning judges during his first term, and is poised to cement his party’s control in a second administration.

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(With assistance from Billy House, Steven T. Dennis, Magan Crane, Meghashyam Mali and Daniel Flatley.)

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