Transition Team/Cabinet Thread

[Mr. Morden]

Trump will meet with Mattis on Saturday:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/retired-marine-gen.-mattis-to-meet-trump/article/2607760

And Mattis has now taken the lead in the highly volatile Secretary of Defense market on Predicit.

[Mr. Morden]

Jeff Flake says he supports the Sessions nomination:

https://twitter.com/JeffFlake/status/799681200663117824

I'm not expecting any Republicans in the Senate to oppose Sessions, though I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Mr. Morden]

John Katko is among the rumored names for Secretary of Homeland Security:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/18/donald-trump-cabinet-nominations-what-we-know-so-far

Which seems odds, since he was #NeverTrump.  Then again, so was Romney, and he's apparently in the mix for Secretary of State.

[Mr. Morden]

John Katko is among the rumored names for Secretary of Homeland Security:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/18/donald-trump-cabinet-nominations-what-we-know-so-far

Which seems odds, since he was #NeverTrump.  Then again, so was Romney, and he's apparently in the mix for Secretary of State.

Wouldn't McFaul make more sense?

You mean McCaul?  Yes, I assume he's the frontrunner for that job.  But there are of course many names being floated.  As I posted yesterday, there's even the suggestion being floated that Kobach might get Homeland Security now that he's apparently not going to be AG.

[Mr. Morden]

Current Secretary of State prices on Predictit:

Giuliani 40
Romney 23
Bolton 10
Corker 8
Rohrabacher 8
Haley 6

[Mr. Morden]

I really think many of you are overestimating the chances that any Republican Senator will vote against Sessions.  There are going to be so many controversial Trump Cabinet picks, and there just won't be enough media oxygen for the controversy to grow into something fatal for all of them.  And again, the Senators all know Sessions personally, so they're less likely to vote against him than they would another nominee.

Heck, look at what Amash has been tweeting.  He says he has problems with Sessions for AG, but not really with Pompeo for CIA, more or less admitting that while he has differences with Pompeo, they're colleagues in the House and he respects him.  That's what the other Senators will think about Sessions.  It usually takes a lot for Senators to oppose a nomination from a president of their own party (granted, some of these folks publicly opposed Trump in the election, so that's already unusual), and I don't see it happening here unless there's a bunch of new information about Sessions yet to come out.

If things get really bad for Sessions, then the Dems will filibuster the nomination and it'll die, but the Republicans will probably all vote in favor of breaking the filibuster.  Even those Republicans who are publicly undecided on the underlying nomination will still vote to break the filibuster in order to have an up or down vote.

[Mr. Morden]

Huckabee says he has not been picked as Ambassador to Israel:

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/799761730394095616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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[Mr. Morden]

http://patch.com/massachusetts/wakefield/scott-brown-being-considered-donald-trump-cabinet-position

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[Mr. Morden]

The Daily Caller claims to have a big scoop on Trump’s choices for the top jobs, but I’m skeptical:

http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/19/source-trump-to-offer-mattis-romney-mnuchin-cabinet-jobs/#ixzz4QU8efzgC

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[Mr. Morden]

Kobach to meet with Trump on Sunday.  Since Sessions got AG, the Kobach fallback option might be Homeland Security:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article115888263.html

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-and-mitt-romney-hold-far-reaching-conversation-1479588384

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[Mr. Morden]

More meetings:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/19/donald-trump-mitt-romney-meet-highly-anticipated-get-together/94124850/

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[Mr. Morden]

Latest Predictit prices for the big jobs…

Secretary of State
Giuliani 43
Romney 21
Haley 12
Bolton 10
Corker 8
Gingrich 5

Secretary of Defense
Mattis 69
Cotton 8
Petraeus 8
Talent 5
Webb 5
Hadley 3
Keane 3

Secretary of the Treasury
Mnuchin 47
Dimon 18
Hensarling 11
Ross 6
Romney 4
Icahn 3
Barrack 3

Secretary of Homeland Security
Giuliani 30
Kobach 22
McCaul 19
Clarke 16
Arpaio 4

[Mr. Morden]

Trump himself is pumping Mattis for Secretary of Defense:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/800332639844659201

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Meanwhile:

https://twitter.com/FoxNewsSunday/status/800348561648979969

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[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/800392554621464576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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Mattis is still dominating the Defense market on Predictit, but Perry’s now leading for Agriculture.  Had been leading for Energy at one point, but Kevin Cramer’s now the frontrunner for that one.

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/ChrisSnyderFox/status/800699672784470016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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Maybe Gabbard will be ambassador to Russia. 

[Mr. Morden]

Ben Carson's open to joining the Cabinet after all:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/21/ben-carson-would-give-very-serious-consideration-to-cabinet-post.html

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[Mr. Morden]

WTF:

https://twitter.com/jwpetersNYT/status/800712299719704576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/VaughnHillyard/status/800438829190627329

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https://twitter.com/HallieJackson/status/800721280572030976

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https://twitter.com/hannahtpsky/status/800726793195954176

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[Mr. Morden]

Romney now narrowly ahead for Secretary of State on Predictit, while Giuliani narrowly ahead for Homeland Security…

Secretary of State
Romney 37
Giuliani 33
Gabbard 9
Bolton 7
Gingrich 4
Haley 4
Corker 3

Secretary of Defense
Mattis 70
Petraeus 7
Cotton 5
Webb 3
Michael Meese 3
Talent 2
Ayotte 2

Secretary of the Treasury
Mnuchin 51
Hensarling 25
Jonathan Gray 13
David McCormick 7

Secretary of Homeland Security
Giuliani 41
Kobach 40
McCaul 11

Secretary of HHS
Price 52
Patrick Soon-Shiong 16
Carson 14
Betsy McCaughey 8
Jindal 4
Huckabee 2

Secretary of Commerce
Wilbur Ross 58
Lew Eisenberg 14
Huckabee 5
Chris Collins 3
Linda McMahon 3

Secretary of the Interior
Mary Fallin 24
Sarah Palin 22
Forrest Lucas 21
Jan Brewer 13
Robert Grady 12

Secretary of Labor
Victoria Lipnic 44
Andrew Puzder 26
Paul LePage 5
Scott Walker 3

Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos 41
Michelle Rhee 21
Williamson Evers 8
Kevin Chavous 3
Luke Messer 3

Secretary of Energy
Rick Perry 25
Harold Hamm 15
Robert Grady 10
Sarah Palin 5
Kevin Cramer 2

Secretary of Agriculture
Rick Perry 16
Sid Miller 12
Bruce Rastetter 8
Chuck Conner 7
Sam Brownback 5
Dave Heineman 4

Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Jeff Miller 46
Scott Brown 15
Sloan Gibson 5

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Robert Woodson 60
Pam Patenaude 5
Rob Astorino 5

Secretary of Transportation
Jim Simpson 46
Scott Walker 11
John Mica 6

[Mr. Morden]

[Mr. Morden]

More on Christie being ousted from the transition team:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/how-christie-lost-his-spot-on-the-trump-transition-team-011904121.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw

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[Mr. Morden]

Looks like Elaine Chao is also up for something:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/politics/donald-trump-transition.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Maybe Giuliani won't get either State or Homeland Security:

https://twitter.com/JesseRodriguez/status/800822029209444354

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[Mr. Morden]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/11/21/talent-still-in-the-mix-for-defense-secretary/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.8b6fbb34145c

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Meanwhile, Ray Washburne is being considered for Interior Secretary:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/21/president-elect-donald-trump-considering-ray-washburne-for-secretary-of-interior.html