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Evening Report

Friday, January 24 | By Emily Martin

TRUMP FIRST 100 DAYS

Hegseth set for Senate confirmation vote

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SENATE ALLIES are racing ahead to confirm his Cabinet picks, with the chamber set to vote Friday night on his Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth, one of Trump's most controversial picks late last year who has since won support from many Senate Republicans, will get a final vote after clearing a key hurdle in the upper chamber on Thursday.

The vote tonight is expected to be incredibly close.

Only two GOP senators have signaled opposition to Hegseth — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine). If that holds, it'd put critics two votes short of the number of defections needed to tank the nomination.

If one more Republican comes out against Hegseth, Hegseth could still win confirmation with Vance President Vance casting a tie-breaking vote.

The rare Friday night vote is slated for 9 p.m. EST. Stay with TheHill.com's live coverage throughout the evening here.

Hegseth faced a contentious hearing, with Democrats raising multiple past allegations of excessive drinking and sexual impropriety, as well as criticizing his lack of experience running a major enterprise or government office.

The Friday vote comes after Trump's first two Cabinet members were confirmed earlier this week: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Several Cabinet picks have advanced out of committee and are awaiting a vote from the full Senate, while others are scheduled for hearings next week.

WHERE OTHER CABINET PICKS STAND

Kristi Noem: After the Senate votes on Hegseth, it will hold a procedural vote on Noem, Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security who currently serves as the governor of South Dakota.

Noem, a staunch supporter of Trump's immigration policies, was advanced by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Monday in a bipartisan vote.

The Republican governor, if confirmed, would also be tasked with overseeing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency Trump has teased overhauling or eliminating via executive order.

Also awaiting confirmation:

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Department of Health and Human Services

• Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence

• Kash Patel to head the FBI

• Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary

• Pam Bondi for Attorney General

• Russel Vought for Office of Management and Budget director

Bessent, Vought and Bondi have already appeared for their confirmation hearings, while Kennedy, Gabbard and Patel are scheduled for next week.

See who else is awaiting confirmation votes

WHO HASN'T BEEN SCHEDULED?:

A handful of nominees have not yet been scheduled for Senate hearings:

• Education secretary pick Linda McMahon: A former World Wrestling Entertainment executive, McMahon previously ran the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term. She has yet to appear before a Senate committee, reportedly due to paperwork delays.

• Labor secretary designate former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.): She is considered a fairly bipartisan pick, and her nomination suggests Trump's administration will aim to be more union-friendly in his second term.

• Trade Representative pick Jamieson Greer: Ex-chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, Trump's former Trade Representative, Greer worked on tariffs during Trump's first administration.

CATCH UP QUICK

The Trump administration has begun using military planes to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Most members in the House Democratic caucus have signed a resolution opposing Trump withdrawing from the Paris climate accords.
UnitedHealthcare has selected a new CEO nearly two months after former CEO Brian Thompson's murder in Manhattan sparked public debate over the U.S. health care system.
Pandas are back at the National Zoo. Bao Li and Qing Bao made their debut Friday.

NEWS THIS AFTERNOON

Day 5: FEMA in jeopardy; Fauci loses security detail

In his first domestic trip of his second term, President Trump traveled to North Carolina and California on Friday to survey damage caused by natural disasters.

While in North Carolina, which was ravaged by Hurricane Helene last fall, Trump expressed his displeasure with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) response to the disaster, saying states would be better off handling their own recovery efforts.

He also suggested that he would soon sign an executive order either overhauling FEMA or cutting the agency completely.

"I'll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA's not good," Trump said.

From North Carolina, Trump and first lady Melania Trump traveled to Los Angeles, where he is meeting with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) before taking a helicopter tour of the devastation caused by a series of wildfires that have ravaged the southern part of the state for weeks.

• Nearly 30 people have died due to the wildfires

• The damage is expected to cost $250 billion.

Trump said he'd like to see conditions put on aid for L.A., something that Democrats widely oppose.

"I want to see two things in Los Angeles. Voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state," Trump told reporters in North Carolina.

MEANWHILE ...

Trump on Thursday ended Anthony Fauci's security detail, saying former government officials should not get security indefinitely.

"When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off. And you know, you can't have them forever. So, I think it's very standard," Trump told reporters Friday while visiting North Carolina.

Fauci's detail was reportedly abruptly ended Thursday night, and the former longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases must pay for his own security going forward.

During Trump's first term, Fauci was a thorn in the president's side, especially when it came to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci pushed back on some of Trump's false claims, making him a target of Republicans' ire.

Fauci later served as then-President Biden's chief medical adviser.

On his last day in office this week, Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci over concerns the incoming Trump administration would politically target him.

Trump also rescinded security details for former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former State Department official Brian Hook this week.

IN OTHER NEWS

Headline roundup

• Feds implement 'Gulf of America,' 'Mount McKinley' name changes

"The federal government is formally implementing President Trump's directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali." (Read more)

• Judge bars Oath Keepers from entering DC without court permission

"A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and seven other members of the right-wing extremist group from entering Washington, D.C., without the court's permission, days after President Trump commuted their sentences as part of sweeping clemency for those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack." (Read more)

• Target latest company to roll back DEI programs

"Target has announced it is rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, becoming the latest corporation to do so following President Trump's election." (Read more)