--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome. Thank you very much.
--:-- John Bickley: How will the selection of Senator John Thune affect Trump's agenda? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's Thursday, November 14th, and this is Morning Wire. Trump's cabinet nominations are rejecting the establishment and shaking up D.C.
--:-- John Bickley: Matt Gaetz knows exactly what to do with the attorney general's office. He will turn that into the most powerful attorney general in American history.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency begins to take shape.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Donald Trump made his triumphant return to Washington yesterday, the biggest story on a busy day in our nation's capital.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, Georgia, it was great. Trump started the day at a meeting of the House Republican Conference where he congratulated members on their recent victories and looked forward to a bigger House majority.
--:-- Tim Rice: It's nice to win. It's always nice to win. So, you know, we had like historic kind of numbers, especially for the president.
--:-- Tim Rice: But we won't get into that. But the House did very well. And I think we're responsible for 31 helping you with 31, meaning we could have lost by quite a bit.
--:-- Tim Rice: And we ended up I guess you'll be five up. Are you looking at five or four? Five or four. Doesn't matter.
--:-- Tim Rice: We get used to one for a little while. When you can get used to one, you can get used to anything.
--:-- Tim Rice: Trump joked about potentially chipping away at the newly won House majority by tapping Elise Stefanik and Mike Waltz for his administration, saying that he wanted at least 15 more House Republicans in the White House.
--:-- Tim Rice: He also signaled his support for House Speaker Mike Johnson, calling him a tremendous guy and saying that he was with him all the way.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a warm welcome from House Republicans. That's somewhat to be expected.
--:-- Tim Rice: But what about Trump's meeting with Biden? That was really something.
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, it was surprisingly warm. Now, the media were only allowed in for the beginning of the Oval Office sit-down, but what we saw was pretty cordial.
--:-- Tim Rice: The two presidents set aside the fiery rhetoric that has characterized their relationship for years, and in fact, seemed downright friendly.
--:-- Tim Rice: Here they were exchanging pleasantries and committing to a smooth transfer of power.
--:-- Tim Rice: Well, Mr. President-elect and former president, Donald, congratulations. Thank you. Looking forward to having a, like we said, smooth transition.
--:-- Tim Rice: Do everything we can to make sure you're accommodating what you need. We're going to get a chance to talk about some of that today.
--:-- Tim Rice: Politics is tough and it in many cases not a very nice world but it is a nice world today.
--:-- Tim Rice: And I appreciate it very much.
--:-- Tim Rice: A transition that so smooth it be as smooth as it can get.
--:-- Georgia Howe: After that exchange the press pool began shouting questions at Trump and Biden who laughed and cut each other a knowing look.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All in all, it was probably the most pleasant interaction we've ever seen between these longtime political rivals.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So all good between the two presidents, but that was not the case with the first ladies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Listeners may have noticed that Melania Trump did not accompany her husband to D.C.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's because she declined Jill Biden's invitation to the first lady's tea that traditionally accompanies these presidential handoff meetings.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sources say that Melania is still upset with the Bidens over the Mar-a-Lago raid, and that's why she refused to join Dr. Jill for tea.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So still some tension between the Trumps and Bidens.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, last question. While Trump was making the rounds, Senate Republicans elected South Dakota Senator John Thune as their new leader.
--:-- Tim Rice: How is that going to affect Trump's agenda?
--:-- Tim Rice: Well, obviously, it's a bit too early to tell, but signs suggest that Thune and Trump will work well together.
--:-- Tim Rice: He wasn't Trump World's first pick. That was Florida Senator Rick Scott, who dropped out after the first round of voting.
--:-- Tim Rice: Over the weekend, Thune said he would work with Trump to quickly confirm the president's nominees.
--:-- Tim Rice: But while Trump and Thune may work well together, it may also be the case that the newly minted majority leader occasionally pushes back on Trump.
--:-- Tim Rice: Unlike Scott, who made it clear that his number one goal as majority leader would have been pushing through Trump's agenda, Thune is more of an old school institutionalist.
--:-- Tim Rice: So we shouldn't be surprised if Thune and Trump find themselves locking horns at some point over the next four years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
--:-- Tim Rice: Tim, thanks for reporting.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: President-elect Donald Trump's latest cabinet picks include Florida Representative Matt Gates as Attorney General and U.S. Army veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, two of the most intriguing Trump selections thus far.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hey, Amanda.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So let's start with Matt Gates as AG. That was just announced yesterday and sparked a lot of buzz.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, this was really a bombshell pick, at least for the so-called establishment.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: First, a little background on Gates. He's a representative from Florida and a self-styled firebrand who's been one of the most vocal anti-establishment voices on Capitol Hill.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So somewhat of an outsider pick.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And you can see that by the response from Democrats and legacy media who are really sounding the alarm over Gates.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: They tried to link this choice to their Trump retribution theme, suggesting Gates will be on the warpath against Trump's enemies.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Gates was investigated by the DOJ over alleged sex trafficking crimes, but was never charged.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: On the flip side, because of all of that, some conservatives view Gates as exactly the right fit, as someone who was wrongly victimized by the DOJ.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Here's Matt Gaetz trading barbs with the current AG, Merrick Garland, during a hearing.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: We do not control those offices. They make their own decisions.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The question is whether you communicate with them, not whether you control them.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Do you communicate with them and will you provide those communications?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: If you make a request we refer it to our Office of Legislative Affairs
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: But see here the thing
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: You come in here and you lodge this attack that it a conspiracy theory that there is coordinated lawfare against Trump
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And then when we say, fine, just give us the documents, give us the correspondence.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And then if it's a conspiracy theory, that will be evident.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: So we can probably expect a pretty tense confirmation process.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: It won't be boring, that's for sure.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Now, another Trump pick that garnered a lot of attention was Pete Hegseth, first secretary of defense.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: What do we know about Hegseth?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, I mean, he's best known for co-hosting Fox & Friends weekends on Fox News, but Hegseth has quite an impressive resume.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: During his 20 years of military service, he's served in tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He was awarded two Bronze Stars and earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge along with other military awards.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And he's still a member of the Minnesota National Guard's inactive Ready Reserve.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hexeth has degrees from the Ivy League, both Princeton and Harvard.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He's also been active with helping veterans since leaving active duty.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And he's written numerous books, including one on how woke ideology has infiltrated the military.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: That's a big concern for a lot of Americans right now.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Right. What has he said exactly on that issue?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hexeth has talked a lot about gender ideology, climate alarmism, and other so-called woke ideologies plaguing the military, which he says really started during the Obama years.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Along those same lines, Hegseth has said that most women should not be in combat roles.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Women have historically stayed out of those positions until that was changed in 2015 under Obama.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Men and women are just different.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: I'm okay with the idea that you maintain the standards where they are for everybody.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And if there's some, you know, hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: But that is not what's happened.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: What has happened is the standards have lowered.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: And overall, Hegseth has espoused views that do align with Trump's peace through strength and America first principles.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Right. While conservatives are obviously energized over this choice, there's been sort of a meltdown from Democrats and some in the defense industry over him.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: What's going on there?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah. Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren said a Fox and Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the secretary of defense.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: CNN commentator Scott Jennings had some strong pushback against that sentiment.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: They want to have confidence in the current leadership of the Pentagon and the way the defense situation has been operating for the last several years.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: I mean, from the Afghanistan pullout, which was an extreme debacle for which no one was held accountable.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: We've had spy balloons flying over the United States.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: I'd say I've had just about enough of the so-called insiders running the Defense Department.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: I think we ought to give Pete Hicks that the chance.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The former rep from Hawaii endorsed and campaigned for Trump this past election cycle.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: A lot of interesting picks here shaking up DC for sure.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: You're welcome.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I will create a government efficiency commission task with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump made it official on Tuesday announcing a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, that will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, this was a big promise Trump made to voters.
--:-- Megan Basham: What do we know about the specifics?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, one thing we know is that the name is a wink to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, obviously Doge But a little more seriously Musk and Ramaswamy have been out giving interviews and they providing a lot of indications of what exactly they hope to do with this new commission
--:-- Megan Basham: I think first off, it's probably important to note that this will be a non-governmental advisory body because, of course, federal departments can only be created by congressional authorization.
--:-- Megan Basham: But that could actually help keep it from becoming the very sort of bureaucracy it's been created to trim.
--:-- Megan Basham: We also know that it will focus on doing a deep study of government spending and size, and then it will provide guidance to the White House's Office of Budget and Management on exactly where to cut.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, that's key because that office assembles the president's budget request for Congress.
--:-- Megan Basham: And Trump has said that he's giving Musk and Ramaswamy carte blanche to recommend drastic change through large-scale structural reform and also a more entrepreneurial approach to government.
--:-- Megan Basham: Here's Musk.
--:-- Megan Basham: I mean, there are more federal agencies than there are years since the establishment of the United States, which means that we've created more than one federal agency per year on average.
--:-- Megan Basham: That seems a lot. That's a lot. That's a lot.
--:-- Megan Basham: We should have fewer agencies and they certainly shouldn't have overlapping responsibilities.
--:-- Megan Basham: Right now, Trump has set a target of July 4th, 2026 for Doge to offer its recommendation.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that, of course, is the 250th anniversary of America's founding.
--:-- Megan Basham: So have we ever seen anything like this before?
--:-- Megan Basham: We have. Ronald Reagan did something similar in 1982 with something called the Grace Commission.
--:-- Megan Basham: That was a private sector survey targeting government waste.
--:-- Megan Basham: And Reagan actually said that it was intended to drain the swamp.
--:-- Megan Basham: Some of its recommendations were adopted and later credited with helping to spur that Reagan economy.
--:-- Megan Basham: So no doubt Trump is hoping that Doge will do something similar.
--:-- Megan Basham: Ramaswamy has been out saying that he also hopes it will restore the American people's confidence that they're being governed by those they elected and not by unelected bureaucrats.
--:-- Megan Basham: I mean, the regulatory state is like a wet blanket on the American economy.
--:-- Megan Basham: Most of it's unconstitutional.
--:-- Megan Basham: All we require is leadership with a spine to get in there and actually do what conservative presidents have maybe gestured towards and talked about, but have not really effectuated ever in modern history.
--:-- Megan Basham: Musk also posted on X that all of the actions of Doge will be posted online for maximum transparency, which will allow the American people to weigh in in real time with their priorities.
--:-- Megan Basham: He said if the public thinks they're cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, they'll be able to let him know.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he added that X will maintain a, quote, leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars that he expects will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.
--:-- Megan Basham: And just important to reiterate, Musk and Vivek are just making suggestions. All changes will go through the legislature.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, I've definitely seen a lot of excitement and also some hysteria about this.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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