OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.

Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley is calling on all Republicans to work with President-elect Donald Trump and get his Cabinet in place.

During an interview on Fox News with host Jesse Watters, Hawley said that it is critical for the U.S. Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans in January, to allow Trump to assemble his Cabinet that “reflects his agenda.”

“I saw your colleague hold up a sign on the Senate floor with a big zero. Zero Democrats in the Senate voted against any of Biden’s cabinet nominees. Zero. And look what these nominees did in Biden’s cabinet. They wrecked the country, they blew open the border, they spent trillions of dollars. Zero Democrats are against them. Are Republicans comfortable voting against President Trump’s picks?” Watters asked.

“I sure hope not. I mean, listen, I think that the president deserves to have a cabinet that reflects his agenda, that’s going to implement his agenda. And you made this point just a second ago, Jesse. I think the thing that really the press and the establishment hates so much is how broad this coalition is. They can’t believe that people like RFK and Tulsi Gabbard are in this coalition and in this cabinet, and it just reflects the breadth of President Trump’s mandate, the breadth of President Trump’s coalition,” Hawley said.

“This isn’t your typical cabinet and that’s as it should be. It reflects the winning majority coalition Donald Trump put together,” he added.

Watters then asked: “So is the president-elect burning up the phones? Is he making threats? I know some people are threatening primaries against some of these Republican senators if they don’t vote yes.”

“I think the president is absolutely weighing in. That’s my sense as I visited with him, that he’s calling people and saying, ‘Listen, give these people a shot.’ Don’t go out there and say, ‘I’m against him, I’m against her, I will never vote yes.’ Don’t say this stuff. Let them speak. Hear their views. I mean, at least let them go through the process and testify and support Trump. I mean, stand by him as he assembles a cabinet that reflects his agenda and it reflects the mandate that he’s gotten from the American people,” Hawley said.

“Yeah, I mean, these guys are all going to make their own call. I get it. I understand the politics of it. But if they go down in flames, a couple of these guys, as Trump gets inaugurated, you’re going to have the Republican Senate injure the incoming president politically, do damage to him politically, hurt him as he had momentum, and he hasn’t even deregulated the government, hasn’t cut anything, hasn’t even had any legislation passed. They’re just going to kneecap him out of the gate?” Watters asked the Republican lawmaker.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we cannot afford, Jesse. This is a coalition that is a majority coalition. Let’s not lose sight of the fact. And this is my message to all of my colleagues: Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is the leader of our party who just won a decisive victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. He deserves to have a cabinet that will implement his agenda and will deliver on the promises he made to the American people, and it’s the Senate’s job to help get him that cabinet. So let’s move forward here full steam ahead,” Hawley responded.

Watters concluded by saying: “Okay. Well, these are going to be some feisty hearings, and I think ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ will be here to cover it in a fair way, because that’s all you can ask.”

“I think the president is absolutely weighing in. That’s my sense as I visited with him, that he’s calling people and saying, ‘Listen, give these people a shot.’ Don’t go out there and say, ‘I’m against him, I’m against her, I will never vote yes.’ Don’t say this stuff. Let them speak. Hear their views. I mean, at least let them go through the process and testify and support Trump. I mean, stand by him as he assembles a cabinet that reflects his agenda and it reflects the mandate that he’s gotten from the American people,” Hawley said.

“Yeah, I mean, these guys are all going to make their own call. I get it. I understand the politics of it. But if they go down in flames, a couple of these guys, as Trump gets inaugurated, you’re going to have the Republican Senate injure the incoming president politically, do damage to him politically, hurt him as he had momentum, and he hasn’t even deregulated the government, hasn’t cut anything, hasn’t even had any legislation passed. They’re just going to kneecap him out of the gate?” Watters asked the Republican lawmaker.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we cannot afford, Jesse. This is a coalition that is a majority coalition. Let’s not lose sight of the fact. And this is my message to all of my colleagues: Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is the leader of our party who just won a decisive victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. He deserves to have a cabinet that will implement his agenda and will deliver on the promises he made to the American people, and it’s the Senate’s job to help get him that cabinet. So let’s move forward here full steam ahead,” Hawley responded.

Watters concluded by saying: “Okay. Well, these are going to be some feisty hearings, and I think ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ will be here to cover it in a fair way, because that’s all you can ask.”

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.

Election pollster and analyst Nate Silver argued there’s no “particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now” and called for him to resign on Wednesday.

Silver made his remarks after the Washington Post reported that Biden had avoided the press during his trip to Brazil this week for the G20 summit.

“President Joe Biden was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, unprotected from mosquitoes, fire ants and loud, squawking macaws. But there was another pest he did manage to avoid: the pack of reporters traveling with him,” the Post reported.

“During a six-day foreign trip to Peru and Brazil that wrapped up Monday, the president rarely spoke in public, answering almost no questions despite repeated efforts to engage him. One television producer took to writing messages on a large pad of paper, holding it up as Biden boarded and departed Air Force One,” The Post continued.

Silver commented that the details of the post report were further proof that Biden wasn’t able to lead the country anymore despite having roughly just two months left in office.

Footage from Brazil. Biden, having finished his speech, simply turned around and went into the rainforest 🍌 pic.twitter.com/SdDPAl6CNL

— Katie Liane (@TheKaterPotater) November 18, 2024

“Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now? It’s a very difficult job. It’s a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months,” Silver wrote on X Wednesday.

Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now? It's a very difficult job. It's a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.https://t.co/02huFqQT3W pic.twitter.com/ZLWqcbkAYW

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 20, 2024

Before the election, Silver often suggested the possibility of Biden being replaced by another candidate. In July, he even called for Biden to resign following his poorly received interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.

“I wimped out in today’s column and deleted a line saying he should formulate a plan to transition the presidency to Harris within 30-60 days, but I’m there now,” Silver said at the time. “Something is clearly wrong here.”

“The most generous way to put it is that he doesn’t seem in command, and that’s an extremely hard sell when you’re Commander in Chief,” Silver concluded — adding that he believes “Democrats will apply incredible amounts of pressure” to make the president resign.

That turned out to be the case. Led by the likes of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and — reports said — former President Barack Obama, Biden eventually agreed to end his reelection campaign, which also followed a disastrous debate with then-former President Donald Trump in June.

Biden, however, quickly endorsed his vice president, essentially leaving the Democratic Party with little choice but to rally behind who many privately believed was one of their worst choices.

“…Biden just hit a new all-time low in approval (37.4%) at 538 yesterday. Dropping out would be a big risk. But there’s some threshold below which continuing to run is a bigger risk. Are we there yet? I don’t know. But it’s more than fair to ask,” Silver wrote over the summer. “What’s clearer IMO is that Democrats would have been better served if Biden had decided a year ago not to seek a second term, which would have allowed them to have some semblance of a primary process and give voters a say among the many popular Democrats across the country.”

Republicans have frequently countered that Biden’s mental status decline was evidence during his 2020 presidential bid and that it had been getting steadily worse ever since. They have also accused Democrat insiders as well as those in the legacy media, of covering for Biden as he continued to decline.

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.

President-elect Donald Trump is continuing to rapidly build out his next administration, nominating his former acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

“Matt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended,” Trump said in a statement. “Matt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability – He will put AMERICA FIRST.”

Trump has consistently criticized NATO member countries for insufficient defense spending, correctly arguing that the U.S. bears an outsized burden while many European allies fail to contribute their fair share. His choice for ambassador is expected to champion this stance, which is likely to raise some concerns among NATO allies across the Atlantic.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on… pic.twitter.com/7eB3KVNLjj

— Voice of America (@VOANews) November 21, 2024

The president-elect has wasted no time in naming who he wants to appoint to various positions within his next administration after he’s sworn in on Jan. 20. Per CBS News, here is a list of nominations thus far:

• White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles
• Secretary of State: Marco Rubio
• Attorney General: Matt Gaetz
• Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche
• HHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Office of Management and Budget Director: Russ Vought
• U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik
• “Border czar”: Tom Homan
• Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins
• National security adviser: Michael Waltz
• Interior Secretary: Doug Burgum
• Secretary of Energy: Chris Wright
• Secretary of Transportation: Sean Duffy
• Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick
• Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon
• White House counsel: William McGinley
• U.S. Ambassador to NATO: Matthew Whitaker
• Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem
• CIA director: John Ratcliffe
• Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard
• EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin
• Solicitor general: Dean John Sauer
• FCC chairman: Brendan Carr
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz
• U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee
• U.S. ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra
• U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton
• Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
• Deputy chief of staff: Dan Scavino
• Deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller
• Deputy chief of staff for Legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair
• Deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich
• Presidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor
• White House communications director: Steven Cheung
• White House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt

Most of those nominees will have to be approved by the Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans are holding on to a small majority in the House, though reports Wednesday said Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur claimed victory, securing her 22nd term in the U.S. House of Representatives after a tightly contested race in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race at 1:02 p.m. EST, declaring Kaptur the winner over Republican state Rep. Derek Merrin. With nearly all precincts reporting, Kaptur edged out Merrin with 48.27% of the vote to his 47.63%, a margin of just 2,382 votes.

Libertarian candidate Tom Pruss drew approximately 4% of the vote, further narrowing the competition but more than likely taking votes away from Merrin.

As the longest-serving woman in House history, Kaptur celebrated her victory in a district significantly reshaped by recent redistricting, making it one of the most competitive in the country. Her re-election preserves a Democratic hold on the seat, even as Republicans strengthen their majority in the House.

Derek Merrin, a fourth-term state representative and a strong ally of President-elect Donald Trump, mounted a formidable challenge in a campaign defined by sharp contrasts. With the race now settled, Democrats hold 213 seats in the House, while Republicans, bolstered by gains in other districts, have secured a narrow majority with 218 seats.

At 78, Kaptur was regarded as one of the most vulnerable incumbents in this year’s congressional races. Her campaign for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District was among the most expensive, with total spending surpassing $23 million, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization monitoring campaign finances.