Trump Makes Picks For Pentagon, Homeland Security & CIA
As Dems do post-mortem, AOC crowdsources her supporters about split-ticket voters
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Good morning,
Students at Yale University have something to sing about… An upcoming spring 2025 one-credit class about all things Queen Bey. It’s dubbed “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music.”
The class will be taught by African American Studies and music professor Daphne Brooks. She says it will explore how “historical memory, Black feminist politics, Black liberation politics and philosophies course through the last decade of [Beyoncé’s] performance repertoire” and music.
Brooks told The Guardian there have been “waves and waves of excitement” from undergraduates, graduate students, and even fellow colleagues.
This is just the latest course focusing on a music superstar. A number of universities, including NYU, Harvard, and the University of Florida, have offered classes about Taylor Swift, Rutgers University has a course on Bruce Springsteen, while Georgetown University had a class that looked at lyrics from Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z.
Our thought: With the annual cost of Yale hovering above $90K a year, we hope Béyonce shows up for the final exam.
Have a good one!
Mosheh, Jill, Sari, & Lauren
PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!
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📌 TRUMP NOMINATES FOX NEWS ANCHOR, COMBAT VETERAN TO LEAD DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
President-elect Donald Trump announced a flurry of new cabinet picks in the past 48 hours, moving much quicker than he did during the chaotic beginning of his first term.
AN UNORTHODOX CHOICE
Late yesterday, Trump announced he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as Secretary of Defense. Hegseth does not have senior military or national security experience, and this will be his first ever job in government.
If confirmed by the Senate, Hegseth would become a top decision-maker during a time of mounting global crises – including Russia’s war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, and increasing concerns about a China-Iran-Russia alliance.
As leader of the Pentagon, Hegseth would oversee the largest government agency, with a workforce of nearly 3 million civilian workers and military service members in more than 100 countries, and a budget of $850 billion.
BEHIND THE PICK
Hegseth has been a strong supporter of Trump, embracing his “America First” agenda and defending his interactions with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a statement about his plan to nominate Hegseth, Trump said, “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth has served in the Minnesota Army National Guard since 2003, including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. He unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Minnesota in 2012, before joining Fox News in 2014.
Hegseth is a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” where he became friendly with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
PREPARING FOR PUSHBACK: Hegseth is expected to face scrutiny in the Senate, even with a Republican majority, given his lack of experience in government and the importance of the role. Republican senators asked about the choice have given mixed reactions.
Trump’s other expected picks for top national security posts, including Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) for Secretary of State and Rep. Mike Waltz (FL) as national security adviser, are considered more conventional and experienced.
📌 TRUMP PICKS LONGTIME ALLIES FOR KEY POSTS
Trump announced South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, responsible for everything from border protection to immigration, FEMA, and the Secret Service.
Noem has a history of taking hardline positions on immigration. She has called for punishing Democratic-led “sanctuary cities” that refused to cooperate with federal agencies enforcing immigration orders during Trump’s first term.
“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in a statement announcing his intended nomination. He added that she will work closely with recently-announced Border Czar, Tom Homan, to secure the border and “guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
Noem was one of the first governors to endorse Trump during the 2024 election, and was floated as a potential running mate.
She does not have military, border, or intelligence experience.
The Department of Homeland Security has more than 230,000 employees and a $60 billion budget. As governor, Noem oversaw a budget of $7 billion.
With the selection of Noem, Homan, and Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy, it’s clear Trump wants to hit the ground running with his top campaign promise for a major immigration crackdown and mass deportations.
OTHER TUESDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS
For C.I.A. Director, Trump taps John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as the director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term.
Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas, was announced as the president-elect’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is an evangelical Christian and vocal supporter of Israel.
Steven Witkoff, a real estate investor and Trump’s regular golf partner, was chosen as Special Envoy to the Middle East, which does not require Senate confirmation.
As promised, Trump announced Elon Musk will head the new Department of Government Efficiency (also known as DOGE), which will also not require Senate confirmation. Musk, along with 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, will co-lead the agency to "dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said. They have a 2026 deadline to come back with recommendations. It is not clear what, if any, effect DOGE will have.
📌 SPLIT-TICKET VOTERS: AOC CROWDSOURCES HER SUPPORTERS
As Democrats seek to understand what went wrong for them in the 2024 election, some are examining districts where their colleagues outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris at the polls. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — one of the most progressive members of Congress — is among them.
ZOOM IN ON AOC
The progressive congresswomen asked her 8 million Instagram followers to share if they voted for both her and Donald Trump, and why they split their ticket.
In her district, support for Trump jumped to 33% in 2024, up from 22% in 2020. Support for Harris dropped to 65% from Joe Biden’s 77% in 2020.
AOC’s support only dropped a few points between the same elections.
Reactions highlighted that both she and Trump are seen as anti-establishment, boundary-pushing, and focused on the working class.
From AOC’s Instagram page.
Done with the old? 56% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats agreed that “America has gotten so far off track that we need a leader who is willing to break some rules to set things right,” according the a NPR/PBS/Maris poll from earlier this year.
✔︎ Mo News Reality Check: Then again, there were also Democratic candidates that ran on middle-of-the-road agendas that beat Harris’s numbers, including Senators-elect Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Ruben Gallego (AZ), as well as incumbent Senators Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Jacky Rosen (NV).
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Judge delays decision on tossing Trump’s hush money conviction (NBC)
📌 Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years after sharing top secret docs on Discord (AP)
📌 Are no-fault divorce laws going away? (MO NEWS)
📌 Americans stockpile abortion pills and hormones ahead of ‘reproductive apocalypse’ under Trump (GUARDIAN)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over UK church abuse scandal (BBC)
📌 Toxic smog in Pakistan is so bad you can see it from space (CNN)
📌 Russia lawmakers pass bill banning "child-free propaganda" to try to boost birth rate (CBS)
📌 Earth’s biggest polluters aren’t sending leaders to UN climate talks in a year of weather extremes (AP)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Exxon CEO says Trump should keep U.S. involved in global effort to address climate change (CNBC)
📌 Amazon reportedly working on Echo Frames for delivery drivers (VERGE)
📌 Excessive drinking inches higher after pandemic increase (THE HILL)
📌 Standing desks may be bad for your health, new research finds (CNN)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ logs landmark 17th week at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 (BILLBOARD)
📌 Elon Musk responds after Chloe Fineman alleges he made her 'burst into tears' on 'SNL' (USA TODAY)
📌 John Mulaney reveals Olivia Munn began randomly drug testing him during her pregnancy (PEOPLE)
📌 Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce's homes burglarized (TMZ)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: NOVEMBER 13
1956: The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on buses was illegal.
1978: Village People released ‘Y.M.C.A.’ Trump used the song at nearly every rally in 2024, including during his 45-minute DJ set this campaign season.
1982: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC was dedicated, which lists the names of over 58,000 Americans who died in the war.
2001: Following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance captured the capital city of Kabul. Just about 20 years later in summer 2021, the Taliban would take back Kabul as the US military withdrew.