As attorney general, Gaetz would go from being under DOJ scrutiny to leading the nation’s top law enforcement agency
CNN
One career official described hearing audible cries of “oh my God” echoing down the hallway inside DOJ’s headquarters.
When President-elect Donald Trump tapped Matt Gaetz for attorney general, he elevated a MAGA firebrand with a penchant for stoking controversy and a history of getting out of trouble to lead a Justice Department that has investigated both men. Gaetz, a career politician with limited experience practicing law, resigned from his seat in Congress just hours after Trump announced earlier this week his intention to nominate him as the top federal law enforcement officer in the United States. The Florida Republican has a tense history with the Justice Department, clashing with officials during contentious oversight hearings where he accused the department of being “weaponized” against Trump and fellow conservatives and decrying the yearslong federal sex-crimes investigation of him that began during the Trump administration. (Prosecutors ultimately declined to charge him.) Gaetz would be able to take on the Justice Department from the inside, molding the institution and its law enforcement components, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration, to fit his vision — and Trump’s. Democrats on Capitol Hill and some legal scholars have flatly said Gaetz is unqualified for the job, and even people close to Gaetz told CNN they are concerned he may not be a good fit at the department and may have trouble winning confirmation by the Senate if there’s a vote on his nomination. But many Republicans and Gaetz allies have touted his aggressive style as an essential attribute for an attorney general. Sources close to Trump said he sees Gaetz as an effective messenger of his agenda and believes his appointees to other top positions at the Justice Department can handle day-to-day duties.
The retired Air Force general announced as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump after the abrupt Friday night firing of his predecessor is a respected career F-16 pilot who is described by current and former officials who served with him as a professional with a “strong moral center.”
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The United States has proposed its own United Nations resolution marking the third anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine after refusing to back one drafted by Kyiv and backed by Europe.
Some didn’t even know they were being flown to another country until they actually landed in Panama, according to attorney Ali Herischi, who said “they were told they’re going to Texas.”
A father and his 12-year-old son got lost and stranded on a steep cliffside while hiking in Snow Canyon in Utah. An abandoned backpack helped keep them alive
Last week, Leland Dudek, a mid-level career employee at the Social Security Administration, posted on LinkedIn that he was placed on administrative leave for cooperating with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and asked for help finding another job.
The public detente between President Donald Trump and Big Tech titans, forged in the wake of his return to power, has yet to take hold at the country’s annual gathering of his most devoted supporters.
The aid would go toward “immediate and long-term recovery work needed to rebuild lives and properties,” according to the letter.
Over the past 10 days, Vice President JD Vance put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on notice, rattled the confidence of century-old allies in Western Europe during his first foreign trip, decamped to Capitol Hill to help in delicate budget talks and delivered a spirited defense of the Trump administration’s first month to a gathering of conservatives outside the nation’s capital.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday she has fired Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, citing in part her response to last month’s devastating wildfires, among the most destructive fires in California’s history.