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Trump transition live updates: Not yet known if Gaetz will be confirmed, Thune says

The new Senate majority leader said he wants the process to play out.

Last Updated: November 14, 2024, 4:21 PM EST

After a sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump is now set to become just the second ever to serve nonconsecutive terms in office.

Trump has wasted no time in moving to assemble his team for a second term in the White House -- naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser and Tom Homan as his "border czar," among other positions.

Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.

Nov 12, 3:45 pm

Tracking those Trump has named to serve in his Cabinet, administration

Ahead of his return to power in January, Trump is announcing who he wants to fill Cabinet positions and other key roles inside his administration.

They include some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and key advisers to his 2024 campaign.

Here is a running list of the people Trump has selected, or is expected to select, to serve in his administration.

11:45 AM EST

Mayorkas committed to a 'smooth transition' for incoming DHS secretary

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he is committed to a "smooth transition" at the department he leads.

"I am committed to a smooth transition to ensure that the incoming Secretary and their team understands the challenges that we face on the homeland, and to ensure that the team understands, appreciates and is in a position to advance the capabilities that we have developed and strengthened to address those challenges successfully," Mayorkas said on a conference call with reporters on a separate topic on Thursday. "The transition team has not landed here at the Department of Homeland Security."

He said the department is still implementing President Joe Biden's policies.

"We are no different than any administration that perceives us in so far as we have a president now and we are executing the policies of this president. The president-elect will determine what policies to promulgate and implement, and that is, of course, the president-elect's prerogative."

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was nominated by Trump for the DHS secretary position, which requires Senate confirmation.

-ABC News' Luke Barr

11:24 AM EST

Nikki Haley says she spoke with Trump transition team, did not want position

In an episode of her online radio show, SiriusXM's Nikki Haley Live, on Wednesday, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley claimed that Trump's transition team spoke to her asking for advice about who should be in Trump's cabinet, although she said she made it clear she did not want to take a position in the administration.

She also indicated that the way Trump handled saying she would not be in the administration was "shallow."

"I had no interest in being in [Trump's] cabinet. He knew that," Haley said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley introduces Republican senate candidate, Dave McCormick at a campaign rally, Oct. 30, 2024, in Pennsburg, Pa.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Haley said Trump confidant (and incoming special envoy to the Middle East) Steve Witkoff spoke to her saying he "wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump. And I told him at the time, there was no truce needed, that I had -- that Trump had my support, there was no issues [sic] on my end," Haley said.

"And at that point he was like, 'What do you want? Tell me what you want. Is there anything you want?' And I said, 'There's nothing I want.' And there wasn't anything I wanted."

She said that later that she spoke directly with Trump transition director Howard Lutnick to give advice.

ABC News has reached out to the Trump transition team about Haley's claims.

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim, Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Hannah Demissie

6:54 AM EST

DeSantis says he's instructed Florida's secretary of state to make a schedule for upcoming special elections

With both Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz being tapped for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on X on Thursday morning that he's instructed Florida's secretary of state to make a schedule for the special elections to replace them.

"Congratulations to the Floridians being appointed to key positions in the Trump Administration: Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Matt Gaetz, and Congressman Mike Waltz," DeSantis wrote on X. "I've instructed Secretary of State Cord Byrd to formulate and announce a schedule for the upcoming special elections immediately."

However, DeSantis' post did not mention anything about when these elections could happen.

Nov 13, 2024, 9:25 PM EST

Trump considering his lawyer for deputy attorney general: Sources

President-elect Donald Trump is considering his top defense attorney for the second highest position in the Department of Justice, sources tell ABC News.

Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in the hush money case and in both of Jack Smith's federal probes, is being considered as the deputy attorney general, multiple sources said.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump's Hush-Money Criminal Trial
Todd Blanche, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, from left, former US President Donald Trump, and Emil Bove, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign. Photographer: Steven Hirsch/New York Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Blanche had been widely speculated to join Trump in the federal government in some form.

The position would need Senate confirmation.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders