the last thing he needs is obstruction from senate republicans. s a large part of why we just won the senate and a lot of these people got reelected. 76 million americans decisively chose president trump and his america first agenda -- 76 million. this is a record for any republican president in our nation's history. let that sink in. this is not because of any of us. this is because of president trump, who is the most effective communicator and leader in modern history. it's because he's a successful businessman, not a career politician. and now elected republicans are expressing frustrations with his cabinet picks. who do republican senators think they represent? they are representing the voters in their states. i remember when 20 -- that's i remember when 20 -- that's 20 senate republicans voted to confirm employer rick garland for the top law enforcement spot four years s ago for the biden administration. as attorney general, merrick garland turned the doj into a weapon against president donald trump. republicans and law abiding u.s. citizens.

. >> coming, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell holding a press conference with reporters after republicans won a majority in the senate. this is about 20 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. this is a happy day for the gop and let me start by congratulating president trump. what he has accomplished has not been done since grover cleveland. i also want to commend the trump campaign for running a sharper operation this time. i think they deserve a lot of credit. they ran a spectacular race. with regard to the senate, you guys know how long i've been around. i had really hoped i would be able to hand over to my successor a majority. i've been a majority and minority leader and majority is a lot better. i think, based on the fact we haven't got all the results in, was certainly already know we will be in the majority and we are hopeful that might grow some . i want to give particular credit to steve. i have that job at the rnc a few years back and i've never seen a better performance. he focused on getting quality candidates, making sure they actually got the nomination. as i said to some criti

thune: the newly elected senate republican conference vice chair, senator from oklahoma, senator james lankford. sen. lankford: congratulations to john thune. we're looking forward to his great leadership there republicans were asked a very simple thing. can you get us back on track. over 70% of the country right now believes the country is on the wrong track. our task is going to be very, very simple to defend our values. to be able to strengthen us as a nation. to be able to bring prosperity to people that are really struggling right now. that's a primary issue for us. those are things we'll get onto immediately. the american people have spoken and said we don't like the direction the country is going. let's get us back on a better direction. this leadership team, president trump, j.d. vance, we're headed in a direction to be able to get the country backen the track that she's looking for. sen. thune: and the newly elected chairman of the senate national republican senatorial committee chair is the senator from south carolina, and he's already planning on expanding our majority in 20

. >> coming, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell at a press conference with reporters after republicans won the majority in the senate. this is about 20 minutes. >> well, good morning, everyone. this is certainly a happy day for the gop. let me start by congratulating president trump on what he has accomplished has not been done as all of you know since grover cleveland, a while back. i also want to commend the trump campaign for running a sharper operation this time and i think they deserve a lot of credit. they ran a spectacular race. with regard to the senate, i had really hoped i would be able to headed over to my successor the majority. i have been the majority leader, i have been the minority leader. the majority is a lot better. and i think based on the fact that we haven't got all the results and we already know we will be in the majority. we are hopeful that might actually grow some. i want to give particular credit to steve daines. i had that job at the rnc a few years back. i have never seen a better performance. he focused on getting quality candidates, making sure they actu

. >> coming up, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell holding a press conference with reporters after republicans won a majority in the senate. from capitol hill, this is about 20 minutes. i have been the majority leader, i have been the minority leader. the majority is a lot better. and i think based on the fact that we haven't got all the results and we already know we will be in the majority. we are hopeful that might actually throw some. i want to give particular credit to steve daines. i had that job at the rnc a few years back. i have never seen a better performance. he focused on getting quality candidates, making sure they actually got the nomination. and as i said to some criticism, candidate quality is absolutely essential. also am proud of the job senate leadership has done and its related groups did. overall they were able to raise $425 million. they made decisions to invest in i think all the right places. i will run it down for you. we basically got 29 million in maryland. 42 million in michigan. 60 million in montana. 3.3 million in nebraska. 12.8 million in nevada. 100 33 million

senators. i think there are some republican senators who are eager to crawl.hink there are others who are trying to keep their powder dry and stay out of trouble with trump for as long as they can, but when it's game day and this information about gates and all of his sexual misbehavior and his payments for things in addition to his complete lack of qualification, i mean, we're focusing on the sex part, but this is a guy who has no idea how to do that job whatsoever. and will clearly bring to it a really foul political cast. so um, there are abundant reasons that are going to make it more and more difficult as time goes by, and we'll just have to see who's in the stand up part of the republican caucus and who's in the crawl part of the republican caucus senator whitehouse, i appreciate your time. >> thank you melissa, i mean, he's not he's not he's not willing to say whether or not he's really confident there's enough republican senators. >> yeah. i mean, listen, i think it's an open question. and i do think that there's something to what the senator is saying

a reminder, south dakota senator jon thune has won the election to lead the republican senate majorityit could set up potential conflicts with donald trump over tariffs and ukraine aid. he has been voicing that they are behind trump's agenda, the republican team is united, according to thune. we are going to bring you more where that came from coming next. this is bloomberg. ♪ when you automate sales tax with avalara, you don't have to worry about things like changing tax rates or filing returns. avalarahhh ahhh so, what are you thinking? i'm thinking... (speaking to self) about our honeymoon. what about africa? safari? hot air balloon ride? swim with elephants? wait, can we afford a safari? great question. like everything, it takes a little planning. or, put the money towards a down-payment... ...on a ranch ...in montana ...with horses let's take a look at those scenarios. j.p. morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools, like wealth plan to keep you on track. when you're planning for it all... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management. sonali: this is bloomber

senate under republican control? going to stand up for the advice and consent of the u.s. senate?th whatever the president wants. >> we're going to work very closely with the president. president trump won a resounding election on november 5th and the american people want a different direction. he won the popular vote by almost 5 million. last time i checked, 312 electoral votes. that hasn't happened in quate some time. the idea that we're not going to work with the president never crossed my mind. the senate and the house has to work closely with the president. the american people gave us that mandate. at the same time, we feel very confident on the direction that thune and president trump will lead us. president trump and john thune have worked really hard at building a relationship. there were some questions about that relationship like, he's mitch mcconnell 2.0. i can tell you there's a different kind of leadership through john thune. i consider him a friend. i consider president trump a friend. i think that the american people will see a unified government working for the peo

i can think of four republican senators who i think would potentially stand up to this. todd young, susan collins, bill cassidy. i don't think there is a single republican senator who actually thinks this is a qualified choice and somewhat of a moral character. the question is is the clinical will they are? if i could just tell you quickly my only running with matt gaetz was in the outer oval office when donald trump was president. he was holding a folder and i said what's in that folder so that i could see what he was about to get to the president. it was conspiracy theories about joe scarborough. he presented it to donald trump will then tweeted about it causing the rest of the family of this woman who died tragically and had no involvement obviously. that is the character and judgment of this revision -- individual. >> that is chilling at back i guess the guy who is going to be running the department of justice. >> the sunny lack of judgment and character. >> i worked with him on my bipartisan legislation in passing two laws recently. i think the biggest story is senat

thune, in theory, is supposed to be the leader who is more protective of senate republicans' prerogative as representatives, as senators entrusted with advising consent and responsibility. this is a test for him. if he just rolled over for trump, we might as well have elected rick scott. >> it is a test for them any test for our democracy. adam, thank you for joining me tonight, my >>> i don't care if it takes every second of our time and every

gaetz confirmed as ag might not happen, but donald trump himself is still personally lobbying republican senatorso get in line, according to nbc news. it is the first big loyalty test for those republicans, and some, like lindsey graham, are already ready to toe the line. >> nobody should be disqualified because of a media report. >> it's more like an investigation, a bipartisan effort. >> and they didn't proceed forward. >> but nbc news reports others aren't so sure. that privately, more than half of senate republicans say that they would not support him. why? well, it's not just the allegations of sex with a minor, which he's denied, it's the way he's acted as a member of congress, allegedly showing videos of the girls he's slept with and bragging about the drugs he did to last all night, as mark wade mullen put it. and then threatening to burn it all down. case in point, the motion to vacate kevin mccarthy. just listen to how his own gop colleagues described him in the aftermath of that vote. carlos gimenez said, quote, gaetz has very few friends in the conference. mike lawler, mike gaetz is f

check right now on this or potential check or in either direction could be could be the senate where the republicans do have that majority and we have a sea change in terms of senate leadership. you worked i know for the current leader, mitch mcconnell. now it's going to be john thune. i'm curious how you think that is going to play out and what kind of role mcconnell might have, because we saw him and his influence kind of waning with some of these newer senators. and i'm just curious how you see that playing out well, i think that there are a group of senators who are probably unthreatening or, you know, in political parlance, you know, a lot of people may fear the influence of donald trump, but there will be some that don't. >> you know mcconnell's got two years left on his term, and he's no longer the leader. you've got other senators that have, you know publicly broken with trump many, many times as part of their persona. so you do have this group that are not as influenced or threatened by the president and his political apparatus as some of the rest of them are. now, every senator gets one vo

i can think of for republican senators that could potentially stand up to this. susan collins, bill cassidy, todd young. i don't think there is a actual republican senator that this is a good choice. the question is, is the political will there? do they want to cross trump this early? my only real run-in with matt gates was in the outer oval office when trump was his president, he was about to walk in and meet with him and i said what is in that folder so i could see what he was about to give to the president, it was kim's conspiracy theories about joe scarborough murdering his intern and he presented it to trump who didn't tweeted about it causing the rest to the family of this woman who died tragically. that is the character and judgment of this individual. house republicans know it, senator republicans know it. to make it is chilling at that guy is the guy that will be running the department of justice. to make the stunning lack of judgment character and integrity. >> i do know met gates because i worked with him my bipartisan legislation but i think the bigges

the senate race in your state. you have the republican who has not conceded to senator tammy baldwin. he's claiming irregularities which election officials vehemently reject and the trump campaign does not allege. should he concede? >> reporter: i think it is a 27,000 vote difference. that's tough to make up. i don't know all the facts behind what they are seeing there. i would reserve comment. and i haven't talked to him about it but i reserve comment to what they are seeing that may be challengeable. it is a big margin to make up. >> so you are on house judiciary on, the house judiciary economy. your chairman has asked special council jack smith, who has been, of course, prosecuting trump in two federal cases to preserve all of his records related to those cases. do you expect that your committee will be calling jack smith to testify? >> i don't know. i would have to consult with chairman jordan about that to see if he does have it in the plans. if it's appropriate, we should. one of the best things that has happened since trump came on

could depend on how willing they are when he's back in office and running the republican majority on capitol hill in the senateand looking at that. john thune was re-elected two years ago and his term is not up until 2028 and that is something that the team was looking at. republicans were technically in power and came in office the last time and now it is trump republicans who are going to be in power and it is shifting the dynamic of what the relationship will look like. trump himself is much more familiar with the inner workings of capitol hill than he ever was in 2016 when he first took office. >> i want to say one thing to that. he did it weigh in on rick scott even though he had all of these people. the maga contingency was fighting for him to say something and trying to get him to endorse rick scott. exactly. instead, he waited to see how it was going to play out knowing that it was a secret vote and that rick scott could lose an understanding that whoever the winner was he was going to have to work with it seems as though donald trump might have learned a lesson from what we saw in 2022 and throughout

elon musk told republican senators the case was closed and republican senators said hell no to elon musk. and to donald trump at the same time. elon musk struck out with republican senators. and his striking out with republican senators may be the most important longer-term story to e emergency from the gaetz nomination. elon musk tested his strength as a lobbiest with lobbiest. he lost three times in a row. and three of them against all of them. senior members of the senate appropriations. susan collins will be the chair of the committee. she said hell no to elon musk today, and mukowsky and mcconnell may be the mitch mcconnell of the 1990s. and that senate when he was chairman of the senate's ethic committee and he investigated the powerful republican chairman on sexual harassment charges and mitch mcconnell led the senate ethic's committee to recommend the expulsion of that republican senator. no one in the senate was surprised in those days when mitch mcconnell did that. mitch mcconnell was regarded then as an honorable senator who would approach the work of the ethic's committee wit

look, i want to start by congratulating senator thune on being chosen by his colleagues as the next republican leader. i look forward to working with him. now, senator thune and i have done lots of things together in a bipartisan way here in the senate. i'm very hopeful that will continue as you know, i strongly believe that bipartisanship is the best and often the only way to get things done around here in the senate. and of course, i want to first address the election. many across the country, of course, are disappointed, sad, even angry right now. now i understand those feelings. it never feels good to come up short. but when you do, you pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, you learn from it and that's exactly what we intend to do. this is going to be a period of learning for our caucus. as i said, we did many things right? we did things wrong and there are things we must do and we're going to look at all of it. as i told my caucus at lunch, we should regard this election, not, we should regard this election really as a challenge. the american people have presented us with a challenge.

they could end up with 53 members, republican members in the senate. ld mean four republicans would have to break with the white house because j.d. vance would be able to break any ties as vice president. so we're counting the math. are there four republicans who would vote no on a matt gaetz confirmation. there haven't been four that publicly emerged saying they won't, but there is certainly enough of them asking questions about whether or not this is the appropriate pick for such an important position that you certainly have to believe it's an open question. >> and so, ryan, back to the house part, now that gaetz has resigned, what's next for the ethics committee investigation into him? >> well, jose, i believe that this ethics report that the ethics committee has been working on looking into these allegations around matt gaetz could the difference between whether or not he is able to win confirmation or not. and the question is, will it ever see the light of day? gaetz has put himself in a position, he resigned his position in the house of representa

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> republican senator john thune spoke with reporters after winning the election. he and other lawmakers discussed the priorities of the republican party and addressing the biggest issues for american in the 2024 election. at the start of congress he will replace mitch mcconnell, who was leader of the gop for 18 years, the longest in history. [applause] >> i have the team assembled. good afternoon, and thank you all for being here. it is a new day in the united states senate and in america. the american people have loudly rejected the failed policies of the biden-harris-schumer agenda. this republican team is united. we are on one team. we are excited to reclaim the majority and get to work with our colleagues in the house to enact president trump's agenda good we have a mandate for the american people. not only to clean up the mess left by the biden-harris-schumer agenda but also to deliver on president trump's priorities. we will make sure the president and his team have the tools and support they need to enforce or security l

the last thing he needs is obstruction from senate republicans. he is a large part of why we just won the senate and a lot of these people got reelected. 76 million americans decisively chose president trump and his america first agenda -- 76 million. this is a record for any republican president in our nation's history. let that sink in. this is not because of any of us. this is because of president trump, who is the most effective communicator and leader in modern history. it's because he's a successful businessman, not a career politician. and now elected republicans are expressing frustrations with his cabinet picks. who do republican senators think they represent? they are representing the voters in their states. i remember when 20 -- that's right, 20 senate republicans voted to confirm merrick garland for the top law enforcement spot four years ago for the biden administration. that's their prerogative. as attorney general, merrick garland turned the doj into a weapon -- a weapon against president trump donald trump, republicans, and law-abid

it's quite a day to be john thune and to know you are now the senate republican majority leader that dealing and advising your members on all of these questions. >> caitlin collins, thank you. >> joining us is senator blumenthal that is expected to run the hearings if there is one. the former attorney general of connecticut. senator blumenthal, what is your reaction to the prospect of matt gaetz becoming attorney general? >> the only reason for matt gaetz's nomination is he's a trump puppet. his loyalty to trump is the only credible reason that he has been proposed. he will weaponize the department of justice for retribution, donald trump's words. he is highly dangerous as a potential national security risk. remember, anderson, as you well know the department of justice is in charge of prosecuting espionage, terrorism, sabotage, all kinds of national security threats, and i am hopeful that republicans will take this major test of their integrity, their devotion to country above politics and stand up to donald trump, but i am very clear- eyed based on their very unreassuring history th

. >> senator mitch mcconnell is stepping down. three republicans ran to become the next, john thune from south dakota, john cornyn from texas and florida's rick scott. senator thune won on the second secret ballot of 29-24. he released a statement -- senator thune will be joined by wyoming john barrasso who served in a leadership role and is the next republican whip. >> got the team assembled. good afternoon. thank you all for being here. it's a new day in the united states senate. it's a new day in america. the american people have loudly rejected the failed policies of the biden-harris-schumer agenda. this republican team is united. we are on one team. we're excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the house to enact president trump's agenda. we have a mandate from the american people. a mandate not only to clean up the mess left by the biden-harris-schumer agenda but also to deliver on president trump's priorities. we will make sure the president and his team have the tools and support they need to enforce border

let's start with the senate republican leadership vote, because whoever is going to be the republican leader -- and majority leader is important no question. but also it kind of can represent maybe something of a signal whoever comes out on top of kind of what's going to be the prevailing force for the senate republican kind of agenda, and also the republican party. >> yep. yeah. which is why rick scott has a ton of support from people in and around donald trump. it is noteworthy that donald trump himself has not weighed in, put his sort of thumb on the scale. perhaps that is, because if rick scott doesn't win, he doesn't want to have egg on his face. but nonetheless, i've talked to a republican senator this morning who said that the calls coming in from people who listen to, and watch tucker carlson, it's intense. and so there is really big lobbying going on for the trump orbit pick, if it's not trump himself, and that is rick scott. the thing to keep in mind is that this is a secret ballot. so we're not going to know unless these senators want to tell us who they voted for. and that

the senate -- republicans will control the senate.y could say this is donald trump's administration, he gets a chance to make these choices, and we will support all of them. it would feel like it's more responsible and more accountable to the american people to hold the hearings, have the questions asked that are necessary of gaetz, of gabbard, of pete hegseth and rfk, jr., so they can put it out to the american people. what do you gain, other than the erosion of more public trust, by skipping the hearings? >> right. i mean, you're raising a question question. donald trump walks into office having won the popular vote in the election, having a 53-47 senate, 53 republican senators who are with him, and i can tell you, republican senators who are very happy that they are now in power. so, he walks in with a strong tailwind. the fact that he has started out at the beginning of the process and said, i want to go to recess appointments indicates that not only that he wants to move quickly, but also that he wants to test the relationship th

thune in theory is supposed to be the leader who is more protective of senate republicans' prerogativestatives, as senators entrusted with the advise and consent responsibility. this is a test for him. if he just rolls over for trump, he might as well have elected rick scott. >> it is a test for them and our democracy. thank you for joining me tonight, my friend. great to have your perspective on this one. that's our show for tonight. now it is time for "the last word." >> i want to second

donald trump knew that matt gaetz was not going to be confirmed by senate republicans. ose enough of them that there was no chance of this going through. this was a guided missile of donald trump -- >> did he know before he named him? >> absolutely. there were enough republicans -- matt gaetz was a house member and a lot of senate republicans who served with matt gaetz in the house and what happens then -- >> he talked about them and they despised him. >> if you're markwayne mullin or another house member who served with gaetz, you're telling your colleagues, let me tell you about this guy, you know the headlines that are bad, i can tell you the real stories. what it did because it was the first of the nominations, it sent a clear message to senate republicans, and to the country at large, this is the direction i'm going. >> and so it was symbolic in a way? >> absolutely. and what it did was it frsforce lot of conversation away from hegseth, gabbard, rfk jr., now they're at the front of the line and two months to go. a long confirmation process, but this was intentional.

of course, we are seeing a more maga-like senate, with 53 as of right now, senate republican, senate majority. yes, there aren't as many maga-style senators left. however, there is still enough with the margins that it could be very difficult to have a simple major to try to confirm some of these more controversial figures. >> we've heard in our reporting that maybe they don't even wan senate confirmations. elon musk hads has very tangled business interests, and even if he wanted to could not physically divest them. and for rfk, it's a very politically correct process and something that i've heard in speaking with sources around the transition that he doesn't necessarily want to go through that gauntlet. is there a czar- like role that spans a bunch of different agencies that gives him a very broad portfolio, direct access to the president. that's what he wants. he wants to be above the fray. >> presidents don't like czars. the obama administration, that's where we'll see a lot of that coming back. one of the things, when a new majority comes in, there's always the risk of overreachi

i dare any republican senator vote against him. that is not in their best interest. we need to get him in place as soon as possible. >> so, is that what donald trump himself conveyed to republican lawmakers today as he made his so-called triumphant return to washington? that's how his team is describing it. if so, hegseth joins a telling set of foreign policy picks. john ratcliffe as cia director, mike waltz as national security advisor, senator marco rubio as secretary of state. former governor mike huckabee as ambassador to israel, and trump golf buddy and real estate mogul steve witkoff as middle east envoy. men who all share donald trump's view of america's role in the world, at least they do now. what exactly is that view? what will it mean for conflicts in ukraine and israel? aggression from iran and its proxies? saber-rattling from north korea? and our own hostility towards china and the territorial desires of xi jinping? the world in 2025 is not the same as the world in 2017. not just that. the world now knows who donald trump is. as a daniel dresser in writes

my guest this morning democratic senator-elect adam schiff and republican senator eric schmitt. former homeland security secretary jae johnson. anna palmer and stephen hayes, editor of the dispatch. welcome to sunday. it's meet the press. eet the pr. washington, the longest running show in television history this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. >> good sunday morning. president-elect donald trump has finished rolling out a preholid >>> good sunday morning. president-elect donald trump has finished rolling out a pre- holiday flurry of cabinet picks. on tuesday as a growing number of republican senators demanded the release after house ethics report into allegations former florida congressman matt gaetz paid women for sex including a 17-year-old, the president- elect denied he was reconsidering gaetz. >> mr. president, are you reconsidering the nomination of matt gaetz? >> no. >> but just two days later gaetz withdrew from consideration. though he continues to deny wrong doing. >> i was keying with a politically motivated body. they had an ax to grind. that was going to s

senate to be discriminating. sadly, i don't have a ton of confidence based on what i'm hearing from republican senators who now seem holding on to subsidiaries of donald trump. >> cnn has learned there are several, several republican senators who say they were blind sided by the gaetz pick. do you think there's any chance at all that senate republicans will stand up probably with all of the democratic senators, to reject this nomination? >> well, again, you already see the excuses being made. if ten years ago you said matt gaetz is going to be attorney general, we would have laughed. what most republicans do around here is to accommodate and rationalize. you played the clip of a republican member of congress saying when donald trump tells us to jump, we ask how high. we do one thing around here, which is to pledge to uphold the constitution, which says we are in opposition to the executive branch and the president of the united states. so you already see the excuses and the rationalization s being made. here's another way of thinking about it. i think that the president- elect has already pulled more people from th

but he cannot control all of these republican senators. and despite the fact that gaetz has been saying and not gaetz, but these republican senators saying they're having good meetings with gaetz, obviously if this report is released which it sounds like whether or not it's released officially or unofficially through back channels, it is likely to at least get some of that report out how this would impact those republican senators, because at the end of the day, donald trump is going to have several controversial picks that he's trying to get through, despite the fact that he says that matt gaetz is his ultimate priority. that's where he wants to focus his political capital. but all of these other senators, they also have their careers on the line. and depending on how they want to handle donald trump, that's where we have members coming out of the house ethics committee. >> so we're going to pay attention here and listen in and see if they are going to be saying anything. we we cirium manu raju there so we know he'll be throwing some quest

as donald trump is about to return to the white house for a visit with president biden and senate republicans are gathering to elect their new leader. trump is not only meeting with president biden, he also will be speaking with house republicans and trump has a certain wing man by his side, let me start with you first, what can you tell us about the meetings we are seeing on capitol hill today? >> trump is now arriving at this house republicans meeting. we do expect him to be with elon musk, who will attend this, this will be a victory lap of source -- sorts. house republicans, they have not projected the house being in the gop have but it appears it's going in that direction. this afternoon, we expect house republicans to formally nominate as mike johnson for speaker. and a critical moment right here in the united states senate. for the first time in 18 years, there will be a new senate republican leader, mitch mcconnell, the longest-serving leader in history has decided not to continue on as the republican leader. there are now three candidates flying, a secret ballot election underway. tr

told president donald trump vice president like vance to lead our country along the republican in the house and senate i congratulate president trump vice president elected vance other tremendous victory. it is difficult to overstate, mr. president what president trump did in this election. republicans have improved our margins three out of every four counties in the united states drew support with nearly every demographic group. president trump won more hispanic support that any republican president ever before in younger voters played a crucial role in his victory. as a broad and strong and growing. the american people had a president trump and senate republicans of the decisive victory. now the real work begins delivering on our agenda. in deporting illegal immigrants also at the top of the list to strengthen t her economic and fiscal future. the last four years of democrat inflation have been very difficult for working americans. hoboken will be focused hundred of them we can to expand opportunity to increase growth that starts with taking action via reconciliation to preserve e the textually repu

to meet with senate republicans, house republicans and the president. let's talk about the senate race. i groaned when chuck schumer talked about bipartisanship. >> i feel physically ill. here was the man who jammed down the american rescue plan, the so-called inflation reduction act, who did everything he could to marginalize his republican colleagues and now lecturing us about -- i hope the republicans exercise bipartisanship. the last guy to lecture republicans on that issue is the senior senator from the state of new york. >> bill: so you had, i believe, two opportunities to witness at the white house two different transfers, right? 43 coming in george bush and obama coming in as the 44th president. i came across this quote. vice president walter mondale said the psychological transfer occurs then. meaning it starts to settle in. how do you reflect on that now? >> it is absolutely right. you could sort of tell and following the meeting in -- early 20001 between president clinton and bush. you could tell for both men it was a moment. the realization f

but these controversial choices set up an early test for the incoming republican-controlled senate. trump wants them to give up their constitutionally guaranteed right to advise and consent on his nominations. and at least some republicans are okay with that. he's called for the senate to allow him to make what are called recess appointments essentially allowing them to install anyone he wants to various positions across the government without having to subject them to the normal vetting or confirmation process. those people could stay in office until the next congress is sworn in which means they could technically stay in the position for up to two years. since he launched his first campaign for president, he has dismantled practically every possible norm and tradition in american politics. nearly a decade later, he's continuing to employ the same tactics, chipping away at our democracy until it's no longer recognizable as the form of government that the founding fathers set off to create. as maria ressa puts it, the death of democracy is a death by 1000 cuts. it seems like a new an

there is growing senate republican opposition to this idea. one key senator, thom tillis, who sits on the senate judiciary committee, said he's okay. if donald trump were to go this route for lower level nominees as barack obama did for about 33 nominees during his term in office. but he said not for cabinet nominees like matt gaetz position that should be absolutely off the table. >> and quite honestly, any serious candidate for a cabinet level position, i would have to really wonder if they would want it or be willing to accept it under a recess appointment. these positions are too important and carry too much weight internationally to take a shortcut. however, i really do hope we get at least 33 recess appointments. what do you not know about that report already? i've been reporting it. >> yeah, but, you know, i mean, it's 45, 50 pages long. there's a lot of details in it. >> and do you honestly think that the people who testified willingly are not going to share that information and that last comment report the house ethics committee report

the voters said enough is enough and elected a republican house and senate with a mandate to get this crisis under control and end the democrats' open borders insanity once and for all and that's exactly what we're going to do. with president trump leading the way, a republican trifecta is ready to hit the ground running on day one to secure our borders and ensure criminal illegal aliens are removed from our communities. january 20 cannot come fast enough. and now our majority leader steve scalise. steve: thank you, whip. laid out the bills we're bringing to the floor again this week. yesterday we passed a really important bill for our nation's veterans by juan cisco mauney named after -- juan ciscomani named for elizabeth dole and now passed it and sent it to the senate. i want to talk about the planning we're doing for january. we just got an overwhelming mandate from the voters of this country to number one, reject the far left policies we've seen from the biden-harris administration the last four years, but especially to put the country on another path. we laid out what the plan w

senate republicans made a huge decision. oosing south dakota senator john thune as their next majority leader. following two secret allies. he beat out john cornyn and rick scott. house republicans are holding their own leadership elections. speaker mike johnson specifically facing a challenge from hard line conservatives. all of them getting a personal thank you from trump himself ahead of that vote. >> nice to win. i just want to thank everybody. you have been incredible. we worked with a lot of you to get you in. you helped me. we won which is great because republicans are not supposed to be winning the majority, you know that right? >> aleigh reports on capitol hill. >> so allie, let's talk about the reaction to thune. do we know what went on behind closed doors? >> i have been standing in that hallway you are showing on the screen for the last several hours because republican lawmakers have been at this since about 9:00 this morning. voting behind closed doors. senator john thune assuming the leadership mantle and he is

and as much as republicans in the senate claim they are all aboard the mag a train. of them still hope there are some adults in the room at the end of the day. republican senator rand paul publicly opposed his idea of using the u.s. military on u.s. soil for deportations. that appears to be a bridge too far for senator rand paul. again, it is a low bar. but it is a bar. and the moment for congress torein in trump's worst instims is right now. pete hegseth appears to be more than willing to go along with everything trump is asking for and will treat anyone who stands in trump's way as an enemy of the state. in addition to being a fox newspersonality hegseth is also a prolific author. he has published three books in the last four years. jonathan chate at the atlantic spent the last few weeks reading all the books. the american crusade calls for the goal of utter annihilation without which america cannot and will not survive. hegseth writes, our american crusade is not about literal swords and our fight is not with guns. yet. in the war on warriors he views the american

>> i think two senate republicans to keep an eye on. keep an eye on them during these nominations is isa murkowski and susan collins. for rfk, everyone is watching bill cassy from the senate health committee, for matt gaetz, i thought it was interesting that senator john cornyn, obviously, a prominent member of the senate judiciary committee saying i would love to see this house ethics -- not saying he would love to see it, but he wants to see it going into it. >> i don't know that anyone wants to see it but need to do it. >> exactly. i think you're going to see different coalitions easement put out there mitchell mcconnell. a polio survivor having to vote on rfk jr. i'm curious. looming all over this is the idea that the threat really that trump will try to force the chamber in to recess and just appoint these people without the advise and consent of the senate, which, in theory, he could do, i believe, but it would be a dramatic step and it could really, you know, not ruin the relationships but tar the relationship between the chamber'

vans will return to capitol hill to convince senate republicans to nominate matt gaetz for attorney generalr kennedy confirmed that he will be meeting with vance and the former florida congressman. kennedy is a member of the judiciary committee. he says he has not received a call from president-elect trump about the gaetz pick but several other senators have, including kevin kramer of north dakota. some lawmakers say gaetz perm reached out to them. js this comes as a trump with his team says the team knew getting the senate to approve gaetz would be an uphill battle saying, quote, trump told gaetz it was one he wanted to fight. trump announced gaetz as his a.g. pick nearly a week ago but the former florida congressman is facing allegations of sexual misconduct. gaetz denies the allegation and the justice department never filed charges against him. meanwhile, the house ethics committee is scheduled to meet today to discuss whether to release its findings on the gaetz investigation. the panel was poised to release the potentially very damaging report last week, but just as trump nominated gae

there's open questions whether the senate republicans would go along with that, there's legal and constitutionalns about trump and if he could do that laterally. so i know there's a lot of concern in the republican party in this about a lot of these nominations including matt gaetz.>> just to take a step back for a second, i have covered a number of new administration nominees, tom daschle got scotched because he did not report the value of a car lent to him by a wealthy businessman, that was, you cannot be the head of hhs. so, this happens all the time, i have never seen an incoming administration that has a trifecta, i have never seen this go to war with its senate caucus to put someone in power who has an ethics committee investigation over having sex with a minor. that is a first for me.>> it is a loyalty test, at the end of the day.>> thank you. >>> still ahead, the threat that matt gaetz poses to the american justice system and his message to the justice system, next. system, next it's still not under control. but now i have rinvoq. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that reduces the itch and hel