President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that a handful of loyalists from his campaign will join him in the White House as senior aides.

Dan Scavino will serve as deputy chief of staff; Stephen Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser; James Blair will serve as deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs; and Taylor Budowich will serve as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. All four will also carry the title assistant to the president.

The figures are familiar in Trump world and come as the president-elect is quickly naming his closest stalwarts to top roles in his second administration.

“Dan, Stephen, James, and Taylor were ‘best in class’ advisors on my winning campaign, and I know they will honorably serve the American people in the White House,” Trump said in a statement. “They will continue to work hard to Make America Great Again in their respective new roles.”

Scavino was a top communications aide in Trump’s White House and a senior adviser on his reelection campaign. He met Trump as a 16-year-old golf caddie.

Blair, a Florida-based GOP strategist who previously was deputy chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis, served as political director for the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee.

Miller — an immigration hard-liner who took a role in Trump’s family separation policies during his first administration — previously served in Trump’s White House as his top speechwriter and senior adviser to the president for Policy, and was a senior adviser for his campaign.

Budowich was chief of staff to Donald Trump Jr. during his father’s 2020 presidential campaign and worked as a spokesperson for Trump after he left the White House. The Jan. 6 select committee interviewed him under subpoena, pressing for information about his work helping organize the Trump rally at the Ellipse that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Budowich told the committee he did not expect the day to turn violent.

He also helmed the pro-Trump super PACs MAGA Inc. and Save America PAC. The latter spent more than $100 million during the 2024 campaign, including millions on legal bills for Trump and his allies.

President-elect Donald Trump appeared to back Mike Johnson’s speakership bid during his visit with the House GOP Wednesday morning, hours ahead of an internal party leadership vote, according to five people in the room.

“He said, ‘I am with him all the way,’” according to two people.

Trump is meeting with House Republicans hours before an internal leadership election where they are expected to elect Johnson as their speaker nominee. That election will be conducted via secret ballot and only requires a simple majority.

It’s a significant boost for Johnson, who has tied himself closely to the incoming president and needs his support in order to win the gavel in a tougher Jan. 3 vote, when Johnson will need near-unanimous support from House Republicans to officially become speaker. But Trump’s endorsement isn’t a surprise — both the Louisiana Republican and his critics predicted that Trump would give Johnson his support during the closed-door meeting.

Johnson predicted it in a brief interview with POLITICO Tuesday night, saying: “He’s been talking very publicly everywhere about this, so I expect he’ll do it again tomorrow.”

Trump holds significant sway over the House GOP conference. His endorsement of Johnson could force the speaker’s opponents to decide if having a monthslong fight over the speakership and their demands on certain House rules is worth crossing Trump. And Johnson’s allies bet conservatives won’t want to be seen as an impediment to Trump’s agenda as he assumes power with likely both chambers of Congress under GOP control.

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), a conservative who has previously expressed doubts about Johnson’s leadership, indicated after Trump’s endorsement that he would back the speaker.

He said Trump should get “the team he wants on the field.”

While Trump’s endorsement might shrink Johnson’s opposition, it’s not going to completely dissipate. House conservatives are still planning to force an internal vote on his speakership on Wednesday afternoon, instead of letting Johnson be nominated by a voice vote that would allow him to claim unanimous support.

Johnson also lavished praise on Trump during the closed-door meeting, calling him a “singular figure in American history.”

“They used to call Bill Clinton the comeback kid, [Trump] is the comeback king,” Johnson said.

Later on, Trump remarked to Johnson, according to a person in the room: “Mike you’re going to have a tremendous year. Tremendous two years.”

Then, he said to the room: “Get it all done. Unify.”

Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans behind closed doors that he doesn’t have any challengers to his candidacy right now, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The private comments come after two people familiar with the private discussions told POLITICO on Tuesday night that members of the House Freedom Caucus would not throw in a candidate but instead force an internal vote on the speakership race during a closed-door election set for Wednesday afternoon.

The decision by Johnson’s right flank came after the bloc’s members deliberated for days about whether or not to throw in an alternative candidate. As of Tuesday afternoon, they still appeared to be leaning toward throwing someone into the race.

Instead, after a closed-door Freedom Caucus meeting on Tuesday night, the group’s plan is now to force an internal vote without formally mounting a challenger. That means they would prevent leadership from allowing Johnson to be nominated for speaker by a simple voice vote — one that would have allowed him to say he was nominated unanimously. Instead, members would go ahead with the secret-ballot process, giving them the option to oppose Johnson’s speaker nomination without revealing who they are.

Despite the move, Johnson is expected to easily get the simple majority needed to become his party’s speaker nominee.

Part of the frustration from Johnson’s right is tied to a debate over the conference’s internal rules, which House Republicans are set to vote on Thursday. Rules proposals circulated on Tuesday included several amendments to the House GOP’s rules that would punish members who broke with the conference on certain procedural and leadership votes.

Johnson told POLITICO on Tuesday that he does not support rules to punish members. But some conservatives want him to go further and actively tell his members to vote against the rules proposals during Wednesday’s closed-door conference meetings.

Nearly four years after he walked out of the White House in the aftermath of a violent insurrection, President-elect Donald Trump will re-enter the building on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

By inviting Trump, Biden is extending to his predecessor and successor a formal courtesy that Trump didn’t give him four years ago. In many ways, he is hosting a rival who he’d argued was a threat to American democracy to make the point that democracy itself hinges on elections where the losers accept the results.

The meeting comes eight days after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris and six days after Biden’s Rose Garden speech, where he sought to reassure disappointed Democrats that democracy would endure — even though the central political project that has defined the final chapter of his own decadeslong career, keeping Trump out of the White House, has failed.

Harris is not expected to attend the meeting. Nor is Melania Trump, who declined an invitation from first lady Jill Biden, reportedly over lingering frustration over the FBI’s August 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago to recover classified documents.

Biden’s low approval ratings and the public’s deep frustrations with the higher cost of living are the clearest signs for Trump’s resounding victory. The twice impeached and criminally convicted 45th president won every battleground state and the popular vote for the first time in three tries.

The symbolism of the meeting — two political foes shaking hands, sitting together in an office they both know well — offers both men a chance to showcase a graciousness and a semblance of unity following a divisive election. That may supercede substantive policy discussions, although Biden does plan to raise some issues with the goal of convincing Trump to keep specific policies in place.

On Tuesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered few details about the meeting, telling reporters that it was mainly about “importance of keeping norms, the importance of having a transition that is going to be efficient. That is what the American people deserve. And that’s the message.”

More than a week after Election Day, there are just a dozen House races left uncalled by the Associated Press. Republicans currently have 216 seats — just two away from formally clinching the majority — while Democrats have 207. In the remaining uncalled contests, Republicans currently lead in six, while Democrats have the advantage in six.

Iowa’s 1st: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) leads by a razor-thin 731 votes over Democrat Christina Bohannan, but the AP has not yet called the race. (Miller-Meeks is no stranger to tight races, having won her first bid for Congress by just six votes.) The incumbent announced her bid for House Republican conference secretary, a leadership post, on Tuesday citing in part her ability to win tight battleground races. A recount is possible in this contest.

Maine’s 2nd: The state kicked off its ranked-choice voting procedures on Tuesday, and officials projected the process could take three to five days. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden led by just 726 votes over GOP nominee Austin Theriault as the process kicked off.

Oregon’s 5th: Democrat Janelle Bynum has declared victory over incumbent GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. But the AP has not yet called the race, despite Bynum’s lead of more than 10,000 votes. If the margin holds, the Democrat would flip control of the seat and become the first Black member of Congress from Oregon.

California’s 21st: Despite being neck-and-neck on election night with his unheralded GOP challenger, Rep. Jim Costa (D) has settled into a more comfortable position as further Democratic-friendly ballot drops have emerged. He now leads by almost four percentage points — more than 5,000 votes — in his bid for reelection in this Central Valley seat.

California’s 9th: Incumbent Rep. Josh Harder (D) has claimed victory in his reelection bid over much-touted Stockton, Calif. Mayor Kevin Lincoln (R), though the AP has yet to formally call the contest. Harder’s lead stands at more than 7,000 votes — nearly four percentage points.

Alaska at-large: A large batch of ballots posted late Tuesday did little to benefit Rep. Mary Peltola (D), who still trails GOP challenger Nick Begich by nearly 10,000 votes with more than 90 percent of ballots in. However, Begich is currently short of the 50 percent threshold to win outright, potentially triggering the state’s ranked-choice voting procedures next week.

California’s 41st: Longtime Rep. Ken Calvert (R) saw his lead over Democrat Will Rollins grow to more than 8,000 votes on Tuesday. He’s claimed victory in his reelection bid, though Rollins has yet to concede.

California’s 13th: Incumbent Rep. John Duarte (R) got several friendly ballot drops on Tuesday, keeping his lead over Democrat Adam Gray at slightly more than 3,100 votes. There’s still about 30 percent of the vote left to count, so this one could come down to the wire depending on what ballots are still out there.

Arizona’s 6th: It’s not been formally called yet, but Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R) leads Democrat Kirsten Engel by nearly 6,900 votes — or 1.8 percentage points — in this purple Arizona seat.

California’s 45th: Challenger Democrat Derek Tran keeps winning new batches of counted ballots handily and eating into the election night lead held by incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel (R). She lost another 1,600 votes from that lead on Tuesday from a batch of 9,160 votes — and Steel’s lead is now just 2,272 votes.

Ohio’s 9th: The longest-serving woman in congressional history, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), appears to have held onto her right-leaning seat by a hair — 1,193 votes. Her race against GOP nominee Derek Merrin has not been called by the AP, with more outstanding absentee and provisional ballots to count, but Kaptur has claimed victory.

California’s 47th: This race has also not been called, but Democrat Dave Min claimed victory on Tuesday night over GOP nominee Scott Baugh as late batches of ballots have consistently broken his way. Baugh later conceded as well. Min’s lead is now nearly 6,000 votes in what would be a major hold of an open swing seat being vacated by Rep. Katie Porter (D).

Pennsylvania Senate: Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) trimmed Sen.-elect David McCormick’s advantage in the contest — called by the AP — to under 29,300 votes in the latest counting Tuesday and isn’t conceding. “I want to make sure that we can count the votes and make a determination about who won and who lost,” Casey said on Capitol Hill as he walked to vote Tuesday.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who headed the Senate Democratic campaign arm this cycle, said Casey “definitely” still had a path for victory. “There are a lot of votes to count,” Peters told reporters. “They have provisional ballots. They tend to break his way, so we’ll have to see how many there are and wait for every vote to be counted.”

Republicans, meanwhile, welcomed McCormick to Senate orientation Tuesday and argued Casey needed to concede.

Called races by the AP on Tuesday: Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Rep.-elect George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.); Rep.-elect Gabe Evans (R-Colo.); Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.)

Note: Valadao and Newhouse are the only remaining House GOP members who voted to impeach President-elect Donald Trump over his handling of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Both won reelection on Tuesday.

House Republicans are primed for a nasty fight over their internal rules this week.

A review of the 20 amendments submitted to the current rules, first reported by POLITICO, indicate an ongoing clash between conservatives, who are looking to strip more power from leadership, and other members who want to see disruptive GOP lawmakers punished.

The amendments do not include proposed changes to the rules governing how to oust a speaker, known as a motion to vacate, though that doesn’t mean that fight is over. Currently, one member can trigger a vote to boot a speaker, and leadership and many House Republicans want to raise that threshold. Debate over that rule will likely reignite before the full House speakership vote on Jan. 3, when the party is slated to deliberate broader House rules after selecting a speaker.

And though the motion to vacate rules aren’t up for a vote just yet, several proposed amendments are directly related to it. Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) sought to prevent another speaker ouster and subsequent gavel fight showdown with their amendments.

Huizenga proposed kicking members off committees for at least 90 days if they oppose a speaker on the House floor who received a two-thirds majority nomination vote from the conference. And Van Orden similarly pushed for members to lose their committee assignments if a group of members move to vacate the speaker against the wishes of the majority of their party — as was the case for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.

Additionally, Huizenga and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) submitted amendments that would punish lawmakers who block GOP-backed legislation from a floor passage vote, known as voting against the rule. Huizenga’s amendment floated an unspecified “penalty,” while LaLota’s would kick members who opposed rule votes off their committees.

From the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus side, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) sought to clarify the authority of a speaker pro tempore, the person who leads the House temporarily in the event of another speaker vacancy. His amendment, which says the position can only aid in the election of a new speaker, aims to settle discussions over what powers Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) had when he filled the role following the termination of McCarthy’s speakership.

Others like Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Andy Harris (R-Md.), the current chair of the House Freedom Caucus, aimed to curb the power of the GOP steering committee, a leadership-aligned panel that largely decides who will serve as panel chairs and membership.

Harris proposed other amendments aimed at limiting how long Republicans could serve in certain leadership positions. One says a member who is a committee head of one panel cannot immediately become chair or ranking member of another committee if they’ve already hit the term limit of three consecutive terms. Another seeks to limit any members from serving on the Steering Committee for more than three consecutive terms. A third would block members from serving on both a committee and on the Steering panel at the same time, which several have in the past.

Other notable amendment proposals:

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) is proposing a rule that would create a new GOP leadership position known as the chair of the debt commission.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) wants to block Republicans from voting on their GOP leadership lineup before setting their internal rules. (In other words, allowing lawmakers to decide whether they like the rules package before they give their blessing to a speaker nominee.)
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is trying to create more time for members to speak at the microphones during private GOP conference meetings, putting forward an amendment that would curb how much time GOP leadership spends updating its members. Roy also floated a new rule that would allow members to call for votes in a conference meeting to determine if a bill had the support of the majority of Republicans.
Reps. Cloud and Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) put forward a proposal that would limit the price tag of a bill that can pass under suspension — a procedural tool GOP leadership had used to bypass hard-liners when they opposed spending bills — at $100 million. For Palmer, the exception was if the bill included offsets. 

House Republicans will meet Thursday morning for a forum to discuss rule amendments and will convene again that afternoon to vote on their conference rules.

House conservatives are planning to force an internal vote on Mike Johnson’s speakership during Wednesday’s leadership election instead of throwing in an alternate candidate, two people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.

Johnson’s critics in the House Freedom Caucus have been deliberating for days over how to push back against proposed internal rules changes and send a message to the Louisiana Republican. Hours earlier, members of the group still expected to likely put forth a formal challenger against Johnson, though they hadn’t publicly announced a name.

But the two people familiar with the discussions, granted anonymity to discuss private planning, said on Tuesday night that the group’s plan is now to force an internal vote. Essentially, that means they would prevent leadership from allowing Johnson to be nominated for speaker by a simple voice vote that would have allowed him to say he was nominated unanimously. Instead, members would go ahead with the secret ballot process, giving them the option to oppose Johnson’s speaker nomination without revealing who they are.

The Freedom Caucus met privately to discuss their plan for hours on Tuesday. The two people familiar added that the group would only formally throw in a challenger if their plan to force a ballot vote is blocked, but they don’t expect it to be.

“It’s counterproductive” to formally name a challenger, one of the people familiar said. They added that the group had three people willing to jump in as formal challengers.

Conservatives’ frustration with Johnson is being fueled by a series of rules proposals, circulated on Tuesday, which included several amendments to the House GOP’s rules that would punish members who broke with the conference on certain procedural and leadership votes.

Johnson told POLITICO Tuesday night that he didn’t support rule changes that would punish members. But that isn’t enough for some of his holdouts, who actively want him to go into a candidate forum tomorrow and tell his members to vote down those rule proposals. Without more forceful action from Johnson, conservatives believe the potential changes could be adopted during a Thursday meeting, when Republicans will set their internal rules.

The other person familiar with the discussions said that if Johnson tells his conference to vote down the proposed rules changes during an internal meeting on Wednesday morning, before the leadership elections, the group may drop their plan to force the secret-ballot vote.

“Stand up and tell the conference this is not going to happen. I’m not going to support this. Vote this down, and then everyone knows,” that person said.

The world’s richest person has a new job.

Elon Musk will lead a newly created “Department of Government Efficiency” that will spearhead efforts to shrink the federal government, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

Musk will work with fellow Trump acolyte Vivek Ramaswamy to run DOGE — a winking reference to a joke cryptocurrency – and conclude their work by July 4, 2026, Trump said in a written statement announcing an effort that had been previewed during his campaign.

“They will work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE,’” the president-elect said.

Details of the department — such as the size of its staff, if any, and the scope of its mission — were not yet available.

The budget-cutting endeavor gives an unusual and influential role to Musk, who spent more than $100 million to help elect Trump and has billions in government contracts through his Space X and Starlink companies.

Ramaswamy ran in the Republican primary in 2024 but went on to become a passionate advocate for Trump on the campaign trail.

Trump floated the idea of naming Musk as the head of a government efficiency commission in September during a speech to the New York Economic Club.