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Taking matters into your own hands won’t resolve anything, says Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations (ACPO) Livai Driu. The warning comes after people were making threats on social media following a brawl with nightclub bouncers in Suva last Saturday. He urged people to stay calm. “Emotions are still high at the moment, and we are calling on parties involved to try and remain calm,” ACP Driu said. “Taking matters into your own hands wont resolve anything, it will only make things worse,”. He said Police had started to round up a few people involved, and they continued to search for others. “Last night, we have brought in one of the bouncers involved and he is currently in our custody.” ACP Driu said a team of Police Officers from Totogo Police Station were in Namatakula Village yesterday and this morning collecting statements from involved individuals and witnesses. “We are calling on parties involved to corporate with us in providing statements and evidence. “Have patience and allow Police to conduct its investigation. “ He said Police would continue to monitor social media posts and would be on standby to ensure that no one takes the law into their hands.Pembina Pipeline Corp. stock rises Thursday, outperforms marketPresident Joe Biden stated that he would give the eulogy at the burial when former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care more than a year ago. Following the announcement of Carter's passing on Sunday, it's unclear if Biden's plans have changed. A couple months after Biden assumed office in 2021, Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, a visit at their Plains home. "I spent time with Jimmy Carter and it’s finally caught up with him, but they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated because they found a breakthrough," Biden said. Biden also remarked, "He asked me to do his eulogy," but he stopped himself. "Pardon me, that shouldn't be said." Biden’s presidency represents a turnabout, of sorts, for Carter’s political standing. He was the first senator from the United States to support Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, defying the Washington elite after Carter, a former governor of Georgia, startled them by gaining the Democratic nomination. Details Of The Funeral According to some Carter family members, the former president will be buried in Plains and given a private funeral in addition to a state funeral in Washington, D.C. The Joint Task Force-National Capital Region is currently working on finalizing the event details. With a declaration from the current president, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former Commander-in-Chief will be given a full state burial, a ceremonial national homage. Speaking during the state funerals of their predecessors, both current and former presidents frequently cross partisan boundaries. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News, World and around the world.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Josh Norris broke a tie on a power play with 7:18 left, Leevi Merilainen made 30 saves in his fifth NHL game and the Ottawa Senators beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Sunday night. Ottawa has won seven of its past nine games, while the Wild have lost five of their past seven. The Senators won in Minnesota for the first time since 2016. With starter Linus Ullmark and backup Anton Forsberg out with injuries, the Senators have been relying on Merilainen and Mads Sogaard since before the NHL holiday break. Frederick Gaudreau opened the scoring for Minnesota late in the first period. Ridly Greig tied it early in the second. Claude Giroux added an empty-netter. Senators: A team that finds itself surprisingly in a playoff position after missing the postseason the past six seasons topped a Western Conference contender in Minnesota. Norris has been a big part of the Senators' surge and now ranks second on the team with 14 goals. Wild: A lower-body injury kept Kirill Kaprizov out of his second straight game, but Joel Eriksson Ek returned after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. The Wild are 17-5-4 with Eriksson Ek in the lineup and 5-6-0 without him. The Wild killed one penalty midway through the third, but Jared Spurgeon went to the box seconds later on a holding call. Norris scored on the power play. The Senators’ nine-game trip continues Thursday at Dallas night. The Wild host Nashville on Tuesday night. AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Kelowna, Vernon teams crowned B.C. U18 curling champs in KimberleyIndia’s new central bank head is a detail-oriented bureaucrat known for working long hours. That discipline will come in handy as he looks to reverse India’s growth slowdown and keep price rises in check. Sanjay Malhotra , the Princeton-educated revenue secretary and three-decade veteran of India’s civil service, is the second career bureaucrat in a row to lead the Reserve Bank of India , replacing Shaktikanta Das after six years in the post. Colleagues and other officials describe Malhotra, 56, as a savvy communicator and a meticulous administrator, known for working late, drinking lots of coconut water and going into the weeds on India’s byzantine tax laws — at times demonstrating more knowledge in meetings than the subject-matter experts reporting to him. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s appointment of Malhotra came as a last-minute surprise to many in the government. Described by officials as a “dark horse” whose appointment was like “pulling a rabbit out of the hat,” Malhotra comes with a low profile and a history of shunning the spotlight — qualities that likely worked in his favor with an Indian leader known for his preference for team players over outspoken challengers. While Malhotra’s precise views on monetary policy remain something of a mystery, analysts and officials say his years in the Finance Ministry have given him a consensus-building approach that prioritizes economic growth and revenue generation. Officials also say he won the confidence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Modi. 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In one of his few public appearances ahead of Monday’s announcement, he told tax officials to keep economic growth in mind and avoid saddling businesses with overly large tax demands. “Revenue comes in only when there is some income,” he told officers at the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, according to local media reports. “Therefore, we have to be very cautious so that we do not, as they say, kill the golden goose.” As the head of India’s central bank, Malhotra inherits the management of an economy beset with the dual challenge of rising prices and slowing growth. Last month, the RBI said the economy expanded at a seven-quarter low of 5.4% between July and September, putting pressure on the bank to reduce what other top officials in Modi’s government have said are overly high borrowing costs. At the same time, the inflation rate remains well above the government-mandated target of 4%, with price gains accelerating to a 14-month high of 6.21% in October, lifted by volatile food prices. While the combination leaves the new central banker with a difficult balancing act, several analysts said they expect Malhotra to take an accommodative approach to India’s monetary policy in the months ahead. Economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. said they expect a quarter-point cut to the central bank’s benchmark interest rate at the next meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee in February, projecting a total cut of one percentage point to 5.5% by the end of next year. “A rate cut at the February MPC meeting is now likely cemented (and also warranted, in our view),” the economists, Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi, wrote in a note to clients. Dhiraj Nim, economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Corp., also forecast a February rate cut of a quarter-point. Still, he said it was too soon to form a full picture of Malhotra’s views. “We don’t know much about the new governor’s views on growth, inflation and the rupee,” Nim wrote. He added: “It may not be prudent to categorize him strictly as a dove or a hawk just yet.” Another challenge facing Malhotra will be overseeing a six-person policy committee in the midst of major turnover. Three new members joined in October alone, and Deputy Governor Michael Patra is due to step down in January. Like his predecessor, Malhotra is not a trained economist and doesn’t come with a history of vocal positions on fiscal or monetary policy. This may make him more closely aligned with the central government on policy matters while avoiding any outward public spats — at least at first, economists said. While at the Finance Ministry, he worked to expand the adoption of India’s more simplified tax regime, intended to boost revenue by easing the compliance burden for ordinary Indians. He was a key driver of an online gaming tax of 28% and was instrumental in leading the global anti-money laundering watchdog FATF’s evaluation of India. He was also credited with managing the backlash to changes by the government earlier this year to India’s long-term capital gains tax. Known for a long schedule sometimes running from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Malhotra could often be found working late into the night tweaking press releases and social-media posts, while also helping to ease concerns from stakeholders, officials said. Another asset, they said, was his methodical approach to problems, coming to a decision after hearing out all views. That quality will likely prove useful at a central bank staffed with a large number of senior executives, they said. “One has to understand the turf, all perspectives and do what’s the best for the economy,” Malhotra told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 15, 2024. 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MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 10, 2024-- Loop , the leading commerce operations platform, has acquired Wonderment, a proactive customer experience and advanced order tracking platform for Shopify merchants. Incorporating Wonderment’s features into Loop further unifies commerce operations touchpoints to eliminate friction and drive growth for e-commerce brands. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210617950/en/ Loop announces the acquisition of Wonderment, highlighting its commitment to equipping growth-focused e-commerce brands with revenue-driving tools. (Graphic: Business Wire) The acquisition underscores Loop's commitment to empowering growth-focused e-commerce brands with revenue-driving tools. Wonderment’s proactive customer experience platform was built by Shopify veterans with deep knowledge of the Shopify ecosystem. Merchants can now access real-time shipment insights, predictive carrier analytics, and streamlined returns processes—all from a single, intuitive interface. “By joining forces with Wonderment, we’re taking a significant step forward in our mission to help merchants simplify commerce operations and build enduring relationships with their customers,” said Hannah Bravo, CEO of Loop. “Our newly combined platform will unlock our merchants’ ability to turn returns and order tracking from a source of frustration into an opportunity to delight customers, drive retention, and fuel growth.” The acquisition brings Loop’s merchants sophisticated, AI-powered insights that transform raw shipping and returns data into actionable intelligence. Wonderment’s comprehensive tracking product includes real-time shipment insights, tracking pages, proactive alerts, one-click integrations, and much more. As the number one choice for scaling Shopify brands, the platform equips merchants with a proactive customer experience tool that leverages carrier data to address concerns before they arise. “Joining Loop marks an exciting new chapter,” said Jessica Meher, CEO of Wonderment. “Our shared commitment to building exceptional products, optimising customer and merchant experiences, and driving growth for merchants made this partnership a natural fit. Together, we'll make a lasting impact on the Shopify ecosystem by helping brands deliver transparency and trust throughout the entire post-purchase journey.” With its newly integrated solutions, Loop will be able to serve a wider array of merchant verticals, such as CPG, by offering a stand-alone tracking solution. “With Loop and Wonderment, we've transformed our post-purchase experience from reactive to proactive and innovative, ensuring our customers feel supported at every step of their journey,” said Curtis Ulrich, Director of eCommerce at Aviator Nation. “Being early adopters of the combined platform allowed us to not just manage returns and shipping, but create memorable interactions with our shoppers that turn potential frustrations into opportunities for brand loyalty.” To learn more about Loop’s acquisition of Wonderment and its newly combined commerce operations suite, visit www.loopreturns.com/blog/loop-acquires-wonderment/ . About Loop Loop is the industry’s leading commerce operations platform that empowers Shopify brands to streamline their entire customer journey, reduce friction, and maximize revenue. Its end-to-end approach integrates capabilities that help brands simplify their operations and delight customers, from initial orders to returns and exchanges. Offering features like Workflows, Instant Exchanges, Offset, and AI-powered tracking and visibility, Loop reduces costs, increases customer lifetime value, and retains revenue for more than 5,000 of the world’s most-loved Shopify brands. Loop has processed over 55 million returns and counting, and has helped merchants retain more than $2 billion in revenue over the past five years while delivering exceptional customer experiences. Learn more at www.loopreturns.com . About Wonderment Wonderment empowers premium Shopify brands with real-time visibility into their supply chain operations. As the leading proactive customer experience platform trusted by over 1,000 merchants, Wonderment transforms post-purchase communication by providing automated shipment tracking, delay detection, and customer notifications. Our platform helps brands reduce support tickets by up to 70% while delivering exceptional customer experiences. By identifying potential shipping delays before they impact customers, Wonderment enables merchants to proactively address issues and maintain strong customer relationships. For more information, visit wonderment.com View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210617950/en/ CONTACT: LaunchLink for Loop loop@launchlink.co KEYWORD: AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA AUSTRALIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SOFTWARE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ONLINE RETAIL BUSINESS DATA MANAGEMENT ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TECHNOLOGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DATA ANALYTICS RETAIL TRANSPORT LOGISTICS/SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOURCE: Loop Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/10/2024 05:00 PM/DISC: 12/10/2024 05:00 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210617950/enMocha Mousse sounds like a dessert for New Year’s Eve. Chocolatey and creamy, but with a coffee kick to keep you up till midnight. It is, in fact, Pantone’s ‘Color of the Year’, a shade that the colour management company decides can best “express a global mood and attitude” at this time. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for 2024 was a chaotic year and 2025 promises even more turmoil. Is that best expressed by “a warming, brown hue imbued with richness”, as Pantone describes it? Brown, as Philip Ball writes in Bright Earth, his history of artists and colour, is like a non-colour: “It sits on the border between a real colour and an achromatic one — a ‘dirty’ colour akin to grey. Brown is, in fact, a kind of grey biased towards yellow or orange.” Ball notes how, compared to costly materials like lapis-lazuli or gold, brown literally came from dirt. Burnt sienna was mined in Italy, becoming rich red-brown on heating. Earth pigments like ochre and umber were used in ancient cave paintings. Varnishing paintings with protective glazes also tended to darken them, forming the image of brownish ‘Old Master’ paintings. The 19th century Impressionists derided this as ‘brown gravy’ art, which they countered with fresh, bright colours. But the Industrial Revolution was turning their world brown. Claude Monet loved painting the heavy yellow-brown ‘pea-soup’ fog that enveloped London for days, and which we now see in Indian cities. Dusty cities, desert sands, sewage spills and flooding rivers all come in brown. For those who watch the news with gloom, Pantone’s choice of colour may seem all too apt. Brown has even darker associations. In the 18th century, a brown with an oddly dark stain became popular with artists. Sometimes called Egyptian brown, the more honest name was mommia, or ‘Mummy Brown’, since it was made by grinding up mummies embalmed with ingredients like myrrh that gave their flesh a brown colour. There were rumours that dealers who were short of mummies created new ones using the bodies of executed criminals. One horrified artist formally buried his paints when he learnt of their origin. Yet, brown has positive associations as well, especially linked to food. The company describes Mocha Mousse as “answering our desire for comfort” and many shades of brown are named after favourite foods, like caramel, chocolate and cinnamon. Different types of coffee, like espresso, cappuccino and latte, are used to name different shades, just as nut-brown can be differentiated into light almond, medium pecan, yellowish peanut and dark walnut. Cuttlefish were both prized as food and for their ink which appeared on paper in a mellow, slightly faded brown that was called sepia. Nigella Lawson, in her book Cook, Eat, Repeat, writes ‘A Loving Defence of Brown Food’. She laments how social media is quick to label brown foods, like stews, disgusting — but the real problem is that brown is hard to photograph: “To the naked eye, brown food is beautiful: Rich, warm, and full of depth and subtle variegation. None of this can be easily caught on camera...” The problem, she feels, is also textural. Slow cooking breaks down both the shape and colour of ingredients, reducing them to a brown mush. This is often really delicious, but it can also recall bland, badly cooked food shovelled down our throats as children. Brown poses a particular challenge for Indian foods. Turmeric, fenugreek and other yellow-brown spices combine with slow cooking to make this a dominant colour, which makes it an easy slur — brown food from brown people. Social media is full of such insults, yet in the real world, Indian food only gets more popular. Perhaps that is the real value of brown, reminding us in an image-obsessed world that flavour lies in more than just vivid colours.Senator-elect Bernie Moreno, a Republican of Ohio, has emerged–even before he takes the oath of office– as one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest defenders in the incoming U.S. Senate majority. Trump, now the president-elect again after he won a landslide victory against Democrat candidate outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, has faced resistance from some pockets of GOP senators. But not from Moreno, who has been one of, if not the first to endorse all of Trump’s cabinet picks for confirmation, and publicly championing Trump’s economic nationalist agenda, including on things like hardcore views on immigration and trade that maybe irk some old guard establishment Republicans. “I think it starts at the beginning, which is a month ago was an election like we haven’t seen in a long time,” Moreno told Breitbart News in a phone interview last week. “President Trump won all seven swing states, he won the popular vote, he won 312 electoral votes, and not only did he win the seven swing states, he won them by big margins relative to what the polling expectations were. So there’s a clear mandate—and unlike 2016, people understand exactly what President Trump’s agenda is and they are not confused or unclear about what President Trump will do once in office. There’s never been a more crystal clear ‘this is what Trump’s agenda is’—it’s black and white, laid out, and clear as can be. That’s point number one. Point number two is if you look at Joe Biden and the people that he nominated to be in his cabinet, there wasn’t a single Democrat who made a negative comment about any of the cabinet picks, even though every single one of those cabinet picks is worse than the other. There’s never been a worse cabinet in American history than Joe Biden’s cabinet, and yet not one Democratic senator said peep about whether this person was qualified or not—people [like] Mayor Pete [Buttigieg], Jake Sullivan, [Alejandro] Mayorkas– all just grossly unqualified people and terrible disasters. Then, most importantly every single one of them voted for every single one of Biden’s nominees. Then the last point is whether it’s Matt Gaetz going back to that or any of the other nominees, they’re infinitely more qualified than any of Biden’s picks. If you had to pick between Matt Gaetz and Merrick Garland to run the Justice Department that’s not hard. There’s no question who’s more qualified.” While Gaetz did withdraw—this interview came after that—Moreno had endorsed him before anyone else. Moreno has also endorsed Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii to be the Director of National Intelligence, and Kash Patel to be the FBI director—and he was one of, if not the first to publicly back each of these and all of Trump’s other nominations. Moreno told Breitbart News he’s frustrated by some Republicans in the Senate who have expressed issues with this nominee or that one publicly, and said he will not operate that way. “What we’re seeing on the Republican side is extremely frustrating because rather than us being focused and united to get every single one of President Trump’s cabinet picks into office as quickly as possible, we’re hand-wringing and pearl-clutching when we should be saying the first thing we ought to do is get all of these cabinet nominations through so President Trump has his team,” Moreno said. “The American people gave him the mandate. I would like to say I won my Senate race—no, President Trump won my Senate race. President Trump is the reason I’m going to be a United States Senator. So we’re going to give him massive deference. And by the way the good news about President Trump is if somebody doesn’t do the job that he wants them to do he will fire them, unlike Biden, who had no accountability. Despite 12 million illegals, Mayorkas is still there. Despite the crisis in Afghanistan, no one faced ramifications. Jake Sullivan was on TV two weeks before Oct. 7 saying the Middle East has never been more at peace in the history of the world and then two weeks later the largest attack on Israel in modern history. So, under Biden, no ramifications, whereas President Trump is a big believer in accountability.” Many in Trump-world have taken notice of how aggressive Moreno has been in fighting for Trump’s agenda and nominees, and are thankful for it. A Trump official compared Moreno to Vice President-elect JD Vance, the U.S. Senator from Ohio. “Bernie is fast becoming a true fighter in the mold of JD Vance,” the Trump official told Breitbart News. “He represents someone who will fight in the trenches for the movement and he’s already done that before even taking the oath. That’s how committed he is.” Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. added that having senators like Moreno in there this time is going to make the second term even stronger than the first term. “I’m not surprised that Bernie has already become one of my father’s strongest defenders in the Senate,” Trump Jr. told Breitbart News. “The biggest difference between now and my father’s first term is we actually have Republicans in the Senate like Bernie who are pro-America First and truly support my father’s agenda.” Turning Point’s Charlie Kirk, an America First movement leader, said Moreno “is instrumental to the MAGA movement.” “His voice will be critical to growing our agenda in the senate,” Kirk said. Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz added that Moreno “has been a steadfast ally” of Trump and Vance “for many years.” “His firm understanding of the America First movement coupled with his business acumen will make him one of the most effective Senators in the country, despite being a newcomer,” Bruesewitz said. Sam Geduldig, one of the biggest-spending Republican lobbyists in Washington, who’s very close with lots of top GOP officials in Congress and the incoming administration, told Breitbart News that Moreno’s electoral coalition resembles Trump’s working class voters. “Moreno put together a working class coalition in Ohio and won easily, defeating a well funded faux populist chairman of the banking committee who raised tens of millions of dollars from K Street and Wall Street,” Geduldig said. “Moreno is a self-funding self-made adult who will never forget how he won. Working class black, Hispanic and white voters who are fed up with conventional wisdom narratives dreamt up by overpriced white wealthy Democratic political consultants “ All these accolades are likely to keep piling up the more Moreno keeps leading the way fighting for Trump’s agenda and vision on Capitol Hill. He takes the oath of office on Jan. 3, alongside the rest of the incoming Congress, and then he told Breitbart News it’s time to get cracking fast, because the longer the Senate takes to get nominations done the more it impacts the broader legislative agenda that Trump and Republicans have ambitious aims on. “Right now, and this is a stat you may not know, two-thirds of all Senate floor time is dedicated to confirmations,” Moreno said. “So we’re taking two-thirds of our attention instead of getting the agenda accomplished wringing our hands around nominees, and if we can’t do that and we spend a better part of the first six, eight, nine, twelve months and we’re still going through Cabinet and nominations and judges and ambassadors, President Trump is not going to be able to do his job. He has a very short window—shorter than any president in American history. He has basically two years to get the agenda done and we’re going to hamstring him by not getting these nominees done. That’s why I’m passionate about every single one of my colleagues—stay focused and stay united and if you have a personal grievance about one particular nominee pick up the phone and call President Trump or alternatively to people like Nikki Haley, run for president, win, and pick your own damn cabinet. In her case, she tried that and it didn’t work out very well.” Moreno said that Republicans need to be “focused and united,” and that “we’re going to support all these nominees and get them confirmed as quickly as humanly possible.” He added that it is imperative Republicans are “making certain we keep conversations private about what we feel.” He said that having gone through fake media smears against himself—the Associated Press tried similar nonsense against him back when he was in his primary in Ohio earlier this year—it makes him particularly sensitive to evidence-free anonymous allegations against anyone as part of a typical leftist media playbook that Democrats seem to be running against Hegseth right now. “What’s the point of going out on camera or putting out posts on X, whereas if you have a concern pick up the phone and call Donald J. Trump,” Moreno said. “He’ll take your call as a senator, and you give him your private concerns. But to air it out publicly only gives the media red meat, which is when they see Republicans fighting each other, that’s red meat for the media and that becomes a story. So if you have a concern, privately share it. Then, most of all, the best thing about America is we have a justice system that has a presumption of innocence. Unless you’re convicted of something, allegations are just gossip. If somebody makes an allegation of something about somebody, then all of a sudden you’re convicted of that? I’m very sensitive of that because I just went through a primary where I was accused of things that never in my life I would have imagined I would have been accused of—a total smear job that happened to me in my primary—and so when somebody says ‘it’s been alleged,’ well, have you been convicted? No? Then shut the hell up. We’re not going to determine who is in the United States Cabinet for the president based on gossip, innuendo, and allegations. Now, if there’s convictions, it’s a totally different story. But I think the idea that we even open up the door to anybody who’s just had allegations—and I think if there’s anybody who should understand that it’s the 53 Republicans serving in the United States Senate–especially the ones who have gone through tough elections over the last decade. They know what it means to have allegations thrown at you. By the way, we’re talking about specifically Pete Hegseth and allegations, but Joe Biden has more allegations of sexual misconduct than Pete Hegseth does, but you don’t see Democrats wringing their hands saying Joe Biden was accused of this or accused of that. President Clinton got not only accused but basically admitted to what he did, and you don’t hear people talking about these issues. My point is there is a standard for Democrats and a standard for Republicans, and if we Republicans want to keep being suckers and play to a different standard than Democrats play then that’s a shame, because that portends poorly for us being able to execute on the agenda the people elected us to perform on—it’s cabinet confirmations today, and it’s going to be deportations tomorrow. Every single Republican ran on deportations and securing the border. So will this sort of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching be applied to the decisions that will be made there and to shrinking the size of the federal government? Shrinking the regulatory state? All of these things are tough, and if we can’t plow through confirmations in a united and focused way it does not bode well for passing President Trump’s agenda. And let me just say this: If we do not get President Trump’s agenda accomplished in the next 24 months, we will get severely punished in the 2026 midterms and beyond—as we should. If we can’t get our act together, then we don’t deserve our chance to govern.” Moreno defeated outgoing Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Nov. 5 in Ohio. Amazingly, since the election, Moreno says Brown has not conceded the race and has not called him to congratulate him on the victory. Moreno told Breitbart News that Brown is an “election denier,” and that he will have trouble finding work in the private sector after decades in government. “Sherrod Brown has never called me. He shut down all of his state offices even though all these people are paid through January 2nd,” Moreno said. “He’s basically said go take a month vacation on the back of the taxpayer. The reality is Sherrod Brown has been an election denier for years. He said Hillary Clinton was the winner of the 2016 election, he said Stacey Abrams was the real winner of the 2018 Georgia race, and now of course consistent with his branding of being an election denier he now says he lost because the election was rigged. It’s total nonsense. There’s never been a candidate for a Senate race in United States history that had as much money or used as much money as Sherrod Brown did. Despite that, despite being extraordinarily well-known to Ohioans, despite being a three-term senator, he only got 46 percent of the vote. So he didn’t just get beaten, he got beat down. I guess he’s unable to cope with the knowledge he has to go get a job in the private sector like the rest of us and actually have to do something that isn’t mooching off the taxpayer. He’s crying in his Cheerio’s somewhere and trying to keep himself relevant. The reality is he should have known a long time ago he should know when to leave. His time is long past due, he’s long past his expiration date, and now I look forward to seeing what he can do in the private sector, which is not much. If I still owned dealerships, I would probably consider hiring him as a guy who would deliver my cars from dealership to dealership—he might be able to do that, but I probably would not count on him to be punctual.” Asked if he would make Brown a salesman at one of his dealerships, Moreno said absolutely not. “No—God, no,” Moreno replied. “He has no sales abilities. Just the guy who delivers cars from one dealership to another, but it would probably eventually disqualify him that he probably wouldn’t be punctual.”

WASHINGTON — There's a common trait that President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing as he selects those to serve in his new administration: experience on television. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., speaks during a hearing July 18, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Duffy to be Transportation Secretary. Trump loves that "central casting" look, as he likes to call it. Some, like his choices for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, were until recently TV hosts on Trump's favorite network, Fox News. Mike Huckabee, his pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, hosted the Fox show “Huckabee” from 2008 to 2015 after his time as Arkansas governor. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, was tapped to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans. He would report to Trump's choice for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself a regular on the cable news circuit. Mehmet Oz visits the AW Driving School & License Testing Center on Sept. 23, 2022, in Allentown, Pa. Trump, a former reality television star himself, has made no secret of his intention to stack his administration with loyalists after his decisive 2024 election win — including some whose lack of relevant experience has raised concerns among lawmakers. But he's also working to set up a more forceful administration in this term, and in his eyes, many of those people happen to intersect with celebrity. The trend was not lost on Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who posted on social media after the Oz nomination: “We are becoming the world’s first nuclear-armed reality television show.” For good measure, Himes added: “Just spitballing here, but what if the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS fight each other in an octagonal cage?” That was a reference to Trump's affinity for the UFC fighters who do battle in the octagon. Choosing TV personalities isn't that unusual for the once-and-future president: A number of his first-term choices — John Bolton, Larry Kudlow, Heather Nauert and Mercedes Schlapp, were all on TV — mostly also on Fox. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a confrontational first-season member of Trump's NBC show “The Apprentice," was briefly at the White House before she was fired. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who ran Trump’s 2016 transition team until he was fired, said that eight years ago, Trump held “Apprentice-like interviews at Bedminster,” summoning potential hires to his club in New Jersey. On a call on Tuesday organized by the Council on Foreign Relations, Christie said this year’s Cabinet choices are different than 2016’s but it’s still “Donald Trump casting a TV show.” “He’s casting,” Christie said. Trump has readily highlighted the media experience of his choices as he's announced them. He said Duffy, a former lawmaker and onetime cast member of MTV’s “The Real World," was “a STAR on Fox News.” Pete Hegseth walks to an elevator for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Dec. 15, 2016, in New York. Hegseth, a military veteran, “has been a host at FOX News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our Military and Veterans,” Trump said. He also noted that Hegseth's book “The War on Warriors” spent nine weeks on The New York Times “best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.” As for Oz, Trump said: “He won nine Daytime Emmy Awards hosting ‘The Dr. Oz Show,’ where he taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices." It's also true that those seeking positions in Trump's orbit often take to the airwaves to audition for an audience of one. Tom Homan, Trump's choice for “border czar,” is a frequent Fox contributor. Ohio Sen. JD Vance was chosen as Trump's running mate in part because of how well he comes across on air. Trump's choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, upped his profile when he took to Fox News to argue that a pre-election appearance on NBC's “Saturday Night Live” by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was a violation of the “equal time” rule governing candidate appearances on television. The White House-to-cable news pundit pipeline tends to cut across administrations of both parties, to some extent. President Joe Biden had three MSNBC contributors on his transition team and his former press secretary went to the network after she left the White House. Biden, though, looked to career diplomats, longtime government workers and military leaders for key posts like the Defense Department. Trump's affinity for Fox News is well-documented, though the romance cooled for a time after Fox made an early call of Arizona for Biden in 2020, a move that infuriated Trump and many of the network’s viewers. Trump suggested viewers should migrate to other conservative news outlets. While the Arizona call ultimately proved correct, it set in motion internal second-guessing and led some Fox personalities to embrace conspiracy theories, which ultimately cost the network $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems. But Trump is still an avid watcher — the network provides Trump a window into conservative thinking, with commentary from Republican lawmakers and thinkers who are, often, speaking directly to the president-elect. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “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.” Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.Chase Artopoeus has two TD passes, TD run as Chattanooga tops Austin Peay 24-17 in season finale

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WASHINGTON — There's a common trait that President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing as he selects those to serve in his new administration: experience on television. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., speaks during a hearing July 18, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Duffy to be Transportation Secretary. Trump loves that "central casting" look, as he likes to call it. Some, like his choices for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, were until recently TV hosts on Trump's favorite network, Fox News. Mike Huckabee, his pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, hosted the Fox show “Huckabee” from 2008 to 2015 after his time as Arkansas governor. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, was tapped to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans. He would report to Trump's choice for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself a regular on the cable news circuit. Mehmet Oz visits the AW Driving School & License Testing Center on Sept. 23, 2022, in Allentown, Pa. Trump, a former reality television star himself, has made no secret of his intention to stack his administration with loyalists after his decisive 2024 election win — including some whose lack of relevant experience has raised concerns among lawmakers. But he's also working to set up a more forceful administration in this term, and in his eyes, many of those people happen to intersect with celebrity. The trend was not lost on Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who posted on social media after the Oz nomination: “We are becoming the world’s first nuclear-armed reality television show.” For good measure, Himes added: “Just spitballing here, but what if the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS fight each other in an octagonal cage?” That was a reference to Trump's affinity for the UFC fighters who do battle in the octagon. Choosing TV personalities isn't that unusual for the once-and-future president: A number of his first-term choices — John Bolton, Larry Kudlow, Heather Nauert and Mercedes Schlapp, were all on TV — mostly also on Fox. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a confrontational first-season member of Trump's NBC show “The Apprentice," was briefly at the White House before she was fired. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who ran Trump’s 2016 transition team until he was fired, said that eight years ago, Trump held “Apprentice-like interviews at Bedminster,” summoning potential hires to his club in New Jersey. On a call on Tuesday organized by the Council on Foreign Relations, Christie said this year’s Cabinet choices are different than 2016’s but it’s still “Donald Trump casting a TV show.” “He’s casting,” Christie said. Trump has readily highlighted the media experience of his choices as he's announced them. He said Duffy, a former lawmaker and onetime cast member of MTV’s “The Real World," was “a STAR on Fox News.” Pete Hegseth walks to an elevator for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Dec. 15, 2016, in New York. Hegseth, a military veteran, “has been a host at FOX News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our Military and Veterans,” Trump said. He also noted that Hegseth's book “The War on Warriors” spent nine weeks on The New York Times “best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.” As for Oz, Trump said: “He won nine Daytime Emmy Awards hosting ‘The Dr. Oz Show,’ where he taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices." It's also true that those seeking positions in Trump's orbit often take to the airwaves to audition for an audience of one. Tom Homan, Trump's choice for “border czar,” is a frequent Fox contributor. Ohio Sen. JD Vance was chosen as Trump's running mate in part because of how well he comes across on air. Trump's choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, upped his profile when he took to Fox News to argue that a pre-election appearance on NBC's “Saturday Night Live” by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was a violation of the “equal time” rule governing candidate appearances on television. The White House-to-cable news pundit pipeline tends to cut across administrations of both parties, to some extent. President Joe Biden had three MSNBC contributors on his transition team and his former press secretary went to the network after she left the White House. Biden, though, looked to career diplomats, longtime government workers and military leaders for key posts like the Defense Department. Trump's affinity for Fox News is well-documented, though the romance cooled for a time after Fox made an early call of Arizona for Biden in 2020, a move that infuriated Trump and many of the network’s viewers. Trump suggested viewers should migrate to other conservative news outlets. While the Arizona call ultimately proved correct, it set in motion internal second-guessing and led some Fox personalities to embrace conspiracy theories, which ultimately cost the network $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems. But Trump is still an avid watcher — the network provides Trump a window into conservative thinking, with commentary from Republican lawmakers and thinkers who are, often, speaking directly to the president-elect. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. A Republican congressman from Michigan who served from 1993 to 2011, Hoekstra was ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump's first term. “In my Second Term, Pete will help me once again put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice. “He did an outstanding job as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands during our first four years, and I am confident that he will continue to represent our Country well in this new role.” Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “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.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Winston Peters announces greyhound racing ban to protect dog welfareGAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Princely Umanmielen's return to the Swamp ended with a police escort . Umanmielen, who spent three years at Florida before transferring to Ole Miss, left the stadium with a number of officers surrounding him. And the defensive end still tried to get at heckling fans. It started when Umanmielen left the sideline in the waning seconds of a 24-17 loss to the Gators . He was walking toward the visiting locker room when at least one fan yelled at him from the stands. Umanmielen clearly didn't like what he heard and made his way toward the seats. Officers quickly stepped in and escorted Umanmielen back toward the locker room. They then walked him directly to the team's waiting busses, but more fans were in the path and shouted at him again. Umanmielen turned and started toward the fans before officers stepped in and stopped him. It was the latest bit of oddness for Umanmielen, who wore an orange Gators ski mask through Ole Miss' practice facility late in the week. He finished the game with seven tackles, including a sack. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballJimmy Carter, former US president, dies at 100

Princely Umanmielen’s return to the Swamp ends with a loss and a police escortAP Business SummaryBrief at 6:46 p.m. ESTRepresentative image MUMBAI: The IT sector, which is on the path to recovery, is expected to witness a 15-20% growth in job opportunities across various industries in 2025, according to talent solutions company NLB Services . The IT industry has regained momentum in the second half of 2024 and is gearing up for a promising 2025 on multiple fronts, said NLB Services. In the coming year, fresher hiring in the Indian IT sector is poised for significant growth, with an anticipated increase of 15-20% in job opportunities across various industries, the company added. At the same time, the demand for highly specialised tech roles, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, and cloud technologies, is expected to surge by 30-35%, driven by the increasing reliance on emerging technologies, it said. This surge in demand is not limited to hiring but extends to a strategic focus on tech upskilling, with companies investing heavily in training initiatives to equip their workforce with the necessary skills to meet the evolving technological landscape, the company noted. NLB Services' analysis is based on its view of the macro ecosystem, industry trends, and demand. Further, the company stated that campus hiring remains a core focus for larger companies that are looking to hire aggressively in the second half of 2024-25. Since the global economic slowdown of 2021-22, clients have curtailed discretionary spending due to on-demand hiring patterns and global macroeconomic challenges. This has impacted the project pipeline; however, it is expected to stabilize in 2025, offering fresh hopes for job seekers, it said. IT fresher hiring in 2025 is projected to increase, with high demand for roles in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, Python, cloud technologies, and cybersecurity. Sectors such as Global Capability Centres (GCCs), manufacturing, BFSI, healthcare, and retail are also anticipated to boost their IT fresher intake by 30-35% in 2025, it added. Stay ahead in business with The Times of India . Check out Financial Calculators like SIP , PPF , FD , NPS and Mutual Fund Calculators.