Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of Trump’s new “Department of Government Efficiency,” have found themselves at odds with some of Trump’s far-right supporters over their support for H-1B visas, which allow foreign skilled professionals to work in America.

The debate was sparked over the Christmas holiday when Laura Loomer, a conservative social media figure who faced criticism when she traveled with President-Elect Donald Trump on some campaign stops, criticized Trump’s appointment of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence.

Criticizing a post from Krishnan where he advocated the removal of country caps for green cards, Loomer called the appointment “deeply disturbing,” prompting an online battle between the business leaders who say the work visas are essential to employing high-qualified foreign workers and Trump supporters who argued it was a way for business leaders to have cheap labor rather than provide job opportunities for Americans.

Both Ramaswamy and Musk made numerous posts on X claiming H-1B visas are essential because American culture doesn’t prioritize success in science and engineering careers compared to other countries.

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG,” Ramaswamy posted on X.

“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he added.

Musk, who has said he once worked in the United States on an H-1B visa, said he has depended on these work visas for the operation of his tech companies and that they are essential due to the number of skilled workers needed to handle the rise of new technologies.

“OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process,” he posted. “HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”  Loomer and other far-right conservatives have also argued that the expansions of such programs would go against Trump’s immigration crackdown.

While she and others have accused Musk and Ramaswamy of hindering Trump’s aggressive immigration proposals, the business leaders have argued that any such reforms would not hinder the program’s extensive vetting process.

“Maybe this is a helpful clarification: I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning,” Musk wrote on X.

“This is like bringing in the Jokic’s or Wemby’s of the world to help your whole team (which is mostly Americans!) win the NBA,” he said, referencing two foreign-born basketball stars.

Now, the business leaders are being accused of using Trump for their own personal gain.

“We are substituting a third world migrant invasion for a third world tech invasion. Same shit,” Loomer posted on X. “Except this invasion won’t be done by rapist foreigners who look and smell like garbage. It will be done by career leftist tech billionaires who hate Trump deep down inside.”

Further showing a divide among conservatives over the issue, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley also weighed in, pushing back on a post from Ramaswamy and arguing American workers should be prioritized over foreigners.

“There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” she said. “All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.”

In June, David Sacks, who will be the president-elect’s AI and crypto czar, interviewed Trump for his “All In” podcast and asked Trump if he would expand H-1B work visas for tech workers after fixing the border — to which Trump said “yes.”

In that same episode, Trump also promised to award all international graduates with green cards, saying, “I want to do, and what I will do, is you graduate from a college, I think you should get, automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country. That includes junior colleges, too.”

His campaign later walked back that promise, saying there would be a vetting process.

“He believes, only after such vetting has taken place, we ought to keep the most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America,” Karoline Leavitt, incoming White House press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News at the time. “This would only apply to the most thoroughly vetted college graduates who would never undercut American wages or workers.”

ABC News’ Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Marianne Williamson, spiritual leader and author who ran two longshot Democratic presidential campaigns in 2020 and 2024, is running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, framing her run as a way to reimagine the Democratic Party as the party regroups and takes stock of its losses during the 2024 election cycle.

In an announcement video posted early Thursday morning, Williamson framed her candidacy for party chair as a chance to rethink the party as a whole.

“I feel that in order for the Democrats to rise like a phoenix on the ashes of our electoral defeat, we need to look at more than just the outer issues, such as data analysis and field organizing and fundraising,” Williamson said. “We need to transform — in a way, we need to reinvent the Democratic Party in order to counter what MAGA is bringing to the table.”

In an accompanying blog post, Williamson stressed Democrats must better understand President-elect Donald Trump’s appeal and strategy to better counter it, adding that she wants to “reinvent the party from the inside out.”

“President Trump has ushered in an age of political theater — a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp, but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” Williamson wrote. “In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it.”

“As Chairwoman, I will work to reinvent the party from the inside out. For if we want a new President in four years, and a new Congress in two, then we must immediately get about the task of creating a new party,” she added later.

Williamson also said that she would have a “a 365-days-of-the-year strategy” to allow Americans to be politically involved yearround and that she wants the party to inspire Americans.

Williamson was unable to generate a groundswell of support in either of her bids for president, although she stayed in the race until the Democratic presidential primaries concluded and she gained some traction with Democrats who wanted to protest the White House on the Israel-Hamas war.

Williamson was also hypercritical of the DNC, in part, for not holding presidential primary debates against President Joe Biden Biden last cycle and has accused it of rigging the process against her.

“We have a very frayed bond of affection with millions of Americans particularly working people in the United States. We have to address the problem on that level. On the level of the heart. On the level of the mind,” Williamson told ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips on Thursday afternoon. “People aren’t feeling it about Democrats anymore. At least not enough of them to make for the kind of victory we need in ’26 and ’28.”

Williamson needs to get the support of at least 40 DNC members to qualify for the first DNC candidate forum in early January. The DNC plans on hosting four moderated forums before the election.

She joins a handful of other declared candidates for DNC chair, including Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Jamie Harrison, the current chairman, isn’t running for reelection.

DNC leadership elections will be held at National Harbor outside Washington on Feb. 1.

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(WASHINGTON) — A group of 21 House Democrats signed a letter urging the president to exonerate former civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, according to a statement sent by the lawmakers to ABC News on Monday.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) led the panel of lawmakers — mostly from the Congressional Black Caucus — to exonerate Garvey on the heels of President Joe Biden’s commutation of 37 sentences from federal death row on Monday.

Garvey, one of the earliest internationally-known Black civil rights leaders, was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and was given a five-year sentence, according to a letter sent to Biden from the Congress members, obtained by ABC News. President Calvin Coolidge pardoned Garvey two years into his sentence. Garvey was immediately deported to his birth country of Jamaica.

“Exonerating Mr. Garvey would honor his work for the Black community, remove the shadow of an unjust conviction, and further this administration’s promise to advance racial justice,” the lawmakers said in the letter to the president. “At a time when Black history faces the existential threat of erasure by radical state legislatures, a presidential pardon for Mr. Garvey would correct the historical record and restore the legacy of an American hero.”

Congress members have been trying for decades to clear Garvey’s name, according to the congress members. Congressman John Conyers led hearings in 1987 for the House Judiciary Committee on Garvey’s exoneration. Congressman Charles Rangel introduced resolutions, highlighting alleged injustices against the former civil rights leader in 2004.

“Exactly 101 years ago, Mr. Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in a case that was marred by prosecutorial and governmental misconduct,” The congress members said in the letter. “The evidence paints an abundantly clear narrative that the charges against Mr. Garvey were not only fabricated but also targeted to criminalize, discredit, and silence him as a civil rights leader.”

The White House did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for a response.

Garvey, who was born in Jamaica in 1887, was a notable Pan-Africanist, believing that people of African descent around the world should be unified because of their alleged common interests.

Garvey was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which was created to challenge racial inequality, according to the lawmakers. The organization championed self-determination and economic independence for Black people at a time when Jim Crow laws oppressed African Americans and colonization subjugated Africans on their own continent.

Garvey also established the Black Star Line, one of the first Black-owned shipping companies in the Western Hemisphere, connecting Black businesses across the Americas, according to the lawmakers. The civil rights leader eventually wanted to route the vessels to Africa for a redemption program, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. He wanted to establish a nation for those who were born into slavery or were the descendants of enslaved people, according to The Washington Post.

Garvey also created the Negro World Newspaper which, at its peak, reached a circulation of 200,000 readers weekly, according to the congressmembers.

Garvey shared the segregationist views of the Ku Klux Klan as he sought a separate state for those of the African diaspora, according to The Washington Post.

“I regard the Klan the Anglo Saxon clubs and white American societies as far as the Negro is concerned, as better friends of the race than all other groups of hypocritical whites put together,” Garvey said according to The New York Times.

Other Black civil rights activists were outraged. W. E. B. Du Bois said Garvey was the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race and was either “a lunatic or a traitor,” according to PBS. Du Bois also said Garvey “suffered from serious defects of temperament and training.”

The newly formed Bureau of Investigation, later becoming the FBI, and the director of its intelligence division, a-young J. Edgar Hoover, brought mail fraud proceedings against Garvey in connection to the sale of Black Star Line shipping stock, according to The Washington Post. He was sentenced to five years in prison and served two years before his pardon and eventual deportation by Coolidge.

The FBI declined ABC News’ request for a comment.

Garvey never returned to the U.S. again, according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

“As we approach the conclusion of your administration, this moment provides a chance to leave an indelible mark on history,” the lawmakers told Biden in their letter.

ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Bill Clinton has been discharged from the hospital after being treated for the flu, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“He and his family are deeply grateful for the exceptional care provided by the team at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and are touched by the kind messages and well wishes he received. He sends his warmest wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to all,” Clinton’s deputy chief of staff Angel Ureña said in a statement.

Clinton, 78, was admitted to the hospital in Washington on Monday after developing a fever.

He was in “good spirits” as he received care and underwent testing, Ureña said.

Clinton, a Democrat who served as the 42nd president of the United States, suffered some health issues since leaving the White House in 2001.

He underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2004 and in 2010 had two stents inserted into heart valves. He underwent surgery in 2005 for a collapsed lung. More recently, he was hospitalized for several days for a blood infection in 2021.

Clinton was active on the campaign trail this past year in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. He also hit the road this fall to promote his new memoir “Citizen: My Life After the White House.”

During an appearance on ABC’s “The View” earlier this month, Clinton reflected on the Democratic Party’s 2024 loss, saying “we need to quit screaming at each other and listen to each other.”

“We’re always going to have differences. We’re very narrowly divided now on many things, but I think you shouldn’t run away from the tough ones, you should turn into them,” he said. “I think it will help bring us back together. I may be wrong, but that’s what I think.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The bipartisan House Ethics Committee on Monday released a scathing report concluding its yearslong investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, finding “substantial evidence” that he had sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law, and engaged in a broader pattern of paying women for sex.

The report also detailed evidence of illegal drug use, acceptance of improper gifts, granting special favors to personal associates, and obstruction, after Gaetz refused to comply with subpoenas and withheld evidence from the committee.

A woman testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her in 2017, when she was 17 and had just completed her junior year of high school, and Gaetz was in his first year in Congress. Identified only as “Victim A” in the report, the woman told investigators she received $400 in cash from the then-congressman that evening, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report.

“The Committee received credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation,” the report says. “Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”

While many of the allegations in the committee’s report have been previously reported, this is the first time the woman’s direct testimony about Gaetz having sex with her when she was a minor has been made public, along with corroborating testimony from others.

Investigators noted that while the former Florida congressman has “suggested that the allegations against him have been manufactured” and had called into question Victim A’s credibility, “the Committee found no reason to doubt the credibility of Victim A.”

The report details that between 2017-2020, records obtained by the committee show Gaetz paid nearly $100,000 dollars to 12 different women and to Joel Greenberg, his one-time close friend who pleaded guilty to numerous crimes, including sex trafficking Victim A.

While all the women who testified to the committee described their sexual encounters with Gaetz as consensual, according to the report, one woman raised concerns that drug use at the parties and events may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.” Another woman told the committee, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”

The report alleges that Gaetz “took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter.”

“Such behavior is not ‘generosity to ex-girlfriends,’ and it does not reflect creditably upon the House,” the report reads, referencing the former congressman’s previous statement dismissing the allegations as someone “trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”

“Based on the above, the Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report says.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearslong investigation into similar allegations.

Earlier Monday Gaetz filed a lawsuit against the Ethics Committee in an effort to stop the committee from releasing its report.

“This action challenges the Committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” the filing from Gaetz said.

Gaetz in the filing asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to his reputation and professional standing” that would be “immediate and severe.”

“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a Congressional committee concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages,” the filing stated.

Gaetz’s lawsuit highlights that he is now a public citizen and claims he did not receive “proper notice” of the report’s impending release.

“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration for AG, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

The Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general. The committee generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation prompted a fiery debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to perform its role of vetting presidential nominations.

Following indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single he “often sent funds to women” he dated and that he “never had sexual contact with someone under 18.”

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he posted. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

In its report, the committee concluded that it did not find substantial evidence that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, finding that while Gaetz “did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex,” investigators did not find evidence “that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the Committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”

According to the report, the committee conducted over two dozen interviews, issued 29 subpoenas, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents, and requested information from multiple government agencies as part of its extensive investigation into the allegations.

The committee also received written testimony from Greenberg but, due to credibility concerns, investigators said they would “not rely exclusively on information provided by Mr. Greenberg,” according to the report.

The committee also accused Gaetz of obstructing its investigation by ignoring subpoenas, withholding documents, and declining to answer questions about the allegations.

“Representative Gaetz continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed,” the report reads. “His actions undermine not only his claims that he had exculpatory information to provide, but also his claims that he intended to cooperate with the Committee in good faith. It is apparent that Representative Gaetz’s assertions were nothing more than attempts to delay the Committee’s investigation.”

The committee had been investigating allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, according to sources.

Earlier this year, the committee released a statement that it would continue its probe but would no longer pursue allegations that Gaetz “may have shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe or improper gratuity.”

According to the report, while several committee members did not support its release, a majority of its members voted in favor of its release on Dec. 10. In a statement at the conclusion of the report, House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest reiterated his stance against the release of the report on behalf of the dissenting members while acknowledging that he and other members do not dispute the report’s findings.

“We believe and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Mr. Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024,” Guest wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — The bipartisan House Ethics Committee is expected to detail scathing allegations into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, writing in a draft report obtained by ABC News that the committee found “substantial evidence” that he had sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law, and engaged in a broader pattern of paying women for sex.

The draft committee report also detailed evidence of illegal drug use, acceptance of improper gifts, granting special favors to personal associates, and obstruction, after Gaetz refused to comply with subpoenas and withheld evidence from the committee.

A woman testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her in 2017, when she was 17 and had just completed her junior year of high school. Identified only as “Victim A” in the draft report, the woman told investigators she received $400 in cash from the then-congressman that evening, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report.

Gaetz on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Ethics Committee in an effort to stop the committee from releasing its report.

“This action challenges the Committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” the filing from Gaetz says.

Gaetz in the filing asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to his reputation and professional standing” that would be “immediate and severe.”

“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a Congressional committee concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages,” the filing states.

Gaetz’s lawsuit highlights that he is now a public citizen and claims he did not receive “proper notice” of the report’s impending release.

“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearslong investigation into similar allegations.

Following indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single he “often sent funds to women” he dated and that he “never had sexual contact with someone under 18.”

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he posted. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. But Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

The Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general. The committee generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation prompted a fiery debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to perform its role of vetting presidential nominations.

The committee initially voted against releasing the report before reversing course, sources said.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz on Monday filed a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee that investigated him for years, in an effort to stop the committee from releasing its report on their probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.

“This action challenges the Committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” the filing from Gaetz says.

Gaetz in the filing asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to [his reputation and professional standing” that would be “immediate and severe.”

“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a Congressional committee concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages,” the filing states.

Gaetz’s lawsuit highlights that he is now a public citizen and claims he did not receive “proper notice” of the report’s impending release.

“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Following indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single he “often sent funds to women” he dated and that he “never had sexual contact with someone under 18.”

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he posted. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearslong investigation into similar allegations.

President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. But Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

The Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general. The committee generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation prompted a fiery debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to perform its role of vetting presidential nominations.

The committee initially voted against releasing the report before reversing course, sources said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman said he hopes President-elect Donald Trump is successful in his second term and that he’s not “rooting against him.”

“If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation,” Fetterman told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “So country first. I know that’s become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be true.”

Fetterman, who has made headlines as one of the few in his party who have met with several of Trump’s cabinet picks, said his Democratic colleagues need to “chill out” over everything Trump does.

“I’ve been warning people, like, ‘You got to chill out,’ you know? Like the constant, you know, freakout, it’s not helpful,” Fetterman said. “Pack a lunch, pace yourself, because he hasn’t even taken office yet.”

Asked by Karl what the single biggest factor was behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in November, Fetterman pointed to the “undeniable” and “singular political talent” of Trump.

“He had the energy and almost a sense of fearlessness to just say all those kinds of things,” Fetterman said. “You literally were shot in your head and had the presence of mind to respond, you know, ‘Fight, fight, fight!’ I mean, that’s a political talent.”

Fetterman also said that the election was “never about fascism” to him. Harris said in an October town hall that she believed Trump was a fascist after Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly said that his old boss fit the definition of one. Fetterman said that was not a word he would use.

“Fascism, that’s not a word that regular people, you know, use, you know?” Fetterman said. “I think people are going to decide who is the candidate that’s going to protect and project, you know, my version of the American way of life, and that’s what happened.”

Fetterman also pointed to Elon Musk’s endorsement of Trump as another key factor in the election.

“It’s rare to have a surrogate that has a lot of fanboys and is very compelling to a lot of the demographic that we are losing in my party and in Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said about the billionaire businessman.

Fetterman said Musk’s endorsement “really mattered” and he believed it did “move the needle.”

Fetterman was the first Democrat in the Senate to meet with Pete Hegseth, the controversial former Fox News anchor who Trump selected for defense secretary. Fetterman has not ruled out supporting him — or any of Trump’s other picks.

“My commitment, and I think I’m doing the job, is I’m going to sit down and have a conversation,” Fetterman said. “To me, it would be distressing if, if he is confirmed, if the Democrats are going to turn our back collectively to the leader of the defense. I mean, that’s astonishing and that’s dangerous.”

Along with Hegseth, Fetterman has met with Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, and Kash Patel, Trump’s selection for FBI director.

Patel’s vow to take on Trump’s political enemies has drawn scrutiny. Asked by Karl whether he thinks Patel will use the FBI to do so, Fetterman said while he wasn’t able to go into detail due to the off-the-record nature of the meeting, “That’s never going to happen.”

“So you see yourself inclined to be open to supporting these controversial nominees?” Karl asked.

“Potentially,” Fetterman replied. “But nobody can accuse me of just saying I had a closed mind, or I just said no because Trump picked this person, or whatever.”

Fetterman has said he will vote to confirm Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He said he will also back Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state.

“Rubio, for me, it’s like, he’s in the other party, obviously, but you know, there’s a lot of, the Venn [diagram] is closer, there’s a lot of overlap,” Fetterman said. “If I was, as a Democrat, looking to assemble a bipartisan cabinet, he’d be a solid choice.”

Asked what his message to Trump would be if the president-elect called him, Fetterman said he’d like to talk about opportunities where “we could work together.”

“I’d like to avoid the, you know, the cheap heat and some of the other stuff, but it’s going to be a kooky ride, I’m sure,” he said. “And you know, I try to be a committed, steady voice for Pennsylvania and to remember that we have to find as many wins in the middle of incredibly divisive times.”

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(WASHINGTON) — After days of heated negotiations on Capitol Hill and eleventh-hour interference from President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk, the House passed a funding bill to prevent a government shutdown Friday night, with the Senate following suit early Saturday morning.

The 118-page bill contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday before it was killed after Musk criticized Republicans who supported it.

Trump also called for the bill to raise the debt limit ceiling. The federal government is not expected to hit its borrowing limit until sometime in the spring or winter of 2025, and Trump has stated his desire to have the issue dealt with while Joe Biden was president.

Under the proposal, which is awaiting Biden’s signature, the federal government would be funded until March 2025. It did not include a provision to raise the debt ceiling limit.

The bill did include $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week’s votes.

Some of the provisions that were in the bill earlier in the week were removed including $100 million for pediatric cancer research and a deal that would have transferred the land that holds RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s administration will announce on Friday another $4.28 billion dollars in student loan relief for nearly 55,000 public service workers.

The announcement will bring the total loan forgiveness by the Biden administration to “approximately $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans,” according to a fact sheet from the Department of Education.

The forgiveness will be delivered to individuals enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF), which allows for debt forgiveness for people in jobs like firefighting, nursing and teaching after 10 years of continuous payment.

The Biden administration has made fixes to this program that had failed to deliver student loan relief to many due to poor implementations and errors in the program, officials said.

“The public servants approved for debt cancellation today include teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities and who are finally earning the relief they are entitled to under the law,” Biden said in a statement.

Of the nearly 5 million borrowers who have had more than $180 billion in debt relieved by the administration, more than 1 million were through the PSLF. The relief for those PSLF borrowers totals about $78 billion, the administration said.

“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden said in the statement.

He added, “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”

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