Category Archives: Matt Gaetz

‘A Russian asset’: Democrats slam Trump’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence

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Some of his other nominees – Matt Gaetz for AG and Peter Hegseth for defense head – were also condemned

Democratic lawmakers are slamming Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, saying their former House colleague is a vocal supporter of Russia who poses a threat to US national intelligence.

Jason Crow, a House Democrat from Colorado and a member of the House intelligence committee, told NBC News that he has “deep questions about where her loyalties lie”.

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Trump skips FBI background checks for controversial cabinet picks – report

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Bypassing the standard procedure comes as president-elect’s choices of RFK Jr and Matt Gaetz send shockwaves

Donald Trump’s transition team has bypassed standard background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on some of his controversial cabinet nominees, it has been reported, minimising the chances of them being rejected for Senate confirmation based on any past transgressions or conflicts of interest.

Such background checks – a longstanding tradition for incoming presidential nominations dating back decades to the early cold war – have instead been outsourced to private investigators.

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Trump names Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary – live

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Leavitt was Trump campaign’s national press secretary and assistant press secretary in first administration. This blog is now closed.

Republicans are set to take control of the Senate next year, where one of their first jobs will be to confirm Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. Should they object to the president-elect’s picks, he has threatened to make use of recess appointments, an archaic tactic that would allow him to circumvent the chamber and its objectors. Here’s more on how that would work, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve:

Several Republican senators expressed shock on Wednesday when Donald Trump announced he would nominate Matt Gaetz, the hard-right congressman known for instigating fights with members of his own party, as attorney general.

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