Trump taps Brooke Rollins for agriculture secretary; Pam Bondi selected for attorney general after Gaetz withdraws: Live

“Matt Gaetz is out? But his nomination was only eight days old,’ Meyers said.

“Once again, he can’t even make it to 18,” he quipped.

Rhian Lubin has the story.

Bondi, 59, who served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019 and represented the president-elect at his first impeachment trial in the Senate, is both an experienced public official and a long-time Trump ally.

Gaetz reacted to the choice on X by calling her “a stellar selection” as well as “a proven litigator, an inspiring leader and a champion for all Americans”.

South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham was even more effusive, posting: “Well done, Mr President. Picking Pam Bondi for Attorney General is a grand slam, touchdown, hole in one, ace, hat trick, slam dunk, Olympic gold medal pick. She will be confirmed quickly because she deserves to be confirmed quickly.”

Here’s what you need to know about her.

Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first Trump administration is sounding the alarm about alarming trends in infectious diseases.

He says he hopes the incoming administration has a strong response plan and can ensure vaccine confidence stays high “or they’ll be distracted with outbreaks for 4 years this time instead of 1.”

Attorneys for election workers that Rudy Giuliani defamed wrote a scathing letter accusing the former New York City mayor of launching a crusade meant to “to obstruct and intimidate” them as they try to recover his assets.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who is leading the newly formed Senate DOGE Caucus in support of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency, today met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

They were joined at lunch by Musk and Howard Lutnick, who is nominated to be secretary of commerce.

The chief executive of Delta Air Lines says the incoming Trump administration will be a “breath of fresh air” for airlines after what he called government “overreach” under President Joe Biden.

The airline industry has chafed under consumer-protection regulations imposed by the Biden administration. And Delta is facing a federal investigation into its slow recovery from a global technology outage this summer.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian made the comment as he and fellow Delta executives prepared to host Wall Street analysts at an investor day Wednesday in Atlanta.

• Agriculture – Brooke Rollins
• Commerce – Howard Lutnick
• Defense – Pete Hegseth
• Education – Linda McMahon
• Energy – Chris Wright
• HHS – RFK Jr.
• Homeland Security – Kristi Noem
• HUD – Scott Turner
• Interior – Doug Burgum
• Labor – Lori Chavez-DeReme
• State – Marco Rubio
• Transportation – Sean Duffy
• Treasury – Scott Bessent
• Veterans Affairs – Doug Collins
• Attorney General – Pam Bondi

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of defense, has called for an “educational insurgency” to take over American schools in an appearance on a right-wing podcast.

During a CrossPolitic discussion about religiously affiliated schools, Hegseth explained his idea for a system of “classical Christian schools” to provide “recruits” for an underground army that could eventually launch an “educational insurgency”.

As first reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier today, Donald Trump has picked Founder and CEO of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins as his choice to be secretary of agriculture.

The president-elect released the following statement:

It is my Great Honor to nominate Brooke L. Rollins, from the Great State of Texas, to serve as the 33rd United States Secretary of Agriculture.

Brooke was on my 2016 Economic Advisory Council, and did an incredible job during my First Term as the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Director of the Office of American Innovation, and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives. In these roles, she helped develop and manage the transformational Domestic Policy Agenda of my Administration. Brooke has spent the past four years as the Founder and CEO of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and America First Works (AFW), building a team of loyal Patriots, and championing the Policies of our America First Agenda.

Brooke’s commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none. A proud Graduate of Texas A&M University, Brooke earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Agriculture Development, and J.D., with Honors. From her upbringing in the small and Agriculture-centered town of Glen Rose, Texas, to her years of leadership involvement with Future Farmers of America and 4H, to her generational Family Farming background, to guiding her four kids in their show cattle careers, Brooke has a practitioner’s experience, along with deep Policy credentials in both Nonprofit and Government leadership at the State and National levels.

As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country. Congratulations Brooke!

Earlier reporting indicated that Trump might pick former Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler.