President-elect Donald Trump is nominating former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel and appointing real estate investor Steve Witkoff as a special envoy to the Middle East, tapping two key allies to help formulate and implement his policies for the region.
Trump announced the selections Tuesday, praising Huckabee as someone who “loves Israel, and the people of Israel” and saying in a statement he would “work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East.”
Witkoff, the founder of the Witkoff Group, was a prominent fundraiser for Trump during this year’s election. Trump, in a statement, called Witkoff a “Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy” who would be an “unrelenting Voice for PEACE.”
Huckabee is a prominent religious conservative and his selection as Israel envoy is likely to be cheered by that bloc, which was critical to propelling Trump to the White House in both 2016 and in last week’s election. He is also the father of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former White House press secretary and the current Arkansas governor.
Witkoff and Huckabee — if the latter is confirmed by the U.S. Senate — would assume their posts amid the Israel-Hamas war and heightened hostilities between Israel and Iran. Trump has said he hopes to bring an end to the conflicts.
Trump’s move to line up the two envoys for one of the incoming administration’s top foreign policy priorities comes as he is slated to meet with House Republicans on Wednesday, with his party awaiting the prospect of scoring a trifecta in Washington that would see the party control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the meeting during a news conference, adding that the details were still being worked out but that the gathering could take place Wednesday morning before Trump also visits the White House. Trump was already scheduled to be in Washington for a meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
“I think he said it first, before I did, that he wanted to come and visit with House Republicans,” Johnson said. “That would be a great meeting and a moment for all of us.”
Johnson said discussions have already taken place with Trump about the chamber’s agenda. The speaker said he planned to head to Trump’s south Florida home of Mar-a-Lago after their meeting in Washington, and would likely remain there “all weekend” to discuss legislative plans.
The session unfolds with Republicans on the brink of maintaining control of the U.S. House, needing to win just four of the chamber’s 16 remaining uncalled races a week after Election Day. Parties need 218 seats to control the 435-member chamber and Republicans are leading in decided races by 214-205, according to The Associated Press.
Still, any GOP majority in the House promises to be razor-thin — a challenge complicated by Trump, who is tapping at least two Republican representatives for positions in his administration.
The president-elect has selected Florida Rep. Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser and has said he will nominate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Each will have give up their House seats if they take the posts, leaving the seats temporarily vacant until filled by special elections.
Johnson on Tuesday told reporters he did not expect Trump to select any additional House members as of now.
Across Capitol Hill, Republicans have already secured Senate control in last week’s election, with members of the upper chamber preparing to select a new majority leader. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a staunch supporter of Trump, has begun an underdog campaign against rivals John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas.
Thune and Cornyn are both longtime deputies of outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and are favored over Scott in the contest, but the Florida senator has the backing of billionaire Elon Musk. Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the Senate leadership contest.
Here’s the latest on Trump’s transition:
White House Counsel
Trump on Tuesday announced that he was tapping William Joseph McGinley as his White House counsel.
“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement,” Trump said in a statement.
McGinley, a partner at Holtzman Vogel, worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign and joined his first administration afterward as White House Cabinet secretary, a position he held until his resignation in July 2019. He also served as deputy general counsel to the Republican National Committee and general counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The post of White House counsel offers to be one of the most critical in Trump’s incoming administration, with the president-elect vowing to pursue policies for the federal government that stand to test the boundaries of legal norms and precedent.
During his first term, Don McGahn and Pat Cipollone served as Trump’s White House counsels. In that role, Cipollone defended Trump during his first impeachment trial.
Clearing the Deck
Mark Paoletta, a Republican lawyer who is helping head up the transition efforts at the U.S. Department of Justice, reiterated warnings for career officials to leave if they were not prepared to implement the incoming president’s policies, including cracking down on illegal immigration as well as undoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for the federal workforce.
“Deporting millions of illegal aliens out of this country, securing the border, banning DEI, all that destructive stuff that the Biden administration let run wild, getting boys out of girls’ sports — those are all the things that the Department of Justice is going to work on,” Paoletta said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”
“Those are the things that the Department of Justice employees — career employees — are going to support, and if they don’t want to support it, they should leave,” he added.
Paoletta previously served as general counsel in the Office and Management and Budget during Trump’s first term.
Trump Confirms Waltz Pick
Trump in a statement Tuesday confirmed that he is picking Waltz to be his national security adviser, praising him as “a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda” and “a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!”
Waltz is a former Army Green Beret who served multiple tours in Afghanistan. As national security adviser he will hold a critical post responsible for coordinating foreign policy within the West Wing and briefing the president on global crises.
It offers to be a potentially perilous role, with Trump cycling through four national security advisers in his first term.
Campaign Committee Changes
Trump has converted his campaign committee, Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc., into a new leadership PAC called Never Surrender Inc., according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission, signaling that even though he is constitutionally barred from running again for the White House, he is not done raising money.
Never Surrender will operate under different rules than the campaign committee. It can accept donations of up to $5,000 per individual and use its funds to support other candidates and causes — as well as pay Trump’s political expenses unrelated to running for office, including legal fees.
Trump also has another leadership PAC, Save America, which he has used to help pay some of his legal expenses.
Trump set up Save America after losing his 2020 bid for the White House. It took in $141 million, a record for a leadership PAC, before he even launched his third campaign for the White House. FEC filings show he used more than $83 million of that amount to pay legal fees, as of October.
Immigration Team Takes Shape
Trump is tapping South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security, CNN reported, tapping a Republican once seen as a potential vice presidential pick for a job that will be critical to implementing the president-elect’s policies on immigration.
As head of DHS, Noem would have a front-line role in helping carry out what Trump has vowed will be the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in the nation’s history.
Noem would be working alongside Tom Homan, whom Trump has tapped as the White House “border czar” and with Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, whom he plans to tap as White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
___
© 2024 Bloomberg L.P
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
