Coverage on this live blog has ended.
What to watch in Washington today
- President-elect Donald Trump continues to build out his Cabinet ahead of his inauguration, announcing today that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, is his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The pick has been met with mixed reactions from senators.
- Trump also this evening announced he'd tapped Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, former Rep. Doug Collins to be secretary of veterans affairs and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary of the interior.
- A gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida today. Trump himself took the stage and announced the selection of Burgum.
- Trump announced three picks yesterday, including Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. The selection of Gaetz, R-Fla., who offered his resignation from the House after the announcement, stunned many Senate Republicans, who warned his road to confirmation is not likely to be smooth.
China competition should be top priority for Trump, Sullivan says, as Biden and Xi prepare for final meeting
The U.S. competition with China should be a “paramount priority” for the incoming Trump administration, as it will define the global landscape in the coming decades, a top Biden official said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the people Trump is picking for key roles that influence China policy, including Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., as his own successor and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to be secretary of state, “have very much focused on that challenge, and we’ll look forward to talking to them about how we’ve approached it and obviously pass on the current state of play.”
Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet for what is most likely the final time Saturday in Lima, Peru, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It is their first meeting in person since last year’s APEC forum in California and their first time speaking since a phone call in April.
Sullivan said Biden would emphasize to Xi the importance of maintaining communication “at every level, particularly the military-to-military level.”
“There is actual work to do in this critical moment between the U.S. and China to ensure that we don’t run into any problems in the next two months in this transition of power,” he said.
Jim Himes says 'truth and analysis are not what drive’ Gabbard and Gaetz
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss Trump’s Cabinet selections, giving his insight on how their roles could reshape foreign and domestic policy and intensify division in the U.S.
Trump praises RFK Jr. in Mar-a-Lago remarks
Trump praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his remarks at Mar-a-Lago, calling his pick to lead HHS "a great guy and so popular."
"He wants to make people healthy," Trump said. "It’s driven him pretty wild over the last number of years, and the Democrats didn’t treat him well."
Later he joked, "Don't get too popular, Bobby."
"You know, you’ve reached about the level," he said as the audience laughed. "No, we want you to come up with things and ideas and what you’ve been talking about for a long time, and I think you’re going to do some unbelievable thing."
Trump announces North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his pick for interior secretary
Trump announced tonight that he plans to select North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his nominee to be interior secretary.
“We have a big announcement, and I won’t tell you, it’s — I won’t tell you the name of his, the exact name,” Trump teased during his remarks at Mar-a-Lago for an America First Policy Institute event. “I think he’s an incredible person, got an unbelievably wonderful wife named Kathryn. So, I won’t tell you — his name might be something like ‘Burgum.’ Burgum.
“He’s from North Dakota. He’s going to be announced tomorrow for a very big position,” Trump added before he pointed to and waved at Burgum.
House Ethics Committee cancels meeting at which Gaetz probe was on the agenda
Tomorrow morning’s House Ethics Committee meeting has been canceled, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The bipartisan 10-member panel had been expected to discuss, among other things, whether to release its report on a yearslong investigation into Gaetz, Trump's pick for attorney general.
Trump picks former Rep. Doug Collins for veterans affairs secretary
Trump said today that he will nominate Doug Collins, a former House member from Georgia, to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs in his administration.
Collins, an Iraq war veteran who left Congress in 2021, was a fierce defender of Trump during his 2019 impeachment inquiry.
Trump to nominate his criminal defense lawyer for deputy attorney general
Trump said today he’s nominating Todd Blanche, one of his criminal defense lawyers, to be deputy attorney general.
“Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long,” Trump said in a statement.
From ‘brilliant’ to ‘dangerous’: Mixed reactions roll in after Trump picks RFK Jr. for top health post
In the hours after Trump announced that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was his pick for secretary of health and human services, mixed reactions began rolling in from the senators needed to support his confirmation.
Trump’s Cabinet selections will face Senate confirmation votes — and unconventional picks like Kennedy could face a bumpy process in a Republican-controlled Senate with little room for error.
Donald Trump Jr. says he played key role in RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard picks
On an episode of his "Triggered" podcast tonight, Donald Trump Jr. indicated that he played a major role in his dad's announcing plans to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
"I did what I said I was going to do. A lot more to be done, obviously, but those were a couple other big ones where I went out on a limb and just want to make sure that we understand that I’m a man of my word, so we’re following through on our promises," Trump Jr. said.
He said on an episode of his podcast last week that he would ensure Kennedy “has a voice” in the incoming administration. He also raised concerns about the challenges of a Senate confirmation for Kennedy.
NBC News reported last week that the president-elect’s son is viewed as a final gatekeeper for people looking to work in the administration.
Jared Polis offers surprising words of support for RFK Jr. pick for HHS secretary
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, offered surprising words of support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after Trump announced him as his pick to become secretary of health and human services.
"I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov," Polis wrote in a lengthy post on X. "He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA."
"I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health," he continued, adding later that he looks forward to "partnering with him to truly make America healthy again."
Kennedy responded by thanking Polis, saying on X, "I look forward to working with you. MAHA," a reference to "Make America Healthy Again."
In a subsequent post, Polis said, "Science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety," and argued that "the impact of pesticides on public health, ag policy on nutrition, and the lack of access to prescription drugs due to drug high prices" should be areas of national concern.
Polis also noted that he is vaccinated, a reference to Kennedy's criticism of several vaccines.
