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President-elect Donald Trump has started selecting the pivotal aides who will make up his second administration.
In a major move on Monday, Trump tapped Stephen Miller, one of his longest-serving immigration advisers, as deputy chief of staff for policy in the incoming White House. Miller’s appointment comes after Trump campaigned for president in 2024 on mobilizing mass deportations of immigrants in the country unlawfully.
Trump also chose former Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Tom Homan, the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will become a “border czar” overseeing deportation policy.
And the president-elect named Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be the next ambassador to the United Nations, and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to serve as his national security adviser
Trump’s choices come as Republicans are poised to keep control of the House. Remember, a party needs 218 seats to lead the lower chamber, and Republicans have locked up 213 so far compared to Democrats’ 205.
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Donald Trump to pick Kristi Noem to head Homeland Security: Reports
Donald Trump is expected to pick South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, according to multiple news reports.
CNN first reported that Noem was Trump’s choice to become Homeland Security secretary. Noem, a longtime Trump loyalist who joined Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, served as a South Dakota Republican congresswoman from 2011 to 2019. She was elected the state’s first female governor in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
A rancher, farmer and small-business owner, the 52-year-old Noem was briefly under consideration as Trump’s vice presidential running-mate this year. But her bid quickly crumbled amid a public backlash after Noem acknowledged in a memoir earlier this year that she shot and killed her dog Cricket for being “untrainable.”
− Joey Garrison
Donald Trump picks Mike Waltz as national security adviser
Donald Trump has asked Florida congressman Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser, according to two sources familiar with his selection.
Waltz, 50, is set join the new administration as it navigates several tense geopolitical fights, including the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. The role Trump asked Waltz to serve in does not require Senate confirmation.
The three-term lawmaker has been a member of the House Armed Services Committee, served in civilian roles at the Pentagon and is a decorated Green Beret combat veteran. He’s also an outspoken critic of the Defense Department’s diversity programs.
− Tom Vanden Brook and David Jackson
Donald Trump picks Lee Zeldin, former New York congressman, to lead EPA
Donald Trump tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
As the head of the EPA, Zeldin is expected to be tasked with rolling back many of the environmental regulations from the Biden administration while Trump pushes an expansion of fossil-fuel energy.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards.”
− Joey Garrison
Stephen Miller named Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy
Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miller, one of his longest-serving top immigration advisers, as deputy chief of staff for policy in the incoming White House.
Vice President-elect JD Vance congratulated Miller on his new role in a post on X after CNN first reported the move. “This is another fantastic pick by the president,” Vance said.
Miller’s appointment comes after Trump campaigned for president in 2024 on mobilizing mass deportations of undocumented immigrants who are in the country unlawfully.
Miller, 39, served as senior advisor to Trump and director of speechwriting during the Republican’s first term in the White House and is credited with shaping Trump’s immigration policies, which included separating migrant children from their families and a ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries. Miller played a central role in Trump’s 2024 campaign.
– Joey Garrison
Who is Elise Stefanik? Donald Trump picks major House ally to be next UN ambassador
Donald Trump named Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be the next ambassador to the United Nations, according to multiple reports. The New York lawmaker has accepted the offer.
Trump’s nomination of Stefanik, a longtime congressional ally, is his first cabinet pick after being reelected Tuesday for a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House.
One of Stefanik’s most prominent moments came last year during a congressional hearing with college presidents from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT. During the hearing, she asked them whether calling for the genocide of Jews warranted disciplinary action.
All three presidents waffled and dodged the question, instead offering legal responses without directly condemning calling for the genocide of Jews. Two of the presidents, Penn’s Liz Magill, and Harvard’s Claudine Gay, have since left their posts.
– Savannah Kuchar
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