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Trump taps America First Policy Institute CEO to be agriculture secretary

WASHINGTON — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, to be agriculture secretary.

“As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country,” Trump said in a statement.

If confirmed by the Senate, Rollins would lead a 100,000-person agency with offices in every county in the country, whose scope includes farm and nutrition programs, forestry, home and farm lending, food safety, rural development, agricultural research, trade and more. It had a budget of $437.2 billion in 2024.

The nominee’s agenda would carry implications for American diets and wallets, both urban and rural. Department of Agriculture officials and staff negotiate trade deals, guide dietary recommendations, inspect meat, fight wildfires and support rural broadband, among other activities.

“Brooke’s commitment to support the American Farmer, defense of American Food Self-Sufficiency, and the restoration of Agriculture-dependent American Small Towns is second to none,” Trump said in the statement.

The America First Policy Institute is a right-leaning think tank whose personnel have worked closely with Trump’s campaign to help shape policy for his incoming administration. She chaired the Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term.

As agriculture secretary, Rollins would advise the administration on how and whether to implement clean fuel tax credits for biofuels at a time when the sector is hoping to grow through the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

The nominee would also guide next year’s renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, in the shadow of disputes over Mexico’s attempt to bar imports of genetically modified corn and Canada’s dairy import quotas.

Trump has said he again plans to institute sweeping tariffs that are likely to affect the farm sector.

He was considering offering the role to former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, a staunch ally whom he chose to co-chair his inaugural committee, CNN reported on Friday.
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What to know about Scott Turner, Trump’s pick for housing secretary

Scott Turner, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is a former NFL player who ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term.

Turner, 52, is the first Black person selected to be a member of the Republican’s Cabinet. Here are some things to know about him:

From professional football to politics

Turner grew up in a Dallas suburb, Richardson, and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a defensive back and spent nine seasons in the NFL beginning in 1995, playing for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos.

During offseasons, he worked as an intern for then-Representative Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California. After Turner retired in 2004, he worked full time for the congressman. In 2006, Turner ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in California’s 50th Congressional District.

Turner joined the Texas House in 2013 as part of a large crop of tea party-supported lawmakers. He tried unsuccessfully to become speaker before he finished his second term in 2016. He did not seek a third term.

Motivational speaker and pastor

Turner also worked for a software company in a position called “chief inspiration officer” and said he acted as a professional mentor, pastor and councilor for the employees and executive team. He has also been a motivational speaker.

He and his wife, Robin Turner, founded a nonprofit promoting initiatives to improve childhood literacy. His church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, lists him as an associate pastor. He is also chair of the center for education opportunity at America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers to lay the groundwork if he won a second term.

Headed council in Trump’s first term

Trump introduced Turner in April 2019 as the head of the new White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Trump credited Turner with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.”

The mission of the council was to coordinate with various federal agencies to attract investment to so-called “Opportunity Zones,” which were economically depressed areas eligible to be used for the federal tax incentives.

Role of HUD

The Housing and Urban Development Department is responsible for addressing the nation’s housing needs. It also is charged with fair housing laws and oversees housing for the poorest Americans, sheltering more than 4.3 million low-income families through public housing, rental subsidy and voucher programs.

The agency, with a budget of tens of billions of dollars, runs a multitude of programs that cover a range of responsibilities, from reducing homelessness to promoting homeownership. It also finances the construction of affordable housing and provides vouchers that allow low-income families to pay for housing in the private market.

During the campaign, Trump focused mostly on the prices of housing, not public housing. He railed against the high cost of housing and said he could make it more affordable by cracking down on illegal immigration and reducing inflation. Trump also said he would work to reduce regulations on home construction and make some federal land available for residential construction.
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Trump picks hedge fund manager for treasury secretary

President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as secretary of the Treasury, in a statement Friday night.

Bessent, 62, is the founder of the Key Square Capital Management hedge fund and has worked on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed, he will be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He is a deficit hawk and has said he would work to lower the U.S. national debt.

Bessent, a billionaire, is a past supporter of Democrats, but has become a strong supporter of Trump.

“This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he told Bloomberg in August.

He supports Trump’s plan to extend tax cuts and said tariffs during a second Trump administration would be directed primarily at China.

In a statement, Trump said “Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists.”

Trump also announced his intention Friday night to nominate several other candidates to top posts.

The president-elect said he would nominate Russell Thurlow Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought served in the same role in the first Trump administration.

“Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.

Vought was closely involved in a conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration, called Project 2025, which Trump distanced himself from during the campaign.

Trump also chose Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who lost her re-election bid in the state’s 5th Congressional District, to become secretary of labor.

In a statement, he said “Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success – Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!”

His final Cabinet pick Friday night was Scott Turner to serve as housing secretary. Turner is a former football player who worked in Trump’s first administration as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.

Trump said Turner helped in that role to “to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.”

The president-elect also made several health picks on Friday night, choosing family medicine doctor and Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat to be surgeon general, former congressman and medical doctor Dave Weldon to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and surgeon Martin Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

Trump called Nesheiwat a “fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health.”

On the national security front, Trump announced late Friday that he has chosen former State Department official Alex Wong to serve as deputy national security adviser. In a statement, Trump said Wong, who served as deputy special representative for North Korea during his first administration, “helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un.”

Trump also chose conservative commentator Sebastian Gorka to serve as White House senior director for counterterrorism, saying he had more than 30 years of national security experience.

On Thursday, Trump said he would nominate Pam Bondi, as attorney general. Bondi was Trump’s second choice after former U.S. Republican Representative Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration in the face of widespread scrutiny of alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.

Bondi, 59, has established herself as a staunch conservative, Trump loyalist and outspoken defender of the president-elect, both personally and professionally.

She was one of the lawyers on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial, and she played a leading role in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Early in her law career, Bondi worked as prosecutor and spokesperson in Hillsborough County, where she was assistant state’s attorney. In 2010, she became the first female attorney general elected to the state of Florida.

Several other Trump appointees also are facing intense scrutiny, including defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, a Fox News talk show host and decorated military veteran; Health and Human Services chief pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic; and director of national intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic-congresswoman-turned-Republican supporter of Trump.

With Republicans holding a 53-47 edge in the Senate next year, and unified Democratic opposition to any candidate, it would have taken only four Republicans to doom a nomination.

But recent U.S. political history stands in their favor. The Senate has not voted against a presidential Cabinet nominee since 1989, with members of both political parties giving wide deference to new presidents to fill top-level jobs with appointees of their choosing.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Trump’s choice for top diplomat tough on China, Cuba, softer on Ukraine

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next U.S. secretary of state is Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who has been in the Senate since 2011 and serves on the chamber’s foreign relations and intelligence committees. VOA’s Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman has more.
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Allies ponder NATO’s future with Trump

NATO allies are preparing for a potentially turbulent transatlantic relationship after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. During his first term, he questioned NATO’s relevance and berated allies for not spending more on defense. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, many European nations are echoing calls to spend more in the face of the threat from Russia.
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Trump gets permission to seek dismissal of hush money case

NEW YORK — A New York judge on Friday granted Donald Trump permission to seek dismissal of the criminal case in which he was convicted in May of 34 felony counts involving hush money paid to a porn star in light of his victory in the November 5 U.S. presidential election.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan formally delayed the sentencing of Trump, which had been scheduled to take place Tuesday. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office this week asked Merchan to consider deferring all proceedings in the case until after Trump, 78, finishes his four-year presidential term, which begins on January 20.

Lawyers for Trump, a Republican, have argued that the case must be dismissed because having it loom over him while he is president would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern.

Bragg’s office said it would argue against dismissal, but he agreed that Trump deserves time to make his case through written motions.

Merchan on Friday set a December 2 deadline for Trump to file his motion to dismiss and gave prosecutors until December 9 to respond. The judge did not set a new date for sentencing or indicate how long proceedings would remain on hold. Merchan also did not indicate when he would rule on Trump’s motion to dismiss.

Representatives for Trump’s campaign and for Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who denies it.

A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen. It was the first time a U.S. president — former or sitting — had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offense.

Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which he has sought to portray as a politically motivated attempt by Bragg, a Democrat, to interfere with his campaign.
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Democrat Casey concedes to Republican McCormick in Pennsylvania Senate contest

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA — Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap, and his campaign suffered repeated blows in court in its effort to get potentially favorable ballots counted.

Casey’s concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hourslong election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law.

Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick’s seat by counting “illegal votes.” Casey’s campaign had accused Republicans of trying to block enough votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning.

In a statement, Casey said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him.

“As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last,” Casey said.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on November 7, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead.

As of Thursday, McCormick led by about 16,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted.

That was well within the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. 

But no election official expected a recount to change more than a couple hundred votes or so, and Pennsylvania’s highest court dealt Casey a blow when it refused entreaties to allow counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a correct handwritten date on the return envelope.

Republicans will have a 53-47 majority next year in the U.S. Senate. 
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Dr. Oz nominated to oversee Medicare, Medicaid

WASHINGTON — Mehmet Oz, a renowned heart surgeon and television host best known for “The Dr. Oz Show,” has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS.

If confirmed by the Senate, Oz will oversee two of the nation’s most vital health insurance programs, which provide coverage for elderly and low-income Americans.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1960, Oz is the son of Turkish immigrants — Dr. Mustafa Oz, a thoracic cardiovascular surgeon, and Suna Oz.

Raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Oz graduated from Harvard University in 1982 with a degree in biology before earning joint medical and master of business administration degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Penn’s Wharton School in 1986.

Oz built his medical career as a prominent cardiac surgeon in New York City, where he developed innovative medical devices and authored bestselling health books that have been translated into many languages, including Turkish.

His rise to national fame began after he appeared as a regular guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” He launched “The Dr. Oz Show” in 2009, which ran for 13 seasons, dealing with topics on health and wellness, and won nine Emmy Awards.

Trump also noted Oz’s multiple TV awards in a written statement after he nominated him for the CMS position, adding Oz “taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices.”

Meeting Trump

In a statement in 2022 to The Associated Press, Oz said he first met Trump in 2004 or 2005, when he asked the future president for permission to use his golf course to organize an event for his children’s charity.

Although the two later met at social events, the most well-known public moment was during the 2016 presidential campaign when Oz interviewed Trump on his television show, in which Trump revealed his medical records.

In 2018 — during his first term as president — Trump appointed Oz to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.

While praised for his ability to communicate complex medical issues, Oz faced criticism for promoting unproven health products and for alleged conflicts of interest in endorsing commercial products.

The controversy peaked in 2014, when he was called to testify before a Senate subcommittee about his promotion of weight loss products with questionable scientific backing.

While Oz has not been found to be involved in medical weight loss fraud, his remarks on his television program have been used in campaigns to market weight loss products and sell them online in many countries.

Political aspirations

Oz entered the political arena in late 2021 because of what he saw as a failure of the U.S. to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced his candidacy for a U.S. Senate seat in the eastern state of Pennsylvania as a Republican.

Despite receiving Trump’s endorsement, his campaign was scrutinized over his dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship. Opponents, including President Joe Biden, also criticized Oz for running for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania when his longtime home was in New Jersey.

Opponents have criticized Oz for showing a lack of loyalty to the U.S. after a photo of him voting in the 2018 Turkish presidential election was posted on the official Facebook account of the Turkish Consulate General in New York.

Oz also starred in Turkish Airlines’ multimillion-dollar Super Bowl commercial in 2018. As a brand ambassador in 2021, he appeared in a 4-minute, in-flight briefing video, featuring the airline’s COVID-19 safety protocols.

Oz has often said that he maintains dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship to care for his mother, who lives in Turkey and has Alzheimer’s disease.

He served in the Turkish army in the early 1980s to retain his Turkish citizenship. Sixty days of training was mandatory for citizens who reside in foreign countries. Facing such criticism when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, Oz said he would renounce his Turkish citizenship if elected. He lost the race to Democrat John Fetterman.

Despite retreating from the public eye after his Senate loss, Oz’s nomination to lead the CMS marks a return to national prominence.

If confirmed, he will oversee a $1.1 trillion budget and programs that provide health care to nearly half of the U.S. population.

As the Senate considers his nomination, Oz faces the challenge of transitioning from media personality to federal administrator, taking on a pivotal role in shaping the future of American health care.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Emboldened North Korea awaits second Trump administration

WASHINGTON — In his first message aimed at Washington since the U.S. presidential election, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed his unwavering determination to hold onto nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say.

At a conference with army officials last Friday, Kim vowed to bolster his country’s nuclear capabilities “without limit,” while condemning Washington for its nuclear deterrence strategies with Seoul.

“The U.S., Japan and South Korea will never get away from the responsibility as the culprits of destroying the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region,” Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency. “The most important and critical task for our armed forces is preparations for a war.”

Nuclear rhetoric

Evans Revere, former acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, interpreted Kim’s remarks, which were made 10 days after the election, as a message directed to President-elect Donald Trump, whom he met with face-to-face three times from 2018 to 2019.

“Kim Jong Un is making clear to President-elect Trump that everything has changed since their previous meetings,” Revere told VOA Korean via email Tuesday. “Pyongyang has become a de facto nuclear weapons state and will not give up its treasured sword, as it once called its nuclear deterrent.”

Nuclear talks between then-President Trump and North Korea’s supreme leader collapsed during their Hanoi summit in February 2019, after Trump rejected the lifting of sanctions in exchange for Kim’s offer to dismantle one major nuclear facility. Since then, Pyongyang has not slowed the ramp-up of its nuclear capabilities.

In one of its latest moves, just five days before the U.S. election, the regime tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile called Hwasong-19 that could potentially reach most of the United States mainland.

“Having already developed a credible deterrent, complete with sophisticated medium- and long-range delivery systems, North Korea wants to be accepted, or at least acknowledged, as a nuclear power,” Revere said.

Kim is trying to remind the incoming U.S. president that “the door to denuclearization has now been firmly closed and he will be dealing with a DPRK that intends to keep its nuclear arsenal,” said Revere.

DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

Joseph DeTrani, former U.S. special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea, said Kim would still want to meet with Trump, but the terms this time would be drastically different.

“I think Kim Jong Un is open to a dialogue with President-elect Trump’s administration, once it is in place,” DeTrani told VOA Korean via email Tuesday.

DeTrani said Kim would come to another potential summit with Trump “from a position of strength,” given his alliance and defense treaty with Russia. Russia and North Korea have committed to coming to the aid of the other if attacked.

Other experts cautioned, however, against reading too deeply into what Kim said.

New alliance

Sydney Seiler, former national intelligence officer for North Korea on the U.S. National Intelligence Council, said that Kim’s latest remarks provide little insight into how Kim may handle the incoming Trump administration.

“Kim Jong Un is exploring the benefits available in being an active member of the axis of upheaval: states such as Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran who seek to overturn the existing rules-based order and justify using force to achieve their objectives,” Seiler told VOA Korean via email Tuesday.

Seiler said that Kim has begun to enjoy benefits in his cooperation with Russia — cash, food and fuel aid, assistance with weapons of mass destruction, and conventional capabilities, and diplomatic recognition and acceptance of North Korea’s nuclear status.

“Why would he reach out to Donald Trump when he has friends like Vladimir Putin?” he asked.

In June, Kim and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, which calls for Russia and North Korea to immediately assist each other militarily if either of them is attacked by a third country. Russia and North Korea respectively ratified the treaty into law earlier this month.

Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction, told VOA Korean via email Tuesday that Kim does not need Trump for assistance and sanctions relief as he used to because of his new alliance with Putin.

Samore said another Trump-Kim meeting won’t be very high on Trump’s agenda.

“Trump’s top foreign policy issues will be ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and imposing tariffs on China,” he said. “In contrast, the Korean situation is pretty stable and quiet, and nobody thinks another Trump-Kim summit will produce big results.”

VOA Korean Service asked the U.S. State Department about Kim’s latest message toward the U.S. but did not receive a reply by the time this article was published.

In a response to an inquiry made by VOA Korean earlier this month, the State Department spokesperson reiterated the U.S. commitment to protect South Korea from any North Korean nuclear attack.

“President Biden reaffirmed the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities, and that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response,” the spokesperson said.
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Gaetz withdraws name as Trump’s attorney general nominee

Former Republican Representative Matt Gaetz is withdrawing his name from consideration as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.

“I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz wrote on social media platform X.

The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee failed Wednesday to reach agreement on whether to release findings from its nearly finished investigative report on Gaetz.

The panel’s chair, Republican Representative Michael Guest, emerged from a lengthy committee meeting, saying, “There was no agreement by the committee to release the report.” He declined further comment.

Gaetz was accused of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use before he was picked by Trump to become the country’s top law enforcement official in the administration that takes office on January 20.

ABC News and The Washington Post reported that the committee had obtained documents that showed Gaetz paid two women who appeared before the committee as witnesses a total of more than $10,000 between July 2017 and late January 2019. The women, who were over the age of 18 at the time of the payments, told the panel that some of the money was for sex.

A Trump transition spokesperson defended Gaetz in a statement.

“The Justice Department received access to roughly every financial transaction Matt Gaetz ever undertook and came to the conclusion that he committed no crime. These leaks are meant to undermine the mandate from the people to reform the Justice Department,” with Gaetz at the head of the agency, the spokesperson said.

Several U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans alike, were demanding that the report be released so they could consider the scope of Gaetz’s background as they undertook their constitutionally mandated role of confirming or rejecting a new president’s Cabinet nominees.

Hours after Trump named him as a nominee, Gaetz, 42, resigned from Congress, even though he had just been reelected to a fifth term. His resignation ended the House Ethics Committee’s investigation, which had been nearing a conclusion.

Gaetz was in the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with some of the senators who would have voted on his nomination.

The Senate has not voted to reject a presidential nominee for a Cabinet position since 1989, with members of both political parties giving wide deference to new presidents to fill top-level jobs with appointees of their choosing.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he met with Gaetz and Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a sitting senator, and told them there would be “no rubber stamps, no lynch mobs” in the confirmation process.

“These allegations will be dealt with in committee, but [Gaetz] deserves a chance to confront his accusers,” Graham told reporters.

The Justice Department investigated the allegations against him but last year declined to bring any charges.

Gaetz, like other Trump nominees for top government jobs, has been a vocal supporter of the president and his Make America Great Again agenda.

Gaetz, however, angered some fellow Republican lawmakers in the House in 2023 by spearheading the effort to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration for top law enforcement job

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general of the United States, former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew himself from consideration Thursday. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Gaetz was facing a tough confirmation process due to various criminal allegations.
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