University of Austin weeds out DEI, replaces it with merit-based initiatives: VP
The University of Austin (UATX) welcomed its first cohort of students this fall, and instead of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the private liberal arts university is touting freedom of speech, open debates and merit-based admissions. “They talk about safe spaces. We want to create an environment that’s safe for ideas to be explored and where there’s not risks to the student for taking positions as they explore,” UATX Vice President Michael Shires told Fox News Digital. The university, which is currently unaccredited, was founded in 2021 by a group of academics and public figures, including former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss, who were concerned about the decline of free speech across college campuses. STATE LAWMAKERS, COMPANIES PREPARE TO PUSH BACK AGAINST DEI, ‘WOKE’ INITIATIVES: EXPERTS While its inaugural students are not eligible for federal financial aid, the university has had significant support from private donors, including billionaire Bill Ackman and activist Harlan Crow, allowing it to offer free tuition to its first cohort. “As we look ahead, obviously this is a time when people are trying to figure out how to foster free speech on campus,” Shires said. “Oct. 7 was a critical juncture in the last year and a half that really showed some of the holes in the environment we’re in.” While the university was founded prior to Donald Trump’s re-election, Shires said the “Trump administration is an exciting time for us to build an institution in an environment where there’s value on open discourse and dialogue.” Trump has signaled he would also roll back DEI and “woke” policies within federal agencies, including dismantling the Department of Education, signaling a potential for more schools to adopt UATX’s model. He has also said he would sue and tax “excessively large private universities” who implement “woke” policies. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER RANTS ABOUT ‘THE WHITE MAN’ DURING HEARING ON THE DISMANTLE DEI ACT The threat of what constitutes hate speech has been a major concern for many public universities in recent years – leading to the rise of what critics call censorship and cancel culture – but Shires said defining the term depends “what are the value systems you’re applying to those.” “And you know, for us, that’s our goal, is to create an environment where there’s civil discourse and where, basically, respect for the other person, and you’re debating and maybe even disagreeing on ideas,” he said. TRANSGENDER WOMEN TO BE BANNED FROM CAPITOL HILL FEMALE BATHROOMS UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP PROPOSAL UATX employs the Chatham House Rule to encourage open classroom discussions. Under the rule, students can share ideas or information they hear in class but cannot attribute them to specific individuals. At institutions like Harvard, only 3% of faculty identify as conservative, while more than 75% identify as liberal, undergirding the ideological gap that UATX founders aim to address. According to Shires, while the school has an admissions constitution that accepts students based on a variety of merit measures, he said UATX’s “students are all over the place, ideologically, politically, philosophically.” “We are an institute, so we don’t believe the institution should have a position or an orthodoxy or an ideology,” he said. Over the last four years, several universities have faced legal challenges concerning their DEI policies, including the California Community College system, Northwestern University Law School, Stanford University and Fordham University. In March, the University of Florida announced its plan to eliminate the chief diversity officer position and DEI staff, earmarking the funds to be spent elsewhere in the university.
History of the Thanksgiving turkey pardon: When the White House began the long-held holiday tradition
The White House turkey pardoning ceremony, a long-held Thanksgiving tradition formalized 77 years ago, traces its origins back decades further. Since the 1800s, it has been customary for the sitting president to be gifted a turkey as a festive gesture, with several presidents hinting that the bird would be featured on their holiday menu. However, in recent decades, sitting presidents launched a new tradition of “pardoning” the bird, essentially sparing its life and ensuring it will spend the remainder of its time on a farm. The turkey is brought to Washington, D.C., during the week of Thanksgiving, gets a room at the five-star Willard Hotel and is eventually “pardoned” by the president. However, the history of exactly when the pardon began “gets tricky,” as described by the Obama White House archives. RETAILERS ANNOUNCE ‘INFLATION-FREE’ THANKSGIVING DINNER DEALS According to the George Bush national archives, former President Lincoln spared the life of the Thanksgiving turkey upon request from his son, Tad Lincoln. The White House turkey was again spared in 1947, when former President Truman began an annual tradition of the animal being gifted by the National Turkey Federation. However, the Truman Library and Museum said they have “found no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs, or other contemporary records in our holdings which refer to Truman pardoning a turkey that he received as a gift in 1947, or at any other time during his presidency.” SANDRA LEE REVEALS WHY BIGGER THANKSGIVING TURKEYS AREN’T ALWAYS BETTER In 1963, former President Kennedy also decided to spare the life of that year’s Thanksgiving turkey, saying “we’ll just let this one grow.” Former President Reagan did it informally during the ceremony in 1987. Reagan was asked by reporters about potentially pardoning individuals from the Iran-Contra affair, but he pointed at the turkey and said he would “pardon him” instead. However, it wasn’t until 1989 when former President George H. W. Bush officially presented the turkey with a presidential “pardon,” an annual tradition that has been honored in the decades since. “Let me assure you and this fine Tom Turkey that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here,” Bush said in 1989. Since Bush, every president has participated in the turkey pardoning ceremony as part of the White House Thanksgiving week celebration. President Biden has been pardoning two turkeys for the last three years. He participated in the 77th annual turkey pardon on Monday, the last one of his presidency, sparing “Peach” and “Blossom” in the Rose Garden on the South Lawn of the White House. “This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during the season,” Biden said during the ceremony. “It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful that today my wife, Jill, and I will travel to Staten Island, New York, for a ‘friendsgiving’ with members of the Coast Guard and their families to demonstrate our gratitude for their service and sacrifice, like my son.” Some critics, such as animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, have called the tradition “little more than a photo op.” However, presidents and spectators have enjoyed the ceremony as a fun event for the holidays.
Legal challenges on administrative reach expected in Trump’s deregulatory scheme, experts say
Experts expect President-elect Donald Trump to take aim at federal agencies and Biden-era regulations after campaigning on deregulation of the administrative state. “The first thing is that on day one of [Trump’s] presidency, we’ll see a lot of executive orders, which will order agencies to review the administration regulations to determine whether they should be retained, amended or repealed,” Robert Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at George Washington University Law School, told Fox News Digital. Mark Chenoweth, president of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, particularly pointed to Biden-era regulations, saying they could be on the chopping block once Trump takes office, telling Fox News Digital, “the Biden administration did a lot of things that lacked statutory authority completely.” ‘EFFICIENT AND ACCOUNTABLE’: GOP-LED DOGE BILL AIMS TO SLASH OUTFLOW OF FEDERAL DOLLARS Chenoweth noted that the Biden administration has already been the target of lawsuits over its regulations and said that if Trump were to take those regulations on, “I think they’ll enjoy a lot of success.” Trump has already been vocal about his intentions of cutting back on federal agency power and slashing the flow of federal dollars. The president-elect has also announced he has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The entity will act as an advisory panel, not a government agency, and will be aimed at suggesting ways to dismantle government bureaucracy and restructure federal agencies in order to save costs and improve efficiency, according to Trump’s transition team. Regarding DOGE, Glicksman stated the Trump administration will “certainly take seriously” DOGE’s guidance on “cutting back on regulations, streamlining executive agencies, possibly even eliminating some agencies.” Both Chenoweth and Glicksman said they can foresee labor regulations becoming a target come January. Glicksman said climate change and environmental regulations could also come under fire. COMER TO CREATE DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRED BY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO WORK WITH ELON MUSK, VIVEK RAMASWAMY “In the labor area, because [the Biden administration has] been so radical, they really reached well beyond what the statutory authority that was given to NLRB or the Department of Labor with a lot of what they’ve done. So that’s one area that I could foresee,” Chenoweth said. Likewise, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Chevron doctrine in June of this year in its Loper Bright decision. The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency’s interpretation of a federal regulation. In its holding, the Supreme Court effectively scaled back administrative power in holding that “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.” ELON MUSK SAYS ‘ALL ACTIONS’ TAKEN BY DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY WILL BE ONLINE: ‘TRANSPARENCY’ Chenoweth, whose organization litigated on the matter, applauded the Loper Bright ruling, saying it “goes back to empowering Congress rather than the administrative agencies.” “For the last 40 years, the administrative state has been burgeoning because of this ability to, kind of, write law and create law itself when there’s a gap or ambiguity in the statute,” Chenoweth said. “Now, they’re not going to able to do that so much. And so it’s going to throw it back to Congress if we need to have reform in an area or new legislation.” Glicksman, however, said Loper Bright could “boomerang” on the Trump administration instead. “Had Chevron remained in effect, it would be Trump administration initiatives that would get the benefit of Chevron deference, but that’s no longer the case,” Glicksman said. “And so it’s possible that courts will look more rigorously or apply greater scrutiny to Trump administration initiatives in administrative law issues in administrative ones than they would have done had Loper Bright not been decided.” Glicksman said he can foresee such legal challenges unfolding specifically in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which notably tends to lean conservative in its rulings. Likewise, Glicksman predicts Democrat-led challenges to appear in the Ninth and D.C. Circuits. “I think you’ll see blue states led by California challenging those regulations, starting off probably in the Ninth Circuit and the D.C. Circuit, which are more friendly to agency authority than the Fifth Circuit and some other circuits. So you’ll see a skewing of litigation,” Glicksman said. Chenoweth stated that because so many Biden-era regulations “are so lacking in authority,” the circuit in which the lawsuit is started may very well not make much of a difference.
Utah senator coaches GOP aides on strategy for streamlining Trump’s agenda through Congress
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is convening training for Republican congressional staffers aimed at preparing them to smoothly steer segments of key parts of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda next year through Congress – specifically by mastering a crucial procedural tool known as budget reconciliation. Republicans are expected to use budget reconciliation to pass much of Trump’s tax and economic policies because it is not subject to the legislative filibuster and its 60-vote threshold. This means Republicans will be able to move it along with their Senate majority alone. On Nov. 18, Lee hosted the first of several trainings with the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) that featured presenters such as EPIC’s Director of Budget Policy Matthew Dickerson, Executive Vice President Brittany Madni and President and CEO Paul Winfree. SENATE GOP MOTIVATED TO RAPIDLY CONFIRM TRUMP NOMINATIONS AHEAD OF PARTY TRIFECTA IN WASHINGTON A GOP senate aide told Fox News Digital that the trainings for staffers are meant to familiarize them with the budget reconciliation process, which they noted can be complicated. In order for provisions to be included in reconciliation, they must meet the Senate rules governing the process. In order to be done through reconciliation, policies must be budgetary in nature, usually having to do with spending or the debt limit, for example. ‘CONVEYOR BELT OF RADICALS’: GOP SLAMMED OVER SENATE ABSENCES THAT HELPED BIDEN SCORE MORE JUDGES IN LAME DUCK In the past, Republicans have criticized their Democratic counterparts for stretching the interpretation of what can be included in reconciliation in order to pass their policies without 60 votes. However, the GOP has also signaled that they may look to find a way to include other conservative policies in the procedure now that they will have control of Congress. The GOP will have a 53-seat majority in the Senate in 2025 and 2026. They will be able to pass some policies through the reconciliation process, namely an extension to expiring parts of Trump’s signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from 2017. However, if Republicans are unable to fit other policy priorities into the budget reconciliation because they don’t meet the requirements for inclusion, they will need to attempt to get some Democrats on board in order to beat the legislative filibuster for normal bills. DSCC HOPEFUL GILLIBRAND SAYS DEMS SHOULD HAVE PUT IMMIGRATION FIX ON TABLE ‘2 YEARS AGO’ The first training was attended by 116 Republican congressional staffers representing more than 70 offices on Capitol Hill, per the Senate Republican Steering Committee. There will be additional events with different groups co-hosting as well. The aide explained that Lee and the committee wanted to make sure staff were prepared to take on reconciliation and pass Trump’s policies as fast as possible. GOP SENATOR DEBUTS BILL TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FOLLOWING TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROMISE This effort by Lee and the committee is also to make sure that the resulting budget reconciliation process represents a wide swath of congressional Republicans and not just leadership. By equipping staff with the knowledge and understanding they need about it, priorities of Republicans across the board can be considered and their input acknowledged.
Reps McGovern, Massie urge Biden to pardon Julian Assange to ‘send a clear message’ on press freedom
U.S. Reps. James McGovern, D-Mass., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote a letter to President Biden calling on him to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to “send a clear message” that his administration will not target journalistic activity. Assange, an Australian publisher, pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced to time served as part of a deal he reached with the U.S. Justice Department to end his imprisonment in London over charges for publishing classified U.S. military documents leaked to him by a source. Assange had spent years attempting to avoid extradition from the U.K. to the U.S. “We write, first, to express our appreciation for your administration’s decision last spring to facilitate a resolution of the criminal case against publisher Julian Assange and to withdraw the related extradition request that had been pending in the United Kingdom,” the lawmakers wrote to Biden. “This brought an end to Mr. Assange’s protracted detention and allowed him to reunite with his family and return to his home country of Australia.” Before his plea deal, Assange, 53, was facing 17 counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public, as well as one charge alleging conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The agreement helped him avoid the potential of spending up to 175 years in an American maximum security prison. WIKILEAKS’ JULIAN ASSANGE SAYS HE PLEADED ‘GUILTY TO JOURNALISM’ IN ORDER TO BE FREED The charges were brought by the Trump administration’s Justice Department over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, and the Biden administration had continued to pursue prosecution until the plea deal. The cables detailed alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, as well as instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition. WikiLeaks’ “Collateral Murder” video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 14 years ago. The lawmakers told Biden, who is set to leave office in January, that they are “deeply concerned that the agreement that ended the case required Mr. Assange to plead guilty to felony charges under section 793 of the Espionage Act,” highlighting that the decision to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act “set off alarms” among members of Congress, as well as advocates for freedom of expression and freedom of the press. In 2013, the Obama administration decided not to indict Assange over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of classified cables because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the same materials. President Obama also commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses to seven years in January 2017, and Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year. “Put simply, there is a long-standing and well-grounded concern that section 793, which criminalizes the obtaining, retaining, or disclosing of sensitive information, could be used against journalists and news organizations engaged in their normal activities, particularly those who cover national security topics. This risk reportedly informed the Obama administration’s decision not to prosecute Mr. Assange,” McGovern and Massie wrote. JULIAN ASSANGE SECURES FREEDOM FOLLOWING PLEA DEAL WITH US, SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED Assange had been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since being removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped over lack of evidence. He was the first journalist to be charged under the Espionage Act. “The terms of Mr. Assange’s plea agreement have now set a precedent that greatly deepens our concern,” the letter reads. “A review of prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes clear that Mr. Assange’s case is the first time the Act has been deployed against a publisher.” The congressmen said they share the view of Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who reacted to the plea agreement by saying: “While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers.” “We therefore urge you to consider issuing a pardon for Mr. Assange,” the lawmakers wrote. “A pardon would remove the precedent set by the plea and send a clear message that the U.S. government under your leadership will not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs.” Last year, as Assange was still in prison in London fighting extradition to the U.S., McGovern and Massie led a letter to Biden signed by a bipartisan group of congressional colleagues urging the president to drop the case against Assange. Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, is returning to Washington, D.C., in January as part of a campaign calling on Biden to pardon the WikiLeaks founder before leaving office. JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, REACHES PLEA DEAL TO AVOID PRISON IN US Shipton and Assange’s wife, Stella, have asked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who before the plea deal had called for an end to Assange’s prosecution and said he had raised the case with Biden, to urge the president to issue a pardon in his farewell phone call with the outgoing commander in chief. As a condition of his plea, Assange was required to destroy classified information provided to WikiLeaks. During his sentencing hearing in June in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, U.S. District Judge Ramona Manglona noted that the U.S. government admitted that there is no evidence that WikiLeaks’ publications put anyone in harms way. “The government has indicated there is no personal victim here. That tells me the
Trump hit for hiring loyalists like Pam Bondi: Doesn’t every president do that?
It’s spat out like a dirty word. Donald Trump – take a deep breath – is hiring loyalists. The president-elect – can you imagine?? – is nominating people he knows will support him. He’s used plenty of curse words, but nothing said by the media is more disdainful than loyalists. TRUMP DROPPED MATT GAETZ AFTER COMPLAINING ABOUT HIGH POLITICAL COST OF DEFENDING HIM Now stop and think: Doesn’t every president hire loyalists? Didn’t Joe Biden surround himself with folks who had been with him for decades? Ron Klain, Steve Richetti and Tom Donilon created a protective bubble around the president. But few, if any, prognosticators dismissed them as loyalists. Why? The press generally approved of Biden’s picks, including Tony Blinken; the non-communicative Lloyd Austin (who didn’t tell the boss about his cancer surgery), and the equally non-communicative Janet Yellen. The only person who stood out for great TV skills was Pete Buttigieg, the former presidential candidate and outgoing Transportation secretary. It’s hardly a recent development. George Washington took a team-of-rivals approach, naming Thomas Jefferson secretary of state and Alexander Hamilton as treasury secretary. So did Abraham Lincoln, with Salmon Chase as treasury secretary and William Seward as secretary of war. But if Trump picks people he expects to support him, the knee-jerk media reaction is that they’re dangerous to the country and will run roughshod over the rule of law. Trump didn’t make much use of his Cabinet in his first term and I doubt he will this time, except for a handful of top positions. Besides, he runs the show. Any Cabinet member who strays off the reservation can get fired, “Apprentice”-style. Serving at the pleasure of the president and all that. HACKER OBTAINS HOUSE ETHICS TESTIMONY ON MATT GAETZ AS TRUMP MAKES CALLS FOR AG NOMINEE For what it’s worth, Trump wound up with an ideologically balanced Cabinet. The first wave – from Marco Rubio as secretary of state to a spate of current and former members of Congress – is generally impressive. But then there was the fiasco over Matt Gaetz, now charging hundreds of dollars for Cameo videos, and such controversial nominees as Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard. And also Dr. Oz. Not to mention animosity toward pro-union Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as labor secretary. It’s quite obvious that the president-elect likes people he’s seen on TV, and he watches a lot of Fox News. But consider: Jen Psaki and Symone Sanders-Townsend were both CNN contributors when they joined the Biden campaign and then held top jobs in the White House. Now they’re hosting or co-hosting shows on MSNBC. Nobody bats an eye because they’re viewed as good guys joining the right team. From Fox, Trump has picked Army combat veteran Hegseth; ex-Congressman Sean Duffy, a FOX Business co-host, and two frequent medical commentators. What’s fascinating is the way many in the media have turned on Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and career prosecutor who possesses the experience Gaetz lacked. TRUMP, DEFYING MEDIA PREDICTIONS, MAINLY PICKS SEASONED CAPITOL HILL VETERANS SUCH AS MARCO RUBIO Sure, Bondi has said plenty of partisan things over the years, such as “prosecuting the prosecutors,” then quickly adding, “the bad ones.” She was part of Trump’s first impeachment legal team and then ran the legal arm of a pro-Trump PAC. Bondi was passed over in the first Trump term because she accepted a $25,000 campaign donation from Trump’s foundation while her office was conducting a probe of Trump University (itself a mess). In 2013, Bondi accepted a $25,000 campaign donation from Trump’s foundation at the same time her office was conducting a fraud investigation into Trump University. “Her acceptance of the donation coincided with her decision not to bring fraud charges against Trump University,” says MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade. No evidence of a quid pro quo emerged. And a Florida ethics panel cleared her of any wrongdoing. But that’s old news now. “Bondi has shown a taste for vengeance herself — at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Bondi embraced chants of ‘lock her up,’” McQuade says. “Even joking about jailing a political opponent is an insult to the rule of law.” But wait – didn’t Barack Obama’s AG, Eric Holder, describe himself as the president’s “wingman”? There’s clearly a different standard for Democrats. Rachel Maddow producer Steve Benen says Bondi “falsely accused then-special counsel Robert Mueller of leading a ‘corrupt’ investigation that was “worse than Watergate.’” On the other hand, Dave Aronberg, now state’s attorney for Palm Beach County, lost his race to challenge Bondi as AG, but she hired him anyway as drug czar. “She’s someone who believes in the rule of law..I do not believe she will be Matt Gaetz 2.0. She is not going to burn it all down.” I suppose it comes down to a question of trust. The pro-Kamala media refuse to give many Trump nominees the benefit of the doubt. Bondi has criticized the weaponization of the DOJ. You might even call her a loyalist. But she will be the new attorney general, and that will be the ultimate test.
Jay Bhattacharya, prominent physician and economist, nominated by Trump for NIH director
Stanford-trained physician and economist Jay Bhattacharya has officially been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, writing: “I am thrilled to nominate Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives.” Bhattacharya met this week with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH and other health agencies, and impressed the former presidential candidate with his ideas to overhaul the NIH, which oversees U.S. biomedical research, according to a report by The Washington Post. The NIH also awards funding grants to hundreds of thousands of researchers, oversees clinical trials on its Maryland campus and supports a variety of efforts to develop drugs and therapeutics. The nominee for the NIH director must be confirmed by the Senate, which will have a Republican majority beginning in January. TRUMP PICKS DR. MARTY MAKARY AS FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATOR COMMISSIONER Bhattacharya has called for moving the NIH’s focus toward funding more innovative research and cutting the influence of some of its longest-serving officials. Kennedy Jr. has played a central role in choosing top health care staff and deputies for Trump’s next administration, including Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary, who Trump selected to lead the Food and Drug Administration, and internal medicine physician and former Republican congressman from Florida Dave Weldon, who Trump chose to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the report. Bhattacharya and Makary worked together on a blueprint for a proposed commission to investigate the nation’s coronavirus response, the report noted. Trump’s selections of Makary, Weldon and family and emergency medicine physician Janette Nesheiwat, who the president-elect nominated to serve as surgeon general, also must be confirmed by the Senate. TRUMP APPOINTS DR. OZ TO KEY HHS POSITION IN NEW ADMINISTRATION Bhattacharya was a prominent critic of the federal government’s COVID-19 response during the early days of the pandemic. He co-wrote an open letter in October 2020, during Trump’s first term, that called for the government to roll back pandemic shutdowns but maintain “focused protections” for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly. The suggestion was supported by Republican lawmakers and many Americans who were critical of shutdowns and wanted to return to pre-pandemic life. However, public health experts, including then-NIH Director Francis S. Collins, criticized the proposal as premature and dangerous amid the spread of COVID-19 at a time when vaccines were not yet available. Bhattacharya has also called for rolling back the power of some of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the NIH, arguing that some career civil servants wrongly shaped national policies at the height of the pandemic and did not allow dissenting perspectives. He, along with other critics of the agency, have criticized former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, who helped shape the nation’s coronavirus response during the Trump and Biden administrations before leaving the federal government in December 2022. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The NIH has also been investigated by congressional lawmakers over the pandemic response, with Republicans charging that the agency’s leaders mismanaged the response to the virus and calling for the agency to be overhauled. Current and former NIH officials, including Fauci, have defended the agency’s response, arguing that federal leaders generally did the best that they could to address the virus.
Trump taps Jamieson Greer for US trade representative, announces more picks
President-elect Trump announced a slew of appointments as his team prepares to transition to the White House next year. The incoming president announced Jamieson Greer as his pick to serve as the next U.S. trade representative. Greer previously served as chief of staff to the trade representative during Trump’s first term, Robert Lighthizer at a time when the administration implemented tariffs on China and other nations. Greer will have to be confirmed by the Senate. Also nominated will be Jim O’Neill to serve as the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been tapped to lead the agency. GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR? O’Neill, who served principal associate deputy secretary of HHS, “will fight in unison to ensure every American, and especially our most precious resource, our children, will live long and healthy lives and, Make America Great and Healthy Again!” said Trump. Trump also tapped Vince Haley, who served speechwriter during his campaign, to serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Kevin A. Hassett to lead the White House National Economic Council. “I am proud to announce that Vince Haley, who served as Director of Policy and Speechwriting on my Winning Campaign, will lead my Domestic Policy Agenda as Director of the Domestic Policy Council,” Trump said in a statement. RFK JR’S ABORTION ‘ISSUE’: SENATE GOP PLANS TO SCRUTINIZE TRUMP HHS PICK’S POSITION “Vince helped lead the Speechwriting Department in my First Administration, working to convey our message to the Public,” he added. “Prior to joining my 2016 Campaign, he worked for twelve years in a variety of roles for Newt Gingrich, a man who I greatly respect.” Haley served as policy director and campaign manager for Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign. In his new role, Haley will lead Trump’s domestic agenda, the incoming president said. Hassett played a crucial role in helping design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. “He will play an important role in helping American families recover from the Inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration,” Trump said. “Together, we will renew and improve our record Tax Cuts, and ensure that we have Fair Trade with Countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past.” Businessman John Phelan will serve as the next secretary of the Navy as well. “John will be a tremendous force for our Naval Servicemembers, and a steadfast leader in advancing my America First vision,” Trump said. “He will put the business of the U.S. Navy above all else.”
Trump’s approval ratings jump in post-election poll while Biden’s figures sink to 4-year low
President-elect Trump is enjoying a bump in favorability since winning a second White House term earlier this month, while figures for outgoing President Biden sank to a four-year-low, according to a new poll. An Emerson College poll found both men trending in opposite directions, with Trump’s favorability jumping six points to 54% after the Nov. 5 election. Biden, on the other hand, has a 36% job approval rating. Disapproval of Biden remains steady at 52%, the poll found. TRUMP APPEARED ON JOE ROGAN’S PODCAST FOR NEARLY THREE HOURS: HERE ARE THE TOP MOMENTS “Trump’s favorability varies significantly by gender, race and age,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Trump’s strongest age cohort is among voters 40-59, with 60% viewing him favorably, compared to 48% among those over 70. Notably, his favorability has risen among younger voters, with 55% of those under 30 expressing a favorable opinion.” Trump polled best with men at 61%, compared to 48% of women. In terms of race, 59% of White voters viewed Trump positively, compared to 53% of Hispanics and 28% of Black voters. The incoming president never cracked 50% approval during his first administration or post-presidency before his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Gallup, the New York Post reported. When asked if they were surprised by the results of the 2024 election, 46% of respondents said they were, while 54% were not. HARRIS CAMPAIGN CHAIR FUMES ABOUT NARRATIVE SHE WAS AFRAID TO DO INTERVIEWS: ‘COMPLETELY BULLS—‘ “There is a sharp difference in reaction to the election results based on who voters supported: 67% of Harris voters were surprised by the results, while 71% of Trump voters were not surprised by his victory,” Kimball said. Looking ahead to 2028, voters were asked about a hypothetical field of candidates. Vice President-elect JD Vance led the field with support from 30% of respondents. He was followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 5%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 3% and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Nikki Haley tied at 2%. Harris led the field of Democrats with 37%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 7% and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 4%.
Trump demands New York AG Letitia James drop civil fraud case ‘for the greater good of the country’
EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are demanding that New York Attorney General Letitia James drop her civil fraud case against him, his family and his businesses “for the greater good of the country,” Fox News Digital has learned. “In furtherance of our conversations with your office, we write to request that you completely dismiss the above-referenced case against President Donald J. Trump, his family, and his businesses, and stipulate to vacate the Judgment and dismiss all claims with prejudice,” Trump attorney D. John Sauer wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. NEW YORK APPEALS COURT APPEARS RECEPTIVE TO REVERSING OR REDUCING $454M TRUMP CIVIL FRAUD JUDGMENT Trump was ordered to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment in James’ lawsuit against him. Trump has appealed the ruling, and judges on a New York appeals court seemed open-minded and receptive to potentially reversing the judgment altogether. Sauer, though, pointed to Trump’s “historic election victory.” “President Trump has called for our Nation’s partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country,” Sauer wrote. “This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle.” Sauer, who was nominated as solicitor general in the second Trump administration, called the cases against Trump to have been “a flashpoint of national partisan division.” “As counsel for President Trump in this appeal—and now as his nominee for Solicitor General of the United States—I have had the opportunity to experience this partisan division personally, and I strongly believe that it is necessary for the health of our Republic for the strife and lawfare to end.” He added, “You now have the singular opportunity to help cure this division.” Sauer’s letter comes after a string of legal victories for Trump and his legal team, coordinated by senior legal adviser Boris Epshteyn. Sauer pointed to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s recent request, which was granted by federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, to dismiss his case against Trump related to the 2020 election. Smith also tossed his appeal in the classified records case on Monday after a federal judge dismissed the charges altogether in July, ruling that he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.” In New York v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule. “This case warrants the same treatment,” Sauer wrote. Sauer reminded that in James’ case “the statute of limitations bars claims and liability.” TRUMP’S $454M JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING Sauer also reminded that her case involves “no victims, no complaints, no misstatements, no causation, and no injuries or losses.” “Instead, President Trump provided clear and unambiguous disclaimers to sophisticated commercial parties who made decisions based on their own due diligence,” Sauer wrote. “Every loan and insurance payment was made in full, and either on time or early.” Sauer said Trump’s business partners “were delighted with these transactions” and “benefited enormously, making over $100 million in profits.” Sauer said the evidence “definitively demonstrates that the defendants’ counterparties were not deceived, that they performed their own due diligence and eagerly sought, and embraced, the highly profitable business transactions, and that the challenged statements did not affect the terms of any transaction.” “As noted above, they were paid back in full, on time or early,” he said. Sauer said “the chilling effect generated by this case is crushing to businesses across New York, who are being forced to flee to friendlier States where such standardless enforcement and excessive punishment are not found.” “President Trump is one of the most successful developers in the history of New York,” Sauer said. “He rebuilt the New York skyline, created thousands of jobs, rescued and rejuvenated historic Wollman Rink, developed the $3 billion West Side Railyards from 59th to 72nd Street in Manhattan, was deeply involved in developing the Jacob Javits Center, and is singularly responsible for many other successes,” Sauer wrote. “This lawsuit against him ‘vindicates no public purpose.’” Sauer pointed to Trump’s landslide victory and his pending inauguration as the 47th president. He also noted remarks by past presidents, specifically on Oct. 3, 1863, during “the time of our Nation’s greatest division,” when President Lincoln issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation. “President Lincoln called for the American people to set aside their bitter divisions so that the blessings of liberty could be ‘solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.’” Sauer wrote. “He urged all Americans to ‘fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.’” Sauer added, “Invoking the same spirit of unity, we request that you stipulate to the vacatur of the Judgment and dismissal of this case with prejudice.” TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT NEW YORK AG CASE ‘ALL THE WAY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT,’ AS DEADLINE TO POST $454M LOOMS Sauer’s letter comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled this year that Trump and other defendants were liable for persistent and repeated fraud, falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, conspiracy to falsify false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. In September 2023, before the non-jury trial began, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing. Trump was hit with an initial penalty of $355 million. That sum is quickly increasing via interest accruals of approximately $112,000 a day until paid in full, now sitting around $470 million. Trump’s legal team said the initial requested bond was “unprecedented for