The Latest: Trump selects anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin saying Gaetz “would be a disaster” in part because of Trump’s threat to use the Justice Department “to seek revenge on his political enemies.”

Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

Trump says he’s nominating North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.

The president-elect made the announcement informally, during a gala on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago.

He told the crowd of Burgum, “Actually he’s going to head the Department of the Interior.”

That came shortly after Burgum refused to talk about his future in the incoming administration. He told reporters before Trump took the stage, “There have been a lot of discussions about a lot of different things” before adding, “Nothing’s true until you read it on Truth Social,” referring to Trump’s social media site.

Argentine President Javier Milei has met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, becoming the first foreign leader to meet with the president-elect since his election victory last week.

After meeting with Trump, Milei -- a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” and frequent recipient of Trump praise — addressed the America First Policy Institute gala being held at the club.

Milei slammed left-wing ideologies and saluted Elon Musk, the owner of X, saying his social media site is helping to “save humanity.”

Sylvester Stallone says of Trump, “Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off. So I’m in aw.”

The actor addressed a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and evoked filming “Rocky.” He added of that iconic character, “This man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump.”

Stallone also called Trump “the second George Washington.”

Trump is set to address the America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The event featured a live band, white tablecloths, gold chairs and wedge salad. Guests got copies of Trump’s “Save America” book on their chairs.

In attendance is actor Sylvester Stallone, as well as the president-elect’s newly announced choice for secretary of Health and Human Services secretary in his upcoming administration, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Other guests include former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who have been named co-heads of a department of government efficiency that Trump has promised to create upon taking office.

Trump’s incoming “border czar” says cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border is “President Trump’s No. 1 issue” because it is the country’s “biggest national security vulnerability” since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Tom Homan, who was also a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first administration, said stricter enforcement would begin immediately.

“Day 1, we’re going to be out on the street,” Homan said in an interview with Newsmax+. “We’re already putting the plan together. We’re not waiting for the president to take office to put the plan together. We’re working on the plan right now.”

Homan said he’d be heading soon to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to continue working out the details.

Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first administration who has been named as “border czar,” in his second, is suggesting that the first priorities for deportation will be people with criminal records.

Trump promised throughout his successful reelection campaign to undertake mass deportations of people in the country illegally.

In an interview with NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Homan was asked about Trump’s top border priorities and said, “There’s going to be a prioritization of criminals, national security threats first.”

“All the hate coming right now to the president and myself, all we want to do is enforce a law,” Homan said. “And we’re in a place now in this nation where if you want to enforce law, you’re a bad guy.”

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum won’t say if he might be in consideration for a role in the new administration as Interior Secretary, energy czar or possibly something else. “There’s been a lot of discussions about a lot of different things,” Burgum told reporters at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “Nothing’s true until you read it on Truth Social.”

That’s a reference to the president-elect’s social media site.

Burgum also praised Kennedy as Trump’s choice for Health and Human Services Secretary, pointing to Kennedy’s advocacy around addiction and overdose deaths. Burgum’s wife has been active around similar issues.

Asked about Trump’s pick of former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Burgum said Trump “is making very smart picks across the board. He’s got his reasons for doing all of these things.”

The satirical news publication The Onion was named the winning bidder for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction Thursday, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.

The purchase would turn over Jones’ company, which for decades has peddled in conspiracy and misinformation, to a humor website that plans to relaunch the Infowars platform in January as a parody. But the judge in Jones’ bankruptcy case said Thursday that he had concerns about how the auction was conducted and ordered a hearing for next week after complaints by lawyers for Jones and a company affiliated with Jones that put in a $3.5 million bid.

Within hours of the announcement about The Onion’s winning bid, Infowars’ website was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio location. Up for sale were Infowars’ website; social media accounts; studio in Austin, Texas; trademarks; video archive; and other assets.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that there will be “plenty of scrutiny” of the records of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees once it is time to confirm them, but the Senate needs a chance to do its job.

Leaving the Capitol a day after he was elected as Senate Republicans’ next leader, Thune would not comment on Trump’s announcement that he intends to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department or any other potential nominee. “I’m not going to make any judgements about any of these folks at this point,” he said.

“Honestly, the entire nomination process is just getting started,” Thune said. “So let’s give it a chance to see what happens. These names, none of them have been formally submitted yet. So there’s going to be a vetting process, and I think we will do our job under advice and consent and make sure that the process is fair.”

Current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also did not comment on Kennedy’s nomination. There will be “a time for that,” he told reporters.

But Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the No. 3 Democrat, said that Kennedy’s confirmation would be “nothing short of a disaster for the health of millions of families.”

Trump would have Kennedy lead a massive Cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid. He said before the election he would give Kennedy free rein over health policy.

Here’s a look at Kennedy and the agency he’ll be tasked with leading:

1. He defies scientific consensus on vaccines and other issues

2. He wants to overhaul HHS staff

3. He is a scion of a famous dynasty

Read more about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy stuck a deal with Trump to give the now president-elect his endorsement in exchange for a role in health policy in the administration. Here are some of his positions on the subject:

4. He is one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the world. Long advancing the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, he has said vaccines have caused a “holocaust,” and traveled the world spreading false information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. He has recommend removing fluoride from drinking water, although fluoride levels are mandated by state and local governments.

6. He has pushed against processed foods and the use of herbicides like Roundup and has long criticized the large commercial farms and animal feeding operations that dominate the industry.

7. He wants to end the “revolving door” of employees who have previous history working for pharmaceutical companies or leave government service to work for that industry.

8. He wanted to fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, which oversees vaccine research, and replace them with 600 new employees.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.

HHS is a massive Cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.

Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration.

He and Trump have since become good friends, with Kennedy frequently receiving loud applause at Trump’s rallies.

— Jill Colvin

Though it’s not clear if Dimon was interested in a role. The announcement came as Trump has not yet named a Treasury Secretary for his incoming administration or others to fill economic and banking related roles.

Dimon had no plans to join Trump’s administration, according to news reports in recent weeks.

Trump, in a post on his social media network Truth Social on Thursday, said he respects Dimon “greatly” but “he will not be invited to be a part of the Trump Administration.”

“I thank Jamie for his outstanding service to our Country!” Trump added.

In a July interview with Bloomberg, Trump said Dimon was someone he was considering for Treasury Secretary. A few weeks later, he reversed himself, saying in a post on Truth Social that he didn’t know “who said it, or where it came from, perhaps the Radical Left, but I never discussed, or thought of, Jamie Dimon” for Treasury Secretary.

Republicans went to court in Pennsylvania on Thursday amid vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, as the campaigns prepare for a recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions.

The lawsuits ask courts not to allow counties to count mail-in ballots where the voter didn’t write a date on the return envelope or wrote an incorrect date. The two GOP suits could be among many before the last vote in the Senate race is counted, especially with the contest headed toward a state-mandated recount.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick last week, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead.

After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.

There's plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump anchored his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris with sweeping promises on the economy and immigration. But Democrats also won't soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became ubiquitous by Election Day: “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”

“Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didn’t respond, I think that was the beginning of the end,” former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said of the 30-second spot that was part of $215 million in anti-transgender advertising by Trump and Republicans, according to tracking firm AdImpact.

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that he'll lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he intends to immediately take up President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to reinstate a policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

Paul said he'll be the committee’s new chair after Republicans won control of the Senate in this month’s elections. The new role will put Paul — a limited-government advocate and longtime skeptic of surveillance programs — in charge of a committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations, including the Department of Homeland Security. Paul has been the committee’s ranking Republican during Democratic control of the Senate.

Democrat Janelle Bynum won election to a U.S. House seat representing Oregon on Thursday, defeating Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The district, which includes the Portland suburbs and stretches through Bend, was a top target for Democrats. Democrats lost this seat in 2022, when Jamie McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader in the primary but lost the general election. The district took in parts of more conservative central Oregon after 2022 redistricting.

Bynum represents Happy Valley and North Clackamas in the state Legislature. The Associated Press declared Bynum the winner at 12:47 p.m. EST.

Republican and Democratic senators alike on the Judiciary Committee that would review Matt Gaetz’s attorney general nomination are calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz to be made available to them.

“I think it’s going to be material in the proceedings,” said Sen. Thomas Tillis, a North Carolina Republican.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said, “I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democrat who currently chairs the Judiciary Committee, earlier Thursday said in a statement, “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

Thune did not mention Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard or other Trump picks that have raised deep concerns among several senators.

But he said senators should expect “an aggressive schedule until his nominees are confirmed.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is calling on the House Ethics Committee to preserve information it's gathered on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s intended nominee for attorney general, and also share it with the Senate.

Trump announced Gaetz as his pick for the post Wednesday and Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress, ending the investigation against him. The ethics panel said several months ago that its review included whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations before the committee.

“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” Durbin said Thursday. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

The Democrat looking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a close Iowa congressional race, one of a handful yet to be called after Republicans won control of the U.S. House, has asked for a recount.

Democrat Christina Bohannan’s campaign on Thursday requested the recount in her bid against Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to represent Iowa’s 1st District. The initial tally puts Bohannan fewer than 1,000 votes — less than a percentage point — behind Miller-Meeks.

The contest is a much tighter rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. Miller-Meeks earned a first term in Congress representing Iowa’s 2nd District when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.