L.a. Times Hires Obama Aide Johanna Maska

“He wants to bend them to his will until they snap in half and then thank him for the privilege.” — A Trump transition team member, quoted by Rolling Stone, on forcing squeamish Senate Republicans to back his nominations.

“When Scott Bessent left President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida, last Friday, his allies were optimistic that the hedge fund executive was virtually certain to be named the next treasury secretary,” the Washington Post reports. “On Thursday, however, Bessent again flew to Florida with his bid for the Cabinet post still hanging in the balance.

An Axios focus group of swing voters found none thinks President-elect Donald Trump’s super-close relationship with Elon Musk is a good idea. Key findings: “12 of 14 participants in this week’s sessions said they were familiar with Musk’s advising Trump. Of those, five said it’s a bad thing, seven didn’t know what to say and none would say it was good.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition has already unleashed a fire hose of news — much of it beyond crazy. Here’s what stands out to me: .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{ -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); } Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more. If you’re already a member, sign in to your account.

“It’s a given Trump’s going to beat us into submission.” — A House Republican, quoted by the Washington Post.

Roger Stone said it is “a tragedy” and “not fair” that he was outbid by The Onion in his attempt to buy InfoWars in the bankruptcy auction to keep it going. He said he wants Matt Gaetz to investigate what happened as soon as he takes office as attorney general.