Donald Trump has selected former Georgia Sen. David Perdue to serve as ambassador to China.

Perdue has significant business experience in Asia, including China, something he ran on during his Senate election in 2014. As the former CEO of Dollar General and a top executive at Sara Lee and Reebok, Perdue was responsible for significant corporate restructuring and global expansion, and has lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong.

In a post on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump highlighted Perdue’s extensive background working in Asia and noted his service on the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee while in the Senate.

“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, in which he also called Perdue a “loyal supporter” and “friend.”

After being elected in 2014, Perdue served one term in the Senate, where he earned a reputation for his fiscal conservatism and backing pro-business policies. He lost his reelection bid in a 2021 runoff against Democrat Jon Osoff.

Trump recruited Perdue to run for Georgia governor in 2022 against incumbent Republican Brian Kemp, who Trump wanted to punish for his decision to certify the 2020 election results. Perdue lost his primary bid in a landslide, a result that was widely regarded as demonstrating the limits of Trump’s political power.

In his business career, Perdue was a strong proponent of moving jobs from the U.S. to Asia to save on manufacturing costs, a practice seemingly at odds with Trump’s America First policy and something that dogged him on the campaign trail.

Trump recently threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods if the country doesn’t do more to stop fentanyl trafficking.

“Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late last month.

CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama called out divisiveness and polarization as “one of the greatest challenges of our time,” as he avoided any specific political references in his first public remarks since the election.

In a speech Thursday at his foundation’s Democracy Forum, Obama urged his audience to embrace pluralism and celebrate people’s differences – the closest he came to a political message in his remarks.

“It’s about recognizing that in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions… not only for the woke, but also for the waking,” Obama told the crowd of about 650 participants at the Obama Foundation event on Chicago’s South Side, just a few miles from where Obama’s presidential center is under construction.

Obama didn’t utter the names of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in remarks that ran about 45 minutes, and his nonprofit organization stays away from politics. But Obama’s underlying message about pluralism and building bridges across divides has obvious relevance to the political moment in a divided country.

“Building bridges is not contrary to equality and social justice. In fact, it is our best tool for delivering lasting change,” Obama told the crowd that included Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, who worked in his administration and Penny Pritzker, the Commerce secretary during his administration.

A few folks in the predominantly Democratic crowd of political and policy wonks nodded at Obama’s remarks of extending a hand across the aisle, though most sat stoically as Obama spoke.

The former president said he understands the “skepticism… But to produce free and fair and more just societies, I cannot think of a better time to talk about it,” he said of the post-election malaise.

Obama said there are still lines that can’t be crossed — such as when the other side uses “the judiciary or criminal justice system to go after opponents,” he said, hinting at Trump’s threats to go after his enemies.

“In those circumstances, a line has been crossed,and we have to stand firm and speak out and organize and mobilize as forcefully as we can,” he said.

Obama also invoked Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, saying pluralism or trying to work with the other side isn’t about “holding hands and singing kumbaya” or “abandoning your convictions.”

The former president said, “If you want to create lasting change, you have to find ways to practice addition rather than subtraction.”

A venture capitalist who was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump during the campaign — and a critic of U.S. support for Ukraine — will be joining the new administration.

David Sacks will be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar” and lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology, the president-elect announced Thursday in a social media post.

Sacks “will focus on making America the clear global leader” in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, Trump wrote on Truth Social, calling the emerging fields “two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness.”

As part of the role, Trump said, Sacks will work to “safeguard Free Speech online” and “work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for.”

Sacks leads a venture capital firm, hosts a podcast and formerly served as COO of Paypal. He hosted a ritzy San Francisco fundraiser for Trump in June and was part of a cadre of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs who threw their support behind the president-elect during the campaign.

He is friends with Elon Musk and has frequently criticized U.S. efforts to help Ukraine counter the Russian invasion.

The House rejected two Democratic-led efforts to force the release of ethics findings into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, with Republicans arguing that the Florida firebrand’s departure from Congress puts him outside their jurisdiction.

Lawmakers voted along almost entirely party lines to table an effort from Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) to force the immediate release of the Ethics Committee report on Gaetz. Casten cited multiple examples in his resolution where the House released findings on members even after they left Congress.

“If this is a referendum on, are Republicans willing to stand up to sexual assault when committed by Republicans, I have a very low confidence that any Republicans will break on that vote,” Casten said earlier Thursday. “If this is a referendum on: do Republicans like Matt Gaetz, I have a very high degree of confidence. I don’t know how they’re thinking about this.”

Casten vowed after the vote to continue to try to get the report released, saying, “We are going to pursue every option,” he said. “We have to keep this going, including but not limited to bringing the resolution back up. We’re going to figure out next steps.”

Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.), ranking member of the Ethics Committee, declined to comment off the floor.

Separately, House members voted down an effort from Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) requiring the committee to preserve and release records related to its investigation into multiple allegations against Gaetz, including that he had sex with a minor.

The former congressman was President-elect Donald Trump’s first pick for attorney general — but he dropped out after it became clear he could not be confirmed by the Senate. Gaetz then said he would not return to the House and has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing.

The votes on the resolutions come on the same day that the House Ethics Committee again met to discuss the findings of its years-long probe into Gaetz — and again punted on whether to release the report. Cumulatively, the actions leave the report without an obvious path to becoming public.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is drafting legislation to stymie growth of the federal workforce and move agencies out of the nation’s capital.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slash government bureaucracy and set up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, an outside group that will recommend cuts to spending and regulations.

Blackburn plans to join that effort, led by tech mogul Elon Musk and 2024 Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, with her own bill.

“I will be introducing legislation that coincides with @DOGE’s plan to make the federal government more efficient,” Blackburn said on social media Thursday.

The Tennessee senator added, “My DOGE Act will freeze federal hiring, begin the process to relocate agencies out of the D.C. swamp, and establish a merit-based salary system for the federal workforce.”

Blackburn also discussed cost-cutting plans with Ramaswamy on her podcast.

“One of the low-hanging fruit areas is to look at areas under the executive branch, through executive action, that we can actually put an end to a lot of the money that hasn’t been authorized by Congress, but it’s still being spent,” said Ramaswamy, adding DOGE will want to partner with her and others in Congress to reduce the size of government.

Ramaswamy and Musk were on Capitol Hill on Thursday, meeting with lawmakers to detail plans for their government efficiency commission. Republicans are itching to help them, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) leading efforts in the Senate and House.

They have already aired grievances about several of their targets, including federal support for high-speed rail and expanded telework for civil servants. Further, Musk told POLITICO’s E&E News on Thursday that he wants to end tax breaks for electric vehicle buyers while dashing between meetings.

Some of these cost-cutting moves are not expected to be well-received by federal employees, especially relocating agencies. Moving EPA headquarters outside of Washington is reportedly under consideration, which union officials warn will lead to staffers leaving the agency. Musk and Ramaswamy have welcomed departures.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday he will be meeting with the incoming border czar to discuss impending plans for mass deportations.

Adams, speaking during a segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said that he has a Dec. 12 meeting on the books with Tom Homan, the former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to handle immigration matters.

“I want to hear the actual plan, how we are going to actually operationalize this,” Adams said, referring to pledges from Homan to begin deporting undocumented immigrants en masse, with a priority on those who have committed crimes in the U.S.

Adams’ team declined to provide additional details about the upcoming meeting, and the Trump transition did not immediately respond to a request for more information. But the two officials have repeatedly expressed openness to a sitdown in recent days.

On Monday, Homan said during an interview on Fox that he had been notified Adams had requested an audience. A day later, the former acting ICE director said he was planning to call the mayor. And on Thursday, Adams expressed support for removing from the city undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

“We’re not talking about those who are stealing apples,” he said. “We are talking about those who are shooting at police officers, raping individuals, and I would like to hear the border czar’s plan on addressing that.”

The House Ethics Committee said the panel met Thursday to discuss former Rep. Matt Gaetz, but declined to release any details.

“The Committee is continuing to discuss the matter,” the panel said, adding there would be “no further statements.”

Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) declined to comment on the meeting but said he’d vote against a last-ditch effort by Democrats to force the release of the report. The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, wasn’t at Thursday’s meeting, though Guest brushed off her absence and said “it’s not uncommon” for members to not be able to attend. Wild expressed frustration with Guest after the panel’s last closed-door meeting, saying he had mischaracterized a vote.

Guest said the panel would meet again this year. Wild’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

While Gaetz was President-elect Donald Trump’s original pick for attorney general, the Florida Republican withdrew from consideration as it became clear he didn’t have the votes to be confirmed in the GOP-controlled Senate.

The evenly divided panel deadlocked on releasing the the report detailing their investigation into Gaetz in a late November meeting. Since then, Democrats have stewed over the decision, though his withdrawal from attorney general consideration tempered some lawmakers’ concerns about the report.

After a day on Capitol Hill meeting with at least six senators, Pete Hegseth said he has no plans to withdraw as Donald Trump’s pick for Defense secretary even as doubts have been raised about his ability to be confirmed by the Senate.

“I’m proud to be here,” Hegseth said, leaving his last meeting of the day. “And as long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight, fighting to bring our Pentagon back to what it needs to be.”

The veteran and former Fox News personality left the Capitol telling reporters he answered to only Trump, God, his family and the 100 senators voting on his confirmation, not the media, even as allegations over sexual harassment and alcohol issues hover over his nomination.

Speaker Mike Johnson is in talks when his own conference about how to fund the government. But he’s got at least two “no” votes no matter what he does.

Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), two House Freedom Caucus members, told POLITICO that they would oppose any short-term government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution or a CR, regardless of whether Johnson attaches disaster aid to it. The Freedom Caucus took an official position this week that any disaster relief needs to be paid for and limited to what is “absolutely necessary” right now. President Joe Biden requested nearly $100 billion in emergency disaster aid.

“I have never voted for a CR and I don’t intend on concluding my time here by voting for one now. We have a $36 trillion dollar national debt and congress has failed to do its job by funding government through the appropriations process, as mandated by the Budget Act of 1974, again,” said Rosendale, who is retiring at the end of this term.

GOP aides already expect that there are enough Republicans who will vote against a CR no matter what that Johnson will need to depend on Democrats to avoid a shutdown. The deadline to pass funding legislation is Dec. 20.