All articles tagged with #government appointments and nominations
Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal-defense lawyer, is sworn in as attorney general but faces a DOJ strained by vacancies and low morale, while balancing the president’s demands with legal obligations amid a skeptical judiciary and ongoing investigations.
Trump canceled the Senate confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to lead the intelligence community, saying Bill Pulte will remain acting DNI for now, and Sen. Tom Cotton said the president directed Clayton not to appear.
President Trump said he plans to nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, as the next director of national intelligence, praising his legal reputation; the move follows pushback over Bill Pulte, who had been appointed to lead intelligence efforts but lacks intelligence experience, and Trump urged Senate confirmation.
Trump named Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a longtime Trump ally with no intelligence background, as acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard who is stepping down to care for her husband; the move raises questions about qualifications for the DNI post.
Tulsi Gabbard announced she is resigning as Director of National Intelligence, citing her husband’s diagnosis with an extremely rare bone cancer; she told the White House June 30 would be her last day, ending a tenure marked by limited access to Trump’s inner circle despite pushing his priorities.
President Trump announced Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and Fox News contributor, as the new surgeon general, ending Casey Means’s nomination after nearly a year of stalled confirmation amid Republican concerns about her credentials. Saphier is Trump’s third choice for the post and was praised by the president as an effective communicator; Means’s nomination had faced scrutiny and delays in the Senate.
Dissent within the Federal Reserve over deregulation is slowing its decision-making and could complicate Kevin Warsh’s Senate confirmation as the next Fed chair, potentially hindering President Trump’s Wall Street deregulation agenda. Warsh says he would maintain Fed independence on interest rates while allowing more administration influence on regulation, a stance that could exacerbate intra-Fed splits and affect regulatory moves tied to Trump’s priorities.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s labor secretary, is resigning amid professional misconduct allegations, becoming the third Cabinet member to depart in Trump’s second term; the White House says she will move to the private sector (destination not announced) and deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling will become acting head. The accusations arise from a Labor Department inspector general complaint alleging misconduct including taxpayer-funded personal travel, and the report also references sexual misconduct allegations against Chavez-DeRemer’s husband; the story is developing with updates to come.
Sebastian Gorka, a national security adviser to President Trump, is seeking to become the next head of the National Counterterrorism Center, a post that would give him broad authority over the U.S. counterterrorism apparatus, according to four people familiar with the matter; the bid comes a month after Joe Kent, the NCTC’s previous director, resigned in protest over Iran policy.
President Trump threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he doesn’t step down and refused to halt the Justice Department’s probe into the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation, a move that tests the central bank’s independence and complicates Powell’s departure timeline and the nomination process for his replacement.
As Powell’s term as Fed chair expires on May 15, the Trump administration appears poised to challenge his plan to stay on as acting chair if Senate Republicans do not confirm Kevin Warsh, setting up a confrontation over who leads the Fed and potentially shaping its policy path depending on Warsh’s fate.
The White House has delayed nominating a permanent CDC director and is continuing a leadership search, leaving Jay Bhattacharya as acting CDC director to oversee the agency amid political and operational risks complicating health appointments.
Jerome Powell said he would remain Fed chair past his term’s mid-May end if a successor hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate, and would stay on the Fed board until any criminal probe is resolved, effectively blocking President Trump’s efforts to force a leadership shakeup at the central bank.
Richard Grenell, the Trump ally tapped to lead the Kennedy Center, is stepping down after a year marked by staff departures, artist cancellations, and sagging ticket sales as renovations loom.
President Trump announced he will nominate Brett Matsumoto, a White House economist and veteran staffer, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, filling the post left vacant after he dismissed the prior commissioner following a weak jobs report.