Trump Chooses Dr. David Weldon, a Former Congressman, to Lead the C.D.C.

In selecting a doctor who is skeptical of vaccine safety, the president-elect is emphasizing his commitment to reforming the role of federal health agencies in radical ways.

Nov. 22, 2024

President-elect Donald J. Trump chose Dr. David Weldon, a former congressman, on Friday to serve as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Weldon, 71, is a native of Long Island and earned a medical degree in New York before moving to Florida to practice. Starting in 1995, he served seven terms in Congress, representing the 15th District of Florida, before forgoing re-election and returning to his medical practice.

As a member of Congress, Dr. Weldon pushed the false notion that thimerosal, a preservative compound in some vaccines, had caused an explosion of autism — a hypothesis that experts say has no evidence. He also introduced a “vaccine safety bill” that aimed to relocate most vaccine safety research from the C.D.C. — which he said had an “inherent conflict of interest” — to a separate agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/health/weldon-cdc.html

https://archive.ph/WwzgJ

Trump picks Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as nation's next surgeon general

Trump said that Nesheiwat is a 'fierce advocate' for public health

Published November 22, 2024 8:03pm EST

President-elect Trump has nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as surgeon general.

In a statement on Friday evening, Trump said that Dr. Nesheiwat is a "fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventative medicine and public health."

"I am proud to announce that Dr. Janette Nesheiwat will be the Nation’s Doctor as the United States Surgeon General. Dr. Nesheiwat is a double board-certified Medical Doctor with an unwavering commitment to saving and treating thousands of American lives," he said.

Nesheiwat is a former Fox News medical contributor.

"She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives," he added.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-nominates-janette-nesheiwat-surgeon-general

Trump brings back former aide Sebastian Gorka, ex-State Department official Alex Wong to serve in admin

Both men served under Trump during his first presidential administration

Published November 22, 2024 8:47pm EST

President-elect Trump on Friday announced that former State Department official Alex Wong will be appointed assistant to the president and principal deputy national security advisor, and that Sebastian Gorka, a former aide, will serve as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.

Both men served under Trump during his first term. Wong served in the State Department as deputy special representative for North Korea, and the deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and pacific affairs.

Rep. Mike Waltz, who was tapped by Trump to serve as his national security adviser, praised Wong on X.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-brings-back-former-aide-sebastian-gorka-state-department-official-alex-wong-serve-admin

Labor Secretary Pick Is Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon

A moderate from a swing district, she received endorsements from several unions but narrowly lost her bid for a second House term.

Nov. 22, 2024

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Republican representative from Oregon who narrowly lost her House seat this month, was chosen on Friday to serve as labor secretary in the coming Trump administration.

“Lori has worked tirelessly with both business and labor to build America’s work force, and support the hardworking men and women of America,” President-elect Donald J. Trump said in a statement.

A moderate from a swing district that includes parts of Portland, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, 56, is not a major figure in American labor politics. But she was one of only a few House Republicans to support major pro-union legislation, and she split her district’s union endorsements with her Democratic opponent, Janelle Bynum, earning nods from ironworkers, firefighters and local Teamsters.

When the House speaker, Mike Johnson, spoke at a Chavez-DeRemer rally in October, he said, “She’s got more labor union endorsements than any Republican I’ve ever seen in my life.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/business/economy/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-trump.html

https://archive.ph/c6pnt

Trump picks Project 2025 author Russell Vought to lead budget office

11/22/24 7:40 PM ET

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought to serve as the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during his second administration.

Vought served as Trump’s OMB deputy director during his first term in the Oval Office.

“I am very pleased to nominate Russell Thurlow Vought, from the Great State of Virginia, as the Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB),” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Friday.

“He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term – We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!” he added in the post.

Vought penned the chapter on the Executive Office of the President of the United States — which largely references OMB — in The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a “governing agenda” filled with conservative priorities and insight from scholars and policy experts.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5005710-trump-picks-project-2025-author-russell-vought-to-lead-budget-office/

Trump nominates investment manager Scott Bessent, a gay man, as Treasury secretary

Bessent, if confirmed, would be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to lead the department. His nomination still doesn't mean Trump is an ally, however.

November 23 2024 3:31 AM EST

Donald Trump has nominated Scott Bessent, a billionaire investment manager who is gay, as secretary of the Treasury.

Bessent, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, would be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be Treasury secretary and one of only a few to ever hold a Cabinet or Cabinet-level position.

“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda,” Trump said in a statement Friday, confirming earlier reporting by several major news outlets that Bessent would be the Treasury nominee. “On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World.”

Bessent, 62, is the founder of Key Square Capital Management, a hedge fund. His background may upset some of the MAGA crowd, however. From 2011 to 2015, before starting Key Square, he was chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund founded by George Soros, and Bessent had worked for Soros’s firm at various times since 1991. Soros is a major donor to Democrats and a bête noire of the far right. Some right-wingers claim — falsely — that Soros pays protesters who turn out to support liberal causes. But “Trump liked [Bessent’s] billionaire bona fides and the fact that he converted to the MAGA movement after working for Soros,” CNN reports.

https://www.advocate.com/politics/scott-bessant-gay-trump-treasury

>>22042931