Political Brief: Trump appointment list, the best post-election articles, global reactions to Trump victory

Dear Friends,

We’re baaaaaaack. Donald Trump is now President-elect, and we know you’re wanting a podcast episode from us. Michael has been on nonstop travel, but we promise to get to it soon!

In the meantime, if you want to broadly know what Michael is thinking, you can read his statement via CCPL.

This is Wear We Are,

Michael & Melissa

Trump appointments and movements

• To note, many of these appointments typically require confirmation by the Senate. Last Sunday, Trump indicated on Truth Social he would like the new Senate majority leader to allow recess appointments (aka bypass Senate confirmation) for his appointments.

  • White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles

  • Secretary of State: Marco Rubio

  • Attorney General: Matt Gaetz (There was, up until this appointment announcement, a pending House Ethics Committee investigation into sexual misconduct and illicit drug use allegations against Gaetz) (NYT)

  • Deputy Attorney General: Todd Blanche 

  • HHS Secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

  • U.N. Ambassador: Elise Stefanik

  • "Border czar": Tom Homan

  • Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth (Hegseth is involved in sexual assault allegations) (Politico)

  • Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins

  • National Security Adviser: Michael Waltz

  • Interior Secretary: Doug Burgum

  • White House Counsel: William McGinley

  • Solicitor General: Dean John Sauer

  • Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem

  • CIA Director: John Ratcliffe

  • Director of national intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

  • EPA Administrator: Lee Zeldin

  • U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee

  • U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton

  • Deputy Chief of Staff: Dan Scavino

  • Deputy Chief of Staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller

  • Deputy Chief of Staff for legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair

  • Deputy Chief of Staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich

  • Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor

  • White House Communications Director: Steven Cheung

  • White House Press Secretary: Karoline Leavitt

  • Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright

  • Federal Communications Commission: Brendan Carr

• Trump will create a brand new entity, though it is not an official department of the government — the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — and it will feature two heads: billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Congress approves all government spending, so it will be interesting to see exactly how this entity recommends cuts to government programs. Musk says he’ll be looking for $2 trillion in savings in a nearly $7 trillion budget — an impossible sounding task. (CBS)

Op-eds and interviews we’ve found helpful or interesting in their perspective on the post-election landscape