November 15, 2024 - Presidential transition news | CNN Politics

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November 15, 2024 - Presidential transition news

Shania Shelton

Tori B. Powell

By Deva Lee, Leinz Vales, Shania Shelton, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 8:44 AM EST, Sat November 16, 2024

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What we covered here

• Scrutiny over picks: Two of President-elect Donald Trump’s choices for Cabinet positions are receiving intense scrutiny. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will request the Ethics Committee not release an investigative report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom Trump picked for attorney general. And the transition team was additionally caught off guard by a previous allegation of sexual assault against defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, who had received little internal vetting.

• Background checks: Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning say. Here’s who Trump has so far selected.

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Our live coverage of the Trump administration’s transition has moved here.

Gov. Burgum is among Trump's latest picks for his incoming administration. Here's how the team is taking shape

From CNN staff

Donald Trump has been busy this week announcing his choices for key roles in the incoming administration as he prepares to return to the White House.

Here are the people chosen on Friday:

The president-elect said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will serve as secretary of the Department of the Interior as well as chair the newly formed “National Energy Council.”
Steven Cheung has been named as assistant to the president and director of communications.
Sergio Gor will serve as assistant to the president along with Cheung.
Karoline Leavitt will be his press secretary. During Trump’s first administration, Leavitt was assistant press secretary.

And here’s who Trump tapped on Thursday:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Jay Clayton was selected to run the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
Trump turned to his personal criminal defense team to fill out top roles at the Justice Department. He said Todd Blanche was his pick for deputy attorney general and Emil Bove, another member of his criminal defense team, would serve as principal associate deputy attorney general. John Sauer, who won the presidential immunity case at the Supreme Court, was chosen for the role of solicitor general.
Trump selected former Rep. Doug Collins to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.

See below for all of Trump’s picks as well as the positions still to be filled.

Trump asks Whatley to stay on as chair of RNC

From CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Daniel Strauss

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on July 18.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on July 18.

Kamil Krzaczybnski/AFP/Getty Images/File

President-elect Donald Trump called North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley up on stage at a Friday night event at Mar-a-Lago and asked him to stay on as the chair of the committee for another cycle, a person familiar tells CNN.

Whatley accepted the offer, the person said.

Trump did not mention current RNC co-chair Lara Trump.

Trump’s move to keep Whatley on in the role is the latest sign that the president-elect wants to keep the RNC in the shape it has taken since he was named the party’s nominee.

During the campaign, then-chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was pressured to step down amid lackluster fundraising. With Trump’s support, Whatley, who prided himself on fighting alleged election fraud as then-North Carolina GOP chair, succeeded McDaniel and oversaw the committee’s shift to focusing on lawsuits and away from a field program.