Trump’s Republican Party is increasingly winning union voters. It’s a shift seen in his labor pick
WASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members. It’s a political shift spotlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s latest Cabinet picks: a GOP congresswoman, who has drawn labor support, to be his labor secretary. Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month, despite strong backing from union members. They’re a key part of the Democratic base but are gravitating in the Trump era toward a Republican Party traditionally allied with business interests.
Trump raced to pick many Cabinet posts. He took more time to settle on a treasury secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump launched a blitz of picks for his Cabinet, but he took his time settling on billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his choice for treasury secretary. The Republican not only wanted someone who jibes with him, but an official who can execute his economic vision and look straight out of central casting while doing so. With his Yale University education and pedigree trading for Soros Fund Management before establishing his own funds, Bessent will be tasked with a delicate balancing act. Trump expects him to help reset the global trade order, enable trillions of dollars in tax cuts, ensure inflation stays in check, manage a ballooning national debt and still keep the financial markets confident.
Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Bessent, 62, is founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. He previously had worked on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. Trump also said he would nominate Russell Vought, 48, to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position he held during Trump’s first term. And Trump chose Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican, as his labor secretary, and Scott Turner, a former football player who worked in Trump’s first administration, as his housing secretary.
Afraid of losing the US-Canada trade pact, Mexico alters its laws and removes Chinese parts
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has been taking a bashing for allegedly serving as a conduit for Chinese parts and products into North America. Officials here are terrified that a re-elected Donald Trump or politically struggling Justin Trudeau could simply expel their country from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. Mexico’s ruling Morena party is so afraid its has gone on a campaign to get companies to replace Chinese parts with locally made ones. And its legislators are consciously tweaking the wording of major laws to try to make them compatible with the trade pact’s language. Mexico hopes the rules of the trade pact would prevent the U.S. or Canada from simply walking away.
Australia withdraws a misinformation bill after critics compare it to censorship
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s government has withdrawn a bill that would give a media watchdog power to monitor digital platforms and require them to keep records about misinformation and disinformation on their networks. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said Sunday that the government was unable to drum up the support needed to pass the legislation. The opposition spokesman, David Coleman, said the bill “betrayed our democracy” and amounted to “censorship laws in Australia.” The bill would have granted the Australian Communications and Media Authority power over digital platforms by approving an enforceable code of conduct or standards for social media companies if self-regulation fell short.
He’ll be the last meatpacker in the Meatpacking District. Here’s how NYC’s gritty ‘hood got chic
NEW YORK (AP) — The last meatpackers in New York’s Meatpacking District have agreed to end their leases early and make way for development on their city-owned lot. A third-generation meatpacker says he is ready to retire and he’ll be proud to be there when the building closes. The closure date has not been set, but will mark the end of over a century of industrial life in the Meatpacking District. Starting in the 1970s, a new nightlife scene emerged as bars and nightclubs moved in. Today it’s a hub for shopping, tourism, and recreation and only echoes of that grit remain.
US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems?
DALLAS (AP) — Delta and United Airlines have become the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning a significant share of budget travelers. That is squeezing smaller low-fare carriers like Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Some travel industry experts think Spirit’s troubles indicate less-wealthy passengers will have fewer choices and higher prices. Other discount airlines are on better financial footing but also are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks, and that there’s still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking.
What to know about Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for treasury secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction and deregulation, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Bessent is a past supporter of Democrats who has become an enthusiastic supporter of Trump. He’s an advocate of cutting spending while extending the tax cuts approved by Congress in Trump’s first term. He has said tariffs imposed during a second Trump administration would be directed primarily at China.
What to know about Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has named Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor, elevating a Republican congresswoman who has strong support from unions in her district but lost reelection in November. Chavez-DeRemer has a legislative record that has drawn plaudits from unions, but organized labor leaders remain skeptical about Trump’s agenda for workers. Trump, in general, has not supported policies that make it easier for workers to organize. Chavez-DeRemer is a one-term congresswoman, having lost reelection in her competitive Oregon district earlier this month. She joins Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, as the second Latino pick for Trump’s second Cabinet.
Trump taps a Fox News personality, a surgeon and a former Congressman to lead public health agencies
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a critic of COVID-19 health measures to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Marty Makary came to national attention for opposing mask mandates and other steps during the pandemic. He is a surgeon, author and professor at Johns Hopkins University. Makary is the latest of a string of Trump nominees who are deeply critical of government health regulators and experts. If confirmed, Makary would be expected to report to anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to oversee the nation’s health agencies.
This post was originally published on here
