Trump judge allows release of Jack Smith’s Jan 6 report; Melania reveals White House plans: Live updates – UK Times

In the waning days of the Biden administration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended his agency’s work to tamp down border-crossing numbers and argued against breaking apart the sprawling department in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press.

President-elect Donald Trump, who promised an aggressive Day 1 effort to stop illegal immigration and remove people in the country illegally, has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to take over the agency responsible for border and airport security, disaster response, protections for high-level dignitaries and more. She faces a confirmation hearing Wednesday.

As he prepares to leave office, Mayorkas said he has spoken repeatedly to Noem, including about the Jan. 1 truck attack in New Orleans and the wildfires in California, calling the conversations “meaningful, very productive, very positive.”

Here are some takeaways from AP‘s interview with Mayorkas:

This week, the Republican-led Senate will hold more than a dozen hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. The goal is to confirm their roles as soon as possible so that he can move forward with his agenda as soon as possible after his inauguration.

While some will likely go smoothly, such as Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s choice for secretary of state, others may struggle to get the requisite number of votes for confirmation — Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a military veteran, for defense secretary, for example.

The tightly packed schedule of the hearings led Senator John Cornyn of Texas to say to reporters last week: “We’re going to have a little bit of a train wreck next week of confirmation hearings… But I’m glad we’re getting those done, and the FBI background check would naturally be a part of that process.”

The process is that the nominees must first be approved by the respective Senate committees that oversee their prospective departments, in front of whom they will appear for hearings this week.

They then require 50 votes from the full Senate for confirmation. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be able to break a tie starting from January 20, when he and Trump take office.

Republicans have a majority of 53 seats in the Senate, so they can endure three defections before they need Democratic votes.

Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has already expressed support for Rubio, Elise Stefanik for UN Ambassador, and Sean Duffy for transportation secretary.

We’ll be keeping track of the hearings all week on this blog. Here’s what you need to know about who’s up for which job and when they’ll face questioning:

These are all the key dates from Trump’s election victory until he becomes the next president.

Weeks after Fox News original Neil Cavuto shockingly revealed that he was immediately leaving the network he’d called home since 1996, the conservative cable giant announced that it had decided to tap Fox & Friends Weekend host Will Cain as Cavuto’s mid-afternoon replacement.

Unveiling a series of programming changes across the weekday and weekend schedules of both Fox News and Fox Business Network, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott boasted about the upcoming The Will Cain Show, along with the host’s credentials and experience.

Justin Barangoa has the story.

Four years after President Joe Biden entered office with the intent on strengthening American alliances that had been neglected during Donald Trump’s first administration, he says he’s leaving office having accomplished those goals.

In his final foreign policy address at the State Department on Monday, the US president declared that America was “winning the worldwide competition” while pointing to a strengthened (and growing) Nato as evidence.

Andrew Feinberg and John Bowden report from Washington, D.C.

Pamela Hemphill, a grandmother in her seventies who was jailed for taking part in the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol four years ago, has said she will “refuse” a pardon from President-elect Donald Trump once he takes office.

The incoming commander-in-chief has vowed to issue widespread presidential pardons to his supporters convicted for nonviolent offences over the infamous attack on January 6 2021.

The stock market had a record-breaking run last year, but members of Congress still managed to outperform it with their portfolios making staggering gains in industries where they wield legislative power and influence, such as tech and energy.

More than 20 members made almost double the S&P500 average gain of 24.9 percent last year. The top five performers — Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Roger Williams (R-TX), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) — increased the value of their portfolio value by more than 100 percent, according to a new report.

Richard Hall and Eric Garcia report.

Incoming first lady Melania Trump says she’s packed and ready to move back into the White House, where son Barron will have a bedroom, and she plans to revive her Be Best children’s initiative.

Trump also said in a taped interview broadcast Monday on Fox News’ Fox & Friends that an upcoming documentary on her life that is set to be distributed by Amazon Prime Video later this year was her idea based on the reception to the memoir she released last year.

“So I had an idea to, to make a movie, to make a film about my life,” she said. “My life is incredible. It’s incredibly busy. And, I told my agent, you know, I have this idea, so please, you know, go out and, make a deal for me.”

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Hegseth for one of the most senior jobs in the administration: secretary of defense.

But since Trump announced his unorthodox choice to head the Pentagon, serious questions have surrounded the 44-year-old Fox News host.