December 4, 2024 - Presidential transition news

President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth told incoming Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker that he wouldn’t drink if confirmed to the job.

“He views the job as so important that he volunteered that,” Wicker told CNN. “I didn’t ask him.”

Pressed on how the topic came up in their conversation this morning, Wicker replied: “I normally don’t discuss what we have talked about, specifically, but you know, the, the allegation was made about him being intoxicated at several times. And so the, the questions that every member will be asking him led to his statement.”

Wicker said he was still undecided on whether he would support Hegseth’s nomination, but added he’s “looking to be supportive.”

“I had a very good meeting today,” he noted.

Some context: GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer said earlier Wednesday that he wouldn’t rule out backing Hegseth’s nomination if he committed to abstaining from drinking alcohol. Cramer said he thinks allegations against Hegseth could come from his drinking.

“It’s my biggest concern because I think everything else comes from it,” he said.

This post has been updated with additional comments from Wicker.

David Warrington.

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has picked David Warrington to serve as his White House counsel.

Bill McGinley, whom Trump had previously tapped for the role, will instead serve as counsel to the Department of Government Efficiency.

The move was seen by some in Trump’s orbit as the result of an effort to push McGinley, someone who Trump was not deeply familiar with, out of the key role.

McGinley initially got the nod after Boris Epshteyn, who CNN recently reported was the subject of an internal investigation into financial gain allegations, pushed for him for the job and got him across the finish line, multiple sources told CNN at the time.

Epshteyn had helped fill a number of legal roles within the administration.

More about the selection: Warrington, who served as the Trump campaign’s general counsel, is a Washington, DC-based lawyer who represented the former president during the House select committee’s investigation into the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. He had been a favorite of incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, one source said, adding that the decision to appoint McGinley was made while Wiles was at a conference in Las Vegas at the urging of Epshteyn.

Warrington and Wiles had offices next to each other in West Palm Beach.

Two sources close to Trump pushed back on the notion that the controversy surrounding Epshteyn was the sole reason that McGinley was moved over to DOGE. They argue that they expect DOGE to be a big part of the administration’s work and that they expect that the organization will face a number of legal hurdles that will need the attention of a skilled lawyer and McGinley had the skill set.

“Dave has represented me well as my personal attorney, and as General Counsel for my Presidential Campaign. He is an esteemed lawyer and Conservative leader,” Trump said on Truth Social, while also announcing the change in role for McGinley.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.

Pete Hegseth arrives for a meeting with Senate Minority Whip John Thune at the Capitol on December 4, in Washington, DC.

In his first comments since meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, incoming GOP Senate leader John Thune said the meeting went “well.”

He added that Hegseth laid out “a big vision for how to fix the problems” at Department of Defense. Thune rushed into a GOP lunch and didn’t answer if Hegseth’s personal issues came up nor would he say if he’s ready to support Hegseth’s nomination.

GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said her meeting with Hegseth Tuesday also went well, but she hasn’t made a decision yet whether she would vote to confirm him.

The West Virginia Republican said she and Hegseth “got into the personal issues” surrounding the Pentagon pick, saying “there’s still probably some questions to be asked there, and I’m sure other members are asking him that.”

When asked if she was satisfied with their meeting, Capito said, “Yeah, but I mean, I think we’re still in a process here, so we’ll have to see. I haven’t made a decision.”

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he doesn’t know if he thinks Hegseth should withdraw his name for defense secretary amid concerns about his personal life. He said his position on the confirmation process is he’ll support “whoever” President-elect Donald Trump wants in his Cabinet. “It’s not 100% clear who he wants as Secretary of Defense right now,” he said.

Hawley said Hegseth’s team canceled a meeting between him and the defense secretary nominee that had been scheduled for Wednesday but a Trump transition official says the Hawley meeting will be rescheduled to next week.

GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty emphasized that Hegseth assured him that Trump is still backing him.

“Secretary Designate Hegseth did a terrific job. He met with Senator Thune just before coming into this large meeting with the number of congressmen in the Republican Study Committee, and he got overwhelming support, applause, everybody’s behind him,” Hagerty said.

Hegseth has insisted as he makes his rounds on Capitol Hill that Trump is still standing behind him, amid reports that the president-elect is considering other options to lead the Department of Defense.

GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer, who is meeting with Hegseth later today, did not rule out backing his nomination if Hegseth agrees to stop drinking.

“I think for me it would be real — It’d be a very significant thing. As I’ve said quite openly, I’ve had plenty of experience in my family with alcohol and the dumb things that follow it, abuse of substances,” said Cramer. “And if he, if he’s willing to swear off alcohol, I think he’s, you know, I think that’s a pretty big corner for him to turn. And yeah, that would go a long ways with me.”

Cramer added that he thinks the other allegations against Hegseth could come from his drinking. “It’s my biggest concern because I think everything else comes from it,” he said.

The North Dakota Republican added that he’d like to see GOP Sen. Joni Ernst get the nod if Hegseth’s nomination falls through — though he noted that he doesn’t know if she would be interested in the job.

This post has been updated with additional reactions from GOP senators.

Vice President-elect JD Vance left incoming GOP Senate Leader John Thune’s office after about 30 minutes on Wednesday.

Thune would not say if they were discussing President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth.

Vance also refused to answer questions about Hegseth and whether he should pull out.

Vance is now on the Senate floor.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office issued a brief statement following President-elect Donald Trump’s Truth post on the withdrawal of Sheriff Chad Chronister, who had been Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Remember: Chronister announced his withdrawal Tuesday, saying in a post on X that he made the decision “over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in.” On Wednesday, Trump said in a social media post that he pulled his support for the pick.

“He didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters,” the president-elect said on Truth Social.

Chronister is the second of Trump’s picks to withdraw from being considered for a post in the next administration. Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz announced last month that he’d no longer seek the position of attorney general as the conservative firebrand faced an uphill battle to be confirmed in the Senate. Trump replaced him with a fellow Floridian, former state Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is from Tampa.

CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Jack Forrest and Kate Sullivan contributed reporting.

Chairman Sen. Richard Blumenthal gavels the start of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on Capitol Hill on June 11 in Washington, DC.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal called President-elect Donald Trump’s Defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s nomination “doomed.”

He added that he’d be surprised if “we’re still talking about Pete Hegseth next Monday, even by the end of the week.”

Blumenthal told reporters on Wednesday, “I’ve talked to five to ten Republicans who have said to me they’re just waiting for the right moment to say no to Pete Hegseth.”

Pressed on why no Republican senators have explicitly said that they won’t support Hegseth yet, Blumenthal responded, “nobody wants to defy Donald Trump,” adding the power of retribution is “pretty daunting.”

“I think Republicans are reluctant to step forward and be the first one, but I think privately, they’re much readier to advise the president that the better part of wisdom would be the urge withdrawing this nomination,” he continued.

Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he’s prepared to demand records about Hegseth’s past financial dealings and sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse allegations, which he said could be “disqualifying.”

Donald Trump’s embattled Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth received a friendly reception from one group of Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday — though it’s not the ones who can help save his nomination.

Hegseth took time from his frenzied slate of Senate meetings to sit down for lunch with dozens of House GOP members in the Republican Study Committee.

“I just don’t understand him coming over here to appeal to us when I would say that he probably already has 98% of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives in support of him already” GOP Rep. Max Miller, who thought Hegseth was “very competent,” told CNN.

Hegseth – who faces allegations of sexual abuse and alcohol misuse that has put his confirmation in jeopardy – addressed those allegations to House Republicans in “very general language,” according to multiple sources in the room. He called the allegations completely false and compared the press reports against him to those that nearly sunk Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

“Essentially what the message is, is that, you know, there’s a past and that he should be judged on the job that he’s been doing over the course of the last decade” Miller added.

GOP members offered up no real substantive questions but lots of supportive comments from members, with lawmakers asking about his top Pentagon priorities and how House members can help him win support in the Senate. And multiple GOP members told CNN that Hegseth indicated he has no intention of dropping out.

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told CNN that Hegseth said Trump’s priority for him is for the Pentagon “to be returned to war fighting, removing the woke ideology, you know, things like DEI.”

President-elect Donald Trump announced that he has nominated Daniel P. Driscoll of North Carolina to serve as secretary of the Army in his administration.

In two posts on Truth Social, Trump made the case for Driscoll’s qualifications, highlighting his extensive background in military service, education, and political advisory roles.

Trump on Wednesday also said Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of payments platform company Shift4, was his pick to be the administrator of NASA.

“Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in Space science, technology, and exploration. Over the past 25 years, as the Founder and CEO of Shift4, Jared has demonstrated exceptional leadership, building a trailblazing global financial technology company,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump said Wednesday he had picked Adam Boehler to be his presidential envoy for hostage affairs.

“Adam worked for me as a Lead Negotiator on the Abraham Accords team. He has negotiated with some of the toughest people in the World, including the Taliban, but Adam knows that NO ONE is tougher than the United States of America, at least when President Trump is its Leader. Adam will work tirelessly to bring our Great American Citizens HOME,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump on Wednesday said he has asked Michael Whatley to again serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee for another campaign cycle and named Michael Faulkender as his pick for deputy Treasury Secretary.

“Mike is a distinguished Economist and Policy practitioner who will drive our America First Agenda. He will help Treasury Secretary Nominee Scott Bessent usher in a new Golden Age for the United States by delivering a Great Economic Boom for all Americans,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The president-elect picked Monica Crowley to serve as chief of protocol of the United States and Paul Atkins to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He said Gail Slater was his pick for assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice.

This post has been updated with more of Trump’s announcements for key posts.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, told conservative radio host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday that the president-elect told him earlier in the day he still supports him for the role, and said he plans to “fight like hell” to win confirmation.

Hegseth told Kelly, in the first clip of their interview, that Trump told him: “Hey Pete, I got your back. It’s a fight. They’re coming after you. Get after it.”

Hegseth also claimed that he does not have a drinking problem — addressing one element of the series of misconduct allegations he has faced in recent weeks. He told Kelly that he has not directly responded to those allegations because he didn’t want to “respond to things that don’t merit response.” However, he said he now plans to “do more talking.”

“The media’s driving forward with this ridiculous narrative. It’s our turn, it’s our time, to stand up and tell the truth, and our side. And he knows that,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth has faced doubts among some Republican senators who will vote on his confirmation. He told Kelly that “you’d be surprised” how little the misconduct allegations have come up in meetings with senators. He said one senator on Wednesday morning compared the scrutiny he has faced to the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

He also said he has “never had a drinking problem,” has never sought help for drinking, and has never been approached by anyone who told him he should do so.

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and John Fetterman expressed openness to Gov. Ron DeSantis becoming President-Elect Trump’s new choice for secretary of defense, as Pete Hegseth’s path to confirmation hits roadblocks.

Kelly, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that DeSantis “on paper” has the experience to be a contender for the job.

Fetterman noted that he posted on X about DeSantis, saying he’s “considering voting yes in DeSantis if he finally admits that he has lifts in his boots.” “I’m sure he does, three inches, four inches at least,” he added.

Both Kelly and Fetterman expressed serious concerns about the allegations against Hegseth, and his lack of experience.

“I don’t see much in his background qualifies him to run what is perhaps the biggest enterprise on the planet, the US Department of Defense. On top of that, I think he’s got some things he needs to answer for in his personal life,” said Kelly. “So I’m very concerned about him being put forward to run the Department of Defense. I think there’s a lot of other very qualified people that the president-elect could put into that role that could get bipartisan confirmation.”

Fetterman added that Hegseth should receive a full FBI background check.

President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth said his meeting with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune went well.

“Meeting was great,” he told reporters as he rushed into his meeting with the Republican Study Committee.

He did not answer other questions. The former Fox News host and veteran has been meeting with key senators amid an uphill battle for confirmation.

Hillsborough County Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister speaks to the media before the first day of school at Sessums Elementary School in August 2021.

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he pulled his support for his previous pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chad Chronister, “because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters.”

This comes after Chronister said the day before that he had withdrawn from consideration to lead the DEA.

Trump said in a new post on Truth Social on Wednesday, “he didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters.”

Trump appears to be referencing to a time early in the Covid-19 pandemic when Chronister arrested a Tampa-area pastor for defying a local lockdown ordinance and was critical of people continuing to congregate during Covid. Because of this, the announcement of Chronister as Trump’s pick received backlash from the MAGA corner of the Republican Party, which opposed safety measures put in place in response to the pandemic.

The rest of the Truth Social post was Trump complaining about the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of him. Trump pointed to a story the Journal had published about Chronister withdrawing from consideration.

“The Wall Street Journal is becoming more and more obnoxious and unreadable. Today’s main headline is: “Trump’s DEA Pick Pulls Out In Latest Setback.” With all that’s happening in the World, this is their Number One story of the day. Besides, he didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters. But, more importantly, what’s my “latest” setback??? I just won the Presidency of the United States! They haven’t written a good story about me in YEARS. Somebody over there ought to look at what they’re doing. The only one worse than them is stupid, China-centric Forbes Magazine!” Trump posted.

Pete Hegseth arrives for a meeting with Senate Minority Whip John Thune at the Capitol in Washington on December 4.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, told CNN “no” he’s not dropping out despite facing a tough path to confirmation.

He added that Trump still has confidence in him and he’s recently spoken to the president-elect.

Hegseth ignored several questions from reporters as he headed into the Capitol for a meeting with incoming Republican leader John Thune, but did repeat that he is not dropping out of contention to be confirmed to lead the Pentagon as concerns grow about misconduct allegations against him.

“No,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju when he asked if Hegseth would drop out.

Asked by a reporter if he would go on television to address the allegations, he said “already did.”

Asked if Trump is standing behind him, he said “yes.”

This post has been updated with more of Hegseth’s comments.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune speaks to reporters following a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the US Capitol on November 19 in Washington, DC.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth will have to answer “hard questions“ that have been raised about him allegedly drinking excessively and improperly treating women.

Thune is set to meet with Hegseth in his Capitol office in the next hour.

Also, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he can’t predict if Hegseth will survive the confirmation process but said the allegations around him prove why it’s important that the Trump transition team entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice to do full FBI background checks on Trump‘s nominees.

“I’m not going to make any predictions. Obviously, you know, it demonstrates the importance of vetting these individuals so people know ahead of time what’s out there and rather than be surprised, he said. “So I’m glad that the incoming administration has entered an MOU with FBI to do more comprehensive checks. But I’ve known Pete Hegseth for a long time and I like Pete and I wish him well, but I can’t predict the outcome.”

More on meetings with senators: GOP Sen. Joni Ernst spoke very briefly about her upcoming meeting with Hegseth. She says she looks forward to visiting with him and that their talk will be “thorough”

“I’m looking forward to visiting with him. I think it will be a good meeting,” she said when asked what she needs to hear from him.

Asked if his nomination is viable, she said: “We’re looking forward to visiting with him”

She added later “we are going to have a very through discussion.”

Some Hill Republicans have said they are privately watching for potential alternatives, including Ernst, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from lawmakers.

President Joe Biden is accompanied by his son Hunter Biden and his grandson Beau as they leave a book store in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29.

The federal judge who oversaw Hunter Biden’s tax case blasted President Joe Biden for trying to “rewrite history” in his justification for pardoning his son.

District Judge Mark Scarsi wrote in a five-page order Tuesday that some of the “representations contained” in Biden’s statement announcing the pardon “stand in tension with the case record.” Scarsi specifically took issue with Biden’s rationale that his son’s tax problems were all caused by his struggle with alcohol and drug addiction.

In the pardon announcement on Sunday night, Biden claimed his son was one of many Americans “who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions.” But, as the judge pointed out, as part of Hunter Biden’s guilty plea, he admitted to not paying his nearly $1.4 million tax debts even after regaining his sobriety, and even though he had the funds to pay.

The judge also rebuked Biden for claiming that his son was “singled out” for prosecution because of political reasons. Earlier this year, Scarsi rejected this exact same argument from Hunter Biden, who wanted the indictment tossed on those grounds. (The judge in Hunter Biden’s gun case in Delaware also rejected the selective-prosecution theory.)

The president’s announcement claimed “no reasonable person” could conclude that this wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. But Scarsi noted that plenty of Justice Department officials, including the attorney general, oversaw the case and let it go forward — and therefore, “in the president’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants…are unreasonable people.”

US President-elect Donald Trump announced he has named former aide Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.

In a pair of Truth Social posts announcing the appointment, Trump revealed that Navarro will be responsible for helping to “successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas.”

Navarro previously served as a key trade advisor to Trump during his first term.

House Speaker Mike Johnson departs a news conference on Capitol Hill on November 19 in Washington, DC.

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday acknowledged the House GOP’s even tighter margins in 2025 will leave them with “nothing to spare” as they work to pass an ambitious Trump agenda.

Johnson’s remarks at his news conference come after the results of the race in the 2024 election was called — a seat in Central California that Democrats flipped. While Johnson said some legal challenges were possible, he acknowledged the final party breakdown was 220-215.

The margin will be even slimmer in early 2025 with three vacancies due to Trump’s cabinet picks. Johnson said he hoped to fill those seats by “late spring.” Johnson said he raised this issue to Senate Republicans in his meeting with them on Tuesday.

Asked about maneuvering a massive GOP agenda through those slim margins, Johnson said: ”We know how to work in a small majority here, that’s our custom.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the US Capitol on Wednesday, November 13.

GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of South Dakota said Wednesday that he would like President-elect Donald Trump’s defense department pick, Pete Hegseth, to commit to abstaining from drinking alcohol “at least through his term as secretary.”

Cramer’s son Isaac suffered from liver and kidney failure as a result of alcohol addiction. He died in 2018.

Trump’s transition team was blindsided by the 2017 sexual assault allegation against Hegseth — and then again after the related police report surfaced. As an avalanche of media reports on Hegseth’s alleged past transgressions have emerged, the patience of many in Trump’s orbit has grown thin.

Cramer, reiterated any personal issues “have to be in the past forever and I look to be convinced.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, John Ratcliffe, made his first visit to the agency on Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

Ratcliffe met officials on the famous agency seal at the entrance to headquarters, a source familiar with the matter said. He received a security briefing and had lunch with the outgoing director, Bill Burns, sources said.

“Director Burns congratulated Director-Designate Ratcliffe by phone two weeks ago and hosted him at CIA Headquarters yesterday for lunch and introductory meetings,” agency spokesperson Tamara Thorp said in a statement. “Director Burns is committed to the smoothest possible transition.”

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives for a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd in the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill on December 3, in Washington, DC.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, said he spoke to the president-elect earlier this morning who encouraged him to continue “fighting” as he faces an uphill battle to be confirmed to the role in the Senate.

Hegseth told CBS News as he arrived at the US Capitol for meetings with senators on Wednesday that Trump told him he’s continuing to support his nomination. Hegseth also said he has no plans to withdraw his nomination as some Republican senators have signaled concern over his fitness for the top Pentagon role amid allegations of sexual assault and mistreatment of women.

When asked about reports that Trump is considering replacing his nomination of Hegseth with someone else, potentially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Hegseth shared details about his conversation with Trump.

“I spoke to the president-elect this morning,” Hegseth said as he arrived at the Capitol. “He said, ‘Keep going, keep fighting, behind you all the way.’”

When asked if he planned to withdraw his nomination, Hegseth pointed to his planned meetings about his nomination with Republican senators today.

“We’re meeting all day with senators,” he said.

Rep. Mike Waltz attends the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 23 in New York City.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will meet on Wednesday with Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

The meeting will take place in Washington, DC, the source said. Axios first reported the meeting.

The two are likely to discuss Gaza hostage release efforts. On Monday, Trump warned that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if the hostages being held in Gaza aren’t released before he is sworn in as president in January.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for the “strong statement,” saying it “adds another force to our continuing effort to release all the hostages.”

Dermer met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department on Monday.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, posted a defiant message on social media on Wednesday amid growing concerns about past allegations of his treatment of women that could jeopardize his place in the incoming Trump administration.

Hegseth posted on social media that “the Left is afraid” of him and Trump and is responsible for pushing back on his potential confirmation while adding that he will “never back down.”

Hegseth’s post comes as his nomination appears to be in jeopardy after some Republican senators have signaled concern over his appointment to the top Pentagon job. Hegseth will meet with Republican senators on Capitol Hill today and is expected to participate in an interview with Fox News this evening.

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defense, said she regrets sending a 2018 email to her son accusing him of mistreating women.

She is now urging women senators to support Hegseth in his embattled confirmation fight.

Penelope Hegseth said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that her son is “redeemed, forgiven, changed” in the seven years since she wrote an email recently published by the New York Times in which she said there are “many” women whom he has “abused in some way” and said her son is the right person to lead the Pentagon under the incoming Trump administration.

She explained her decision to write the email by saying she wrote it “as a parent” and with “deep emotions” amid her son’s divorce, and said she wrote an apology email to her son later that same day.

“I’m sure many of you across the country understand how difficult divorce is on a family. There’s emotions. We say things, and– I wrote that in haste. I wrote that with deep emotions. I wrote that as a parent,” Penelope Hegseth said. “Pete and I are both very passionate people. I wrote that out of love, and about two hours later, I retracted it with an apology email.”

“I don’t believe any of that is true, any of it. And I’m here, I wouldn’t be sitting on this– in this chair today, if I did believe that about my son,” she added.

Penelope Hegseth denied that her son mistreats women and resisted delving into the specific accusations she made in her 2018 email, saying that he “doesn’t misuse women.”

“He’s been through some difficult things. I’m not going to list them by name, but I would just say that some of those, some of those attachments or descriptions, are just not true, especially anymore,” she said.

At multiple times in the interview, Penelope Hegseth encouraged female senators to ignore the accusations about her son’s treatment of women as he faces a tough confirmation battle. Hegseth is expected to meet with several Republican senators on Capitol Hill today, including Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst.

“I just hope people will– will get to know who Pete is today, especially our dear female senators, that you would listen to him, listen with your heart to the truth of Pete,” she added.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, will meet with the Republican Study Committee in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, according to a person familiar.

This comes as he holds a flurry of meetings among GOP senators, who will vote on whether to confirm him next year.

Remember: House members do not vote on nominees.

Earlier today, Hegseth arrived on the Hill and briefly stopped by the incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker’s front office, before going downstairs to the Senate Armed Services Committee office.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

The Biden administration is determined “to spend every cent” in available funding for Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at his last NATO foreign ministerial as top US diplomat.

Speaking ahead of a likely significant change in Ukraine policy under the incoming Trump administration, Blinken said he is trying “to give the incoming administration the strongest hand to play” on Ukraine and across the board.

Blinken emphasized that Ukraine must be allowed to make its own decisions about its future.

He said that NATO had continued “coordinating to ensure that Ukraine has the money, the munitions and the mobilized forces to fight as necessary through next year, or to be able to negotiate, but from a position of strength.”

“What we’re working to do in the time that we have left is to give Ukraine, to give our own country, to give all the allies and partners that support Ukraine the strongest possible hand to use next year and beyond,” he said.

“If Ukraine determines that it needs to continue the fight, we want to make sure it has what it needs to continue that fight – the money, the munitions, the mobilized forces” he said. “If it chooses to engage in a negotiation – and that assumes, of course, that Putin and Russia have any intent of doing that – then again, we want to make sure it’s from a position of strength.”

Donald Trump is in danger of losing another one of his provocative Cabinet picks in a further blow to his bid to shake up Washington in his second term.

The president-elect is facing a decision about how much his heart is set on former Fox News anchor and veteran Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon.

Hegseth’s candidacy ran into stiff headwinds on Tuesday, amid increasing disquiet among some GOP senators about allegations concerning his treatment of women, drinking and capacity to run the US military behemoth.

A handful of Republican senators publicly said that Hegseth needed to answer questions about his alleged conduct — and possible alternatives for secretary of defense were being floated by sources close to Trump.

Hegseth’s hopes appear to be ebbing ahead of a Fox News interview scheduled for Wednesday. A senior Trump administration source told CNN’s Jake Tapper late Tuesday night that “tomorrow is going to be absolutely critical.” The source suggested that Hegseth hadn’t been forthcoming with the Trump team about his past behavior involving women and alcohol.

Trump’s criteria for picking Cabinet secretaries seems to depend on how willing they’ll be to do exactly what he wants — in this case, to root out what he regards as “woke” generals — and how good they look on TV. But Trump’s subordinates enter a danger zone when they begin to come across as beleaguered and besieged and reflect poorly on him. That’s what happened to short-lived attorney general pick Matt Gaetz last month, and Hegseth risks entering similar territory.

Read Collinson’s full analysis.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in January.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is interested in serving in Donald Trump’s administration as defense secretary if formally offered the job, two sources close to DeSantis told CNN.

DeSantis is one of a handful of individuals that have been floated to Trump as potential replacements for embattled nominee Pete Hegseth.

Trump’s consideration of DeSantis for Defense Secretary — and the Florida governor’s subsequent interest — marks a stunning pivot in a relationship that soured in recent years. Trump viewed DeSantis as a disloyal former ally for jumping into the GOP race for president when it was well-known the former president intended to run again.

The bad blood continued throughout the primary, as Trump assembled a team of disgruntled former DeSantis operatives to oversee his third White House bid — including co-campaign manager Susie Wiles — and picked up broad support from members of Florida’s congressional delegation who often felt ignored by their own governor.

But on Tuesday, Trump and DeSantis both attended a memorial service for fallen Florida deputies in Palm Beach County — a rare joint public appearance for two men who have barely spoken since their acrimonious primary came to an end. A source close to both men told CNN that during the day, the two also discussed DeSantis potentially replacing Hegseth as Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, should the former Fox News host ultimately falter.

As recently as last month, DeSantis previously brushed aside questions about serving in a Trump administration. During an address to Notre Dame shortly after Trump’s victory, he said Trump has “a lot of great people to choose from … For me, I’m not seeking anything. I’ve got a great job in the state of Florida.”

“How can I best make a difference,” DeSantis said. “Given where we are, me quarterbacking the Sunshine State is probably how I make the biggest difference.”

However, the political calculus for the Republican has shifted in recent weeks as Trump has asserted his dominance over the state DeSantis leads. Trump has filled his government in recent weeks with Florida nominees, leaving DeSantis to deal with the political fallout amid pressure from Trump allies to do the president-elect’s bidding. That includes a public push to name Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as a replacement for Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been tapped as Secretary of State.

DeSantis also still harbors ambitions of running for president again — a prospect that, for the moment, appears clouded by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the heir-apparent to lead the next generation of the MAGA movement in 2028. Facing two more years as a lame duck governor of Florida before he is second and final term expired, and with no clear path to staying relevant in Trump’s GOP, DeSantis has grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of serving in the Trump administration.

Still, it’s not clear DeSantis is the front-runner to replace Hesgeth. Many of the president-elect’s key advisers remain on poor terms with the Florida governor and have plenty of firepower to influence Trump against elevating DeSantis to such a critical job. To this day, DeSantis supporters frequently clash online with Trump’s vast world of MAGA influencers on X. And unlike other Republicans, DeSantis did little publicly to assist Trump during his hard-fought bid for the White House and the two even took opposing positions on a Florida ballot referendum to legalize marijuana.

This post has been updated with additional details.

Democratic Assembly member Adam Gray discusses legislation with a colleague at the Capitol in Sacramento, California, in May 2022.

Republican Rep. John Duarte has conceded to his Democratic challenger Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, Duarte campaign spokesman Duane Dichiara confirmed to CNN.

The five counties in the district certified their results Tuesday, leaving Gray with a 187-vote lead.

The contest was the last unresolved House race in the country, and with Gray’s victory, Republicans won 220 seats to Democrats’ 215. Overall, Democrats gained one seat from their pre-election total.

The Republican majority is likely to be even tighter in the early part of next year – former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz resigned from the House last month and won’t take his seat in the new Congress and Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida are expected to leave the chamber to take positions in the Trump administration.

If all three seats are vacant at once, a 217-215 majority would mean that Republicans couldn’t afford to lose a single member on a party-line vote.

CNN’s Terence Burlij contributed reporting to this post.

Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, walk through the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

The nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense is in trouble, a senior Trump transition source told CNN Tuesday evening.

“He has not been forthright with the Transition team staff and the President-elect and Vice President-elect,” the senior Trump transition source said of the reporting about allegations about Hegseth’s behavior involving women and alcohol. “He has hurt a lot of people as a result. He didn’t disclose anything.”

As a result of the reports and allegations, Donald Trump’s allies involved in the transition process have been compiling a list of alternative candidates for Secretary of Defense in recent days in the event Hegseth’s road to confirmation appears destined to implode, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

Per sources, the names under consideration include:

CNN has reached out to representatives for Ernst, DeSantis and Hagerty.

People involved in Trump transition planning for the Pentagon started floating other options after the first allegations about Hegseth surfaced, driven in large part by concerns that he could face a similar “math problem” as former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew his name as Trump’s pick for attorney general after facing headwinds in the Senate.

Hegseth and his mom on Fox News: In a sign of how seriously the transition team is taking their concerns, Hegseth is expected to sit for an interview with Fox News today, two people familiar confirmed to CNN. It’s unclear if the interview is scheduled to air today as well.

Separately, Hegseth’s mother is also expected to be interviewed on Fox and Friends today, according to two people.

More context: No Republicans have said they will not support Hegseth, but even some of the GOP senators closest to Trump, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, are now wondering whether Hegseth can survive the tightrope walk to confirmation, sending an ominous signal for the incoming White House. Hegseth will need to limit defections to three GOP senators, assuming all Democrats vote against him, and there are already more than three senators who are uncertain if they’ll back him.

Here are other developments:

Embattled defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth is set to meet with four key senators tomorrow: incoming Majority Leader John Thune and incoming chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger Wicker, along with committee members Joni Ernst and Kevin Cramer, according to a source.

Times and locations of the meetings have yet to be announced.

Pete Hegseth’s mother is expected to be interviewed on Fox and Friends today, according to two people.

It comes after she was inserted into his confirmation drama when The New York Times published an email she sent him amid his divorce in 2018.

In it, she said he abused and mistreated women and needed to seek help. She later told the Times she sent an “immediate follow-up email at the time apologizing for what she had written.”

Donald Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has been in a series of meetings on Capitol Hill this week with the Republican senators who will decide his fate.

In a sign of how seriously the transition team is taking their concerns, Hegseth is expected to sit for an interview with Fox News Wednesday, two people familiar confirmed to CNN. It’s unclear if the interview is scheduled to air today as well.

The transition is hoping his answers will alleviate the concerns that several Republican senators have expressed. His interview is notable because most, if not all, of Trump’s Cabinet picks have been told to stay away from media appearances until after their confirmation process.

In this 2020 photo, a woman walks past the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

The Trump-Vance Transition team formally entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Justice, according to a statement from Susie Wiles, President-elect Donald Trump’s chief of staff.

This agreement outlines the terms of cooperation between the transition team and the DOJ, marking a significant step in the preparation of the incoming administration.

The memorandum also paves the way for the Trump team to seek FBI background checks on Trump’s appointees.

CNN previously reported that the transition team was using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates and not going through traditional FBI screenings for at least some of its nominees. It is still unclear how many of Trump’s Cabinet picks will be submitted for FBI background checks going forward.

The move comes after complaints from GOP senators that the delay in signing the memorandum could delay the confirmation process of Trump’s nominees.

“This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” Wiles said.

In addition, the MOU grants the transition team enhanced access to critical information from federal agencies, allowing for more effective preparation as they take on the challenges and responsibilities of governing.