Trump considering outgoing congressman for key cabinet position: sources

Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., is on a short list of contenders being considered for the nomination of Labor Secretary under President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration. 

Williams, who represents central New York, was viewed as one of the most vulnerable House Republican incumbents this election cycle because state Democratic leaders redrew his district to make it more favorable to their party. He was defeated by Democratic state Sen. John Mannion last week, but a source close to the president-elect’s transition team confirmed to Fox News Digital that Williams is now under consideration to join Trump’s Cabinet. 

“Brandon Williams was an exceptional member of congress who jumped into the race two years ago to challenge John Katko after he voted to impeach President Trump,” the source told Fox News Digital. “He’s a Navy veteran who served as an officer on a nuclear submarine, is a businessman and tech entrepreneur, was a political outsider, and will advance President Trump’s mission.” 

Citing sources, the New York Post was first to report about Williams’ consideration for Labor secretary, revealing he is on the “short version of the short list” and high-level conversations were happening on the matter Friday, days after the election. 

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Williams serves on three House committees: Transportation and Infrastructure; Science, Space, and Technology; and Education and the Workforce. He is also a member of several caucuses, including the Republican Main Street Caucus, which focuses on “implementing pro-growth policies for small business owners, fostering economic and individual prosperity, and delivering real results for the American people,” according to its website.

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Politico had reported on Tuesday that Williams is among names being “floated” for a position in the Trump administration, but the outlet did not specify Tuesday what that executive branch job could be. 

Politico reported two other possible contenders for Labor secretary: Patrick Pizzella, a former U.S. deputy Labor secretary, and Bryan Slater, the state Labor secretary under Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

Trump has already selected two high-profile New Yorkers to join his Cabinet. 

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House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was elected to a sixth term last week, will be pulled from Congress to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who nearly ousted Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in a competitive, but unsuccessful, 2022 bid to run the Empire State, has been campaigning on behalf of Trump and was selected to join the cabinet as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dem’s sarcastic response to Trump tapping Musk and Ramaswamy for admin role

After President-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to root out government waste, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Trump’s decision, suggesting he had tapped two people to execute the job of one person.

“The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person,” Warren said in a post on X, sarcastically adding, “Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient.” 

Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.

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Trump noted that the team, nicknamed “DOGE,” “will provide advice and guidance from outside of government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”

Musk has invited the public to share their thoughts about what should and should not be slashed.

“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” he tweeted.

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Ramaswamy dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsed Trump back in January.

“DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it,” he tweeted.

Warren also criticized Trump’s decision to tap Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, claiming that he is not qualified for the role.

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“A Fox & Friends weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform. I respect every one of our servicemembers. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected,” she declared in a post on X.

Hegseth is an author and Army veteran who earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, according to his website.

His last day with Fox was Tuesday.

Trump said in a statement that Hegseth “will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith reportedly plans to resign before Trump can fire him

Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith is expected to resign before President-elect Trump is inaugurated in January, the New York Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. 

Smith is aiming to bring to an end his cases against Trump and step down before the new president takes office as a way to get ahead of the Republican’s promise to fire him “within two seconds.” 

Trump has pointed to a Supreme Court immunity ruling from this summer that broadened the criteria for official presidential conduct ineligible for prosecution even after a president is no longer in office.

Smith has been evaluating how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case before Trump takes office, Fox News reported last week. 

Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.

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Smith on Friday filed a motion to vacate all deadlines in the 2020 election interference case against Trump in Washington, D.C., a widely expected move, but one that stops short of dropping the case against him completely. He said Friday that his team plans to give an updated report on the official status of the case against Trump on Dec. 2. 

Smith is required under DOJ regulations to submit a report of his findings and an explanation of the charges the prosecutor considered and ultimately filed – even though neither case made it to trial. 

Under a crunched timeline, it is unclear if Attorney General Merrick Garland would make that report public before the end of President Biden’s term or defer to the incoming Trump administration, according to the Times. 

Sources close to the matter told the Times that Smith has no intention of dragging his feet, and has informed career prosecutors and FBI agents on his team not directly involved in preparing the report that they can plan their exits in the coming weeks. 

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In Friday’s filing, Smith said he needed a month “to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

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The House Judiciary Committee is concerned that Smith and prosecutors involved in the investigations will “purge” records to skirt oversight and is demanding they produce to Congress all documents related to the probes before the end of the month, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

‘The View’ co-host agrees with advice to cut off pro-Trump family at holidays

After a psychologist made headlines arguing people should avoid Trump-supporting relatives this holiday season, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, saying many people feel “someone voted not only against their families but against them.”

Shortly after the election, Yale University chief psychiatry resident Dr. Amanda Calhoun spoke to MSNBC host Joy Reid about how liberals who are devastated by Trump’s re-election can cope with the news, including separating from loved ones. 

“There is a push, I think just a societal norm that if somebody is your family, that they are entitled to your time, and I think the answer is absolutely not,” Calhoun told the talk show host. “So if you are going to a situation where you have family members, where you have close friends who you know have voted in ways that are against you, like what you said, against your livelihood, it’s completely fine to not be around those people and to tell them why, you know, to say, ‘I have a problem with the way that you voted, because it went against my very livelihood and I’m not going to be around you this holiday.’”

Hostin said she “completely” understands Calhoun’s point about distancing oneself from family this holiday season.

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“I really do feel that this candidate, you know, President-elect Trump, is just a different type of candidate, from the things he said and the things he’s done and the things he will do, it’s more of a moral issue for me and I think it’s more of a moral issue for other people,” she said. “We’re just — you know, I would say it was different when, let’s say, Bush got elected. You may not have agreed with his policies, but you didn’t feel like he was a deeply flawed person, deeply flawed by character, deeply flawed in morality.”

Co-hosts Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin immediately interjected, arguing that people had indeed criticized former President Bush as soon as he was elected and during his two terms.

“But you’ve gotta admit, they’re very different figures, I mean, you [Griffin], along with [General Mark] Milley and along with John Kelly, warned us about how deeply flawed he was as a candidate. And so, I think when people feel that someone voted not only against their families but against them and against people that they loved, I think it’s okay to take a beat,” Hostin said.

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said that while she respects the will of the voters, if she had an LGBTQ+ child, she wouldn’t want to put her in a position “where she has to sit with someone who doesn’t understand her,” adding that “with mixed families I feel the same way. You know. There are certain things where you don’t have to put your family in the middle of it. You can have dinner at another point, but it might not be time to gather, because, you know, there’s gonna be some tension.”

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“I think everybody needs to do what’s right for them,” co-host Ana Navarro began. “You know, I think you need to look into yourself and if — going to a family gathering or with friends where it’s going to stress you out, then don’t go.”

However, she went on to explain that her husband has 5 children, and that while most of them and/or their spouses voted for Trump, he insists on seeing his family despite him and Navarro voting for Harris.

“For our family, I mean, he has told them, ‘I will not let politics split up our family.’ Al and I voted for Kamala. Others didn’t. He is going to see his grandchildren come Hell or high water. That’s the choice that works for him,” Navarro said.

Griffin offered a similar sentiment, saying, “I’m all for healthy boundaries, but tend to think mashed potatoes are the great equalizer, like, you don’t want to spend Thanksgiving by yourself because you can’t set politics aside.”

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“I find that every day in every job I worked in and social circles I run in, I’ve been around people with different politics and it’s never gotten in the way of having friendships. It simply hasn’t. I wouldn’t have had any friends,” she added.

Haines agreed as well, saying that while she does have to check in with herself to see what she can handle from people at times but, ultimately, “Toxic personalities don’t have political affiliations, it’s a personality trait that sucks. We all are related to people like that. So, whatever your reason is, I would never let my politics be the reason I don’t show up to see my family, because they won’t always be there.”

Trump’s post-election stock boom won’t stop inevitable doom, economist warns

The Trump victory-fueled, post-election market rally has investors cheering for now. However, outspoken economist Harry Dent is still bearish about America’s private debt and the future of its economy, arguing that the euphoria won’t last long.

“I can tell you one thing: bubbles never, ever end well. There’s no way to go from [an] extreme bubble and have a soft landing. Now, that’s what seems to be happening right now, and we’ll see. But I tell people, give [it until] 2025,” Dent told Fox News Digital one week after Election Day.

“I think the truth will be told next year whether they can let down this bubble without causing a crash, because I can tell you, [it’s] never happened in history. And I can’t even compare past bubbles to this bubble, given how global and pervasive it is.”

Former President Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election catapulted U.S. stocks to record highs, fueling the best week for the market of the entire year.

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Even so, Dent isn’t budging from his June prediction that an “everything” bubble could burst in mid-2025. What’s more, he now argues that Trump’s fiscal policies won’t be enough to prevent a cyclical crash tied more to private than federal debt.

“Obviously, he’s seen as pro-business and yes, tax cuts – everybody likes tax cuts. But we already have the biggest runaway, 16-year streak of deficits. We have not seen a balanced budget since 2001 or something like that. It’s just crazy,” Dent said.

“And I think that’s the big risk here, that Trump maybe seems to be a good thing to get the economy going,” he continued, “but if he cuts government spending, I’d say that’s going to start a slowdown that will build on itself.”

Politicians can’t prolong the inevitable, the economist added, while stressing over the likelihood of a “very nasty downturn when it finally is allowed to happen.”

“COVID was the big thing, and I think that’s where central banks and governments made a mistake,” he said. “They overreacted to COVID… That would have been a good time to let the economy take a rest and let off a little steam. But no, they doubled down and stimulated harder than ever. And then they suddenly get 9.1% inflation.”

Dent estimates that private sector debt in the U.S. amounts to $630 trillion in financial assets, growing five times faster than global gross domestic product. The “trillion-dollar question” isn’t a matter of whether a market crash happens, but, rather, , he believes.

“I know the best remedy for the economy. It’s called a recession, or even a depression at times,” Dent noted. “This will wash out [and] a lot of bad debts will fail. That’s what happens in a recession. It’s healthy to borrow and for companies to invest equity capital, as well, in growth in a boom. But the recessions come along, or occasionally a depression, after a bubble boom. And this is a bubble boom.“

“So people have lost track, especially central banks who are run by economists who, I always say, look like they… have never run a business… Failure is the secret to capitalism. It’s not just the opportunity to innovate. It’s too [quick to] allow failures to happen and flush them out of the economy. And that’s what we haven’t [done]. We haven’t flushed in 16 years.”

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Overvaluation in the market ultimately hurts “the No. 1 economic indicator that almost nobody looks at”: money velocity, which is defined as the rate at which domestic consumers and businesses exchange money in an economy.

“Money velocity has been dropping like a rock since 1997, right in the middle of the first bubble to form… it just shows that bubbles are not healthy,” Dent said.

The generation that could suffer most from a market crash next year is Baby Boomers, many of whom are entering retirement and relying on their portfolios.

“If all these financial assets go down that they hold for their retirement, and they’re making less income because they quit their job, or they’re just on some minor pension or something, they’re going to be in deep trouble… But I’m telling you, if I’m right about this crash, and the Treasury bonds go up as a safe haven, they will do nothing but go down for the rest of our lives from there, because low inflation is not a good environment for them,” the economist explained.

“So I think the next few years is likely to be ugly. The question mark is, when does the darn thing start?” Dent posited. “I think the central banks know this better than anybody. They just can’t say it because they don’t want to scare anybody.”

If anything carries markets through a strong 2025 start, it’s bitcoin. Dent told Fox Digital he’s purchased more of the cryptocurrency since his last interview in June.

“But I think that short-term, I would have a hard time buying anything else aggressively if we had the type of crash I talked about, because bitcoin could go all the way back down to the 15,000, 16,000 levels, the last major low.”

“I do my long term projections comparing Bitcoin to other breakthrough new technologies like the dot-com revolution of the late 90s, that bubble, and what came after it. Bubbles finance new revolution. So they’re a good thing,” Dent added. “Bitcoin, I see going up to 800,000 to 1 million by 2037 to ’40. So I’ve got a long way to go. So, boy, if that went down to 15,000 or even 20 or 25, that would be the buy of a lifetime. It’d be hard for me to buy anything else in those prices.”

Right now, market traders are “going along” with the post-election bubble even though Dent compared it to being on the Titanic.

“When everybody gets on the boat, that’s when the Titanic sinks. So I think everybody’s in the boat about now,” he said.

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“Look at reality, look at the charts and see how much again, I’m just talking about housing going back to 2012. That’s [a] 62% crash in housing, which would be twice as bad as the 2008 crisis. And that was bad on most people,” Dent said.

“Stocks, just going back to 2009, that’s 89% on the S&P 500 and 94% on the Nasdaq. That’s a total wipe-out. That’s 1929 to ’32. You’ve got to at least acknowledge that this is a possibility here.”

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