Congressional Travel Tab Swells In Recent Years

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel and has repeatedly signaled his staunch support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Huckabee, a former TV host and Baptist preacher, frequently visits Israel and once said he wanted to buy a holiday home there.

In picking Rep. Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump is looking to install a fierce loyalist who has been seen as divisive even within his own party. Not one of the top names seen as a likely pick for the job, Gaetz’s selection was first pushed out on Trump’s social media network instead of a more formal announcement from his transition team as with most of his choices. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read More: Here Are the New Members of Trump’s Administration So Far House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday, meaning that the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing probe into allegations against Gaetz of child sex trafficking ends, and no report will be issued. Here are some things to know about Gaetz. He’s had legal issues of his own The House Ethics Committee had been investigating allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, a probe that ended Wednesday with Gaetz’ resignation from the House. In June, the committee gave an unusual public update on its review, which it said also included whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. The committee announced that it was no longer reviewing four other allegations involving the congressman, including that he shared inappropriate images or videos with colleagues on the House floor or that he accepted a bribe or converted campaign funds to personal use. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations, which he has blamed on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a longtime nemesis, though the probe began before McCarthy and Republicans took the majority in the House. In 2023, the Justice Department ended a sex trafficking investigation with no charges against Gaetz. He’s been loyal to Trump and echoed his attacks on the ‘deep state’ Having just won his fifth term representing much of the Florida Panhandle, Gaetz, 42, has been a frequent defender of Trump on cable news. He traveled to New York earlier this year when Trump stood trial in his hush money case.

Here are the key appointments, nominations, and staffing decisions announced by the Trump administration, that will continue to be updated during the transition.

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. To outsiders, it looks a whole lot like Donald Trump has unrivaled control over the current Republican Party. He rode a remarkable and ahistoric wave back to re-election last week, one in which his allies expanded their majority in the House, and the Senate will return in January with Republicans holding the gavels.

President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense in his second term has already stirred controversy. Hegseth, a military veteran, staunch defender of Trump’s “America First” agenda, and an outspoken critic of what he calls the military’s “woke” culture, has built a career around challenging the military establishment.

H5N1 avian influenza, more commonly known as bird flu, has infected more than 100 million birds in the U. S. and almost 500 dairy cattle herds across 15 states. The virus has popped up in mammals including elephant seals, goats, foxes, and house cats. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Despite its prolific spread among animals, federal health authorities maintain that the risk to the U.