🏛️ Capitol Reset: Trump's Cabinet Picks Targeted With Bomb Threats

Good morning. All of us here at Upward News are still pretty full on turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, so we’ll be keeping our next couple of newsletters thin — unlike our waistlines. Articles will be back on Monday.

Mentioned in this edition: Lee Zeldin, John Fetterman, Dick Durbin, Jamieson Greer, Elon Musk, Nancy Mace, Rand Paul, Seth Moulton, Elizabeth Warren, a CA House race, a possible FBI director, and more.

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

🧨 Some of Trump’s picks were targeted by bomb threats. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Pete Hegseth, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Lee Zeldin, and others reported that they had received threats of pipe bombs having been delivered to their mailboxes; none were found. Zeldin claimed that the message from the threat-makers included pro-Palestine sentiments.

🚦Democrats won’t seek to delay Trump’s cabinet confirmations. Multiple major Democratic senators, from John Fetterman (D-PA) to Dick Durbin (D-IL), have said they do not intend to needlessly delay Trump’s cabinet approvals, even if they do not vote to confirm them. A swift confirmation process would be whiplash from 2017, when Democrats sought to impede Trump’s picks.

💸 Trump picked a relative unknown as America’s top trade chief. Jamieson Greer, a protégé of Trump’s first US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, was selected for the post; if confirmed, at 44, he would be the youngest ever. He will be responsible for trade negotiations and will help implement and defend Trump’s tariffs. Pro-tariff organizations were extremely supportive of Greer’s selection.

✍🏻 Trump’s transition team signed an agreement with the Biden administration. The agreement allows key members of Trump’s upcoming administration — such as cabinet picks — to speak with their predecessors in an official capacity. The Trump team, however, confirmed that they will not be using taxpayer funding for the transition, nor will they use government-provided technology or office space.

🦅 THE EXECUTIVE

• President-elect Donald Trump wished “radical left lunatics” a happy Thanksgiving.

• Elon Musk accused Trump critic Alexander Vindman of treason after the latter said Russian President Vladimir Putin was using Musk.

• Musk also called for the end of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

🏛️ CONGRESS

• CNN uncovered audio of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) from 2023 saying she was “pro-transgender rights” and supporting children using alternative pronouns.

• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would oppose Trump’s plan to use the military to carry out deportations, calling it “illegal.”

• Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) may draw primary challengers from the left for his statement that biological males should not play women’s sports.

🗓️ WHAT’S AHEAD

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