Trump transition updates: Trump taps longtime ally as agriculture secretary

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been selected to serve as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Trump announced.

The agency is within the Department of Health & Human Services. The position requires Senate confirmation.

Trump indicated that Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on chronic diseases.

Oz, a former heart surgeon turned TV talk show host, unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, losing to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.

Fetterman told reporters Tuesday that as long as Oz protects Medicare and Medicaid, he's open to confirming him.

"He's not my first choice and certainly, Trump was definitely not my first," Fetterman said. "We're going to have to work with these individuals, and if he's about protecting and preserving Medicaid and Medicare, then, I don't know why that's controversial."

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Hannah Demissie

President-elect Trump attended Tuesday’s SpaceX launch in Texas, joining Elon Musk-- SpaceX CEO and now a close ally of Trump’s.

Trump was asked by a reporter if he was reconsidering the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

"No," he said.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Vice President-Elect JD Vance will make the rounds on Capitol Hill this week, arranging meetings between key GOP senators and Trump's Cabinet nominees -- attorney general pick Matt Gaetz and defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth -- a source familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.

In a statement to ABC News, Trump's transition team said it is working quickly to ensure the president-elect's nominees get through their confirmation process. The statement also said that former Rep. Doug Collins, Trump's pick for veterans affairs secretary, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was nominated as U.N. ambassador, will also visit the Hill.

"President Trump's incoming administration is moving at an accelerated schedule in order to make good on getting key nominees confirmed in order to start delivering for the American people. Rep. Collins, Rep. Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Rep. Stefanik will all begin their meetings this week with additional Hill visits to continue after the Thanksgiving recess," said Trump-Vance transition spokesman Brian Hughes.

Senators on Capitol Hill have told ABC News that they plan to meet with Vance and Trump's Cabinet nominees.

Republican Sens. John Kennedy and Mike Lee told reporters that they would meet with Gaetz and Vance on Wednesday.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie and Allison Pecorin

Trump has announced Howard Lutnick as his commerce secretary pick.

The appointment requires Senate confirmation.

CEO of investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick has been serving as co-chair of the Trump Transition team alongside Trump's former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, spending the past two weeks at the Trump Transition War Room he has set up at Mar-a-Lago recommending and vetting potential candidates for Trump's administration officials.

Lutnick has frequently joined Trump on the campaign trail and hosted numerous fundraisers for Trump alongside some of the major Republican donors like John Paulson, Duke Buchan and Woody Johnson.

The billionaire businessman was also vying for the job of treasury secretary, sources said, competing against investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, who has also been considered a top contender for the role.

Lutnick's aggressive push to be tapped as Trump's treasury secretary as he spent hours with the president-elect nearly every day as a co-head of the transition team had frustrated some close to Trump, sources said.

Elon Musk has been a close ally of Lutnick, publicly endorsing him for the treasury spot recently and often seen together at events, including at the AFPI gala last week.

He had donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee in 2017 and most recently donated $5 million to pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.

Lutnick has been a vocal advocate for cryptocurrency, speaking at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville earlier this year where Trump and RFK Jr. also spoke.

-ABC News' Soo Rin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh