12:30 Report — Trump seeks to reshape GOP with Cabinet picks

12:30 REPORT

It’s Monday. Happy Thanksgiving week! President Biden just pardoned two turkeys in what is one of the weirdest and silliest traditions in the White House. Peach and Blossom are two lucky fellas this year.

Trump has nominated several Cabinet picks with Democratic ties.
Senate Republicans are concerned about sex-related allegations tied to three picks.
The National Zoo's new pandas enjoyed the first snowflakes of the year.

I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

🕶️ Transition Lenses

Trump: I’m looking for a man in finance:

6’5”, blue eyes. Remember this is a TikTok joke?

President-elect Trump chose billionaire investor Scott Bessent to run the Treasury Department.

What to know about Bessent: He’s the founder of hedge fund Key Square Group. He supported Democrats for decades (donated to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore’s presidential campaigns) and then helped finance Trump’s second campaign. He also worked for billionaire George Soros for more than a decade as his chief investment officer. What to know about Scott Bessent

He sounds like an unusual pick for an incoming Republican president, right? *Cue the Billy Mays voice* It doesn’t end there!

Trump also named Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as his Labor secretary, a very pro-union centrist.

What to know about Chavez-DeRemer: She’s very supportive of unions. She was one of the only three Republican co-sponsors for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a pro-union bill that was one of President Biden’s biggest legislative priorities. She recently lost her reelection bid and was backed by the Teamsters. What to know about Lori Chavez-DeRemer

💡 The big picture: Trump’s Cabinet will not be filled with traditional or establishment Republicans. He’s selected loyalists, outsiders and picks representative of the new Republican Party. He tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who supports abortion rights, to lead Health and Human Services. He also named a former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) who has since switched to the Republican Party, as his director of national intelligence.

➤ WHO’S IN THE CABINET?:

📝 Here’s the current list of Trump’s Cabinet picks.

➤ INTERESTING TIDBITS:

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski pointed out some “notable Trump administration firsts.”

“First millennial VP
First Gen-Z White House press secretary
First female chief of staff
First openly gay nominee for Treasury Secretary” (X)

What’s making Senate Republicans a bit anxious:

“Republican senators are squirming over the rash of sexual misconduct allegations against President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks, which they fear will become a focal point of Senate confirmation hearings next year,” The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

They’re happy Matt Gaetz is out: The former Florida congressman would likely have been the focal controversy surrounding the Senate confirmation hearings of Trump’s Cabinet.

Yes, but: Now that he withdrew, it puts the spotlight on three other Cabinet nominees with sexual misconduct allegations.

Pete Hegseth: Trump’s Defense secretary nominee has been accused of locking a woman in his hotel room and assaulting her at a Republican women’s event in 2017 in Monterey, Calif., according to a police report that gained widespread attention last week. He denies the allegations, and no charges were filed.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Trump’s HHS pick is being accused by a former live-in nanny of groping her when she was 23 years old.
Linda McMahon: Trump’s Education secretary nominee is the subject of a lawsuit for failing to stop the sexual abuse of children when she and her husband ran World Wrestling Entertainment.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) weighed in on Hegseth: “It’s frankly an insult and really troubling that Mr. Trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he’s paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him,” Duckworth said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

💡 The big picture: Republicans want to get their trifecta off to a strong start, but the confirmation hearings involving sexual misconduct allegations could suck the oxygen out of the first months of the administration.

➤ AND WHAT’S KEEPING BILL CASSIDY UP AT NIGHT:

Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict President-elect Trump during his 2021 impeachment trial. That vote could come back to haunt him during his 2026 reelection bid, The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports. The Louisiana Republican already expected to have a tough primary challenge.

Cassidy may not be the only one: Cassidy will hardly be the only Trump skeptic in next year’s Senate majority. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) also voted to convict Trump in 2021, while Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) has criticized the president-elect and earlier this year said he wouldn't back Trump. (The Hill)

➤ COMING UP LATER:

In today's Evening Report, The Hill's Emily Martin examines the fights ahead as Trump rounds out his Cabinet. Click here to sign up & get it in your inbox.

➤ MORE READS:

Politico: Harris is telling her advisers and allies to keep her political options open
The New York Times: Can Wall Street Billionaires Deliver on Trump’s Blue-Collar Promise?
The Wall Street Journal: Republicans’ Big Tax Challenge Is Fitting All Their Priorities in One Bill
The Hill: Republicans grapple with controversial Trump recess appointment scheme
The Washington Post: Musk and Ramaswamy race to build a ‘DOGE’ team for war with Washington
Op-ed in The Hill: A new agenda for a new Democratic Party

🦃 The White House

Time to pardon those turkeys:

President Biden just pardoned two turkeys for the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon at the White House this morning.

Meet the fellas: Peach and Blossom are receiving this year’s honor. 📸 The ceremony

And as per tradition: The two turkeys were treated to a stay at the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel in downtown D.C.

📸 The turkeys in their hotel room

📹 How the hotel room is prepped (if you’re worried about the hotel room)

🕰️ History of the turkey pardon: The annual event started in 1947, but “it is believed Abraham Lincoln was the first president to pardon a turkey in 1863. Lincoln's son Tad allegedly became attached to the turkey. … This account, however, may be overstated, the White House Historical Association reports.” (USA Today)

🐝 Internet Buzz

🍨 Celebrate: Today is National Parfait Day!

🐼 Nothing I love more than pandas playing in the snow: The D.C. area saw its first snowflakes of the season Friday, and the new pandas at the National Zoo had a blast. 📹 Watch them frolic while eating snacks

📆 On The Agenda

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Washington, and New York today. Vice President Harris is leaving Hawaii today and flying to San Francisco. (all times Eastern)

11 a.m.: Biden pardoned the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a South Lawn ceremony. 💻 Livestream
2:30 p.m.: First lady Jill Biden receives the official White House Christmas Tree. 💻 Livestream
3:40 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave for Staten Island, N.Y.
6:15 p.m.: The Bidens deliver remarks and serve food at a Friendsgiving event in Staten Island. 💻 Livestream
8:10 p.m.: Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrive in San Francisco.
9:40 p.m.: The Bidens return to the White House.
Tuesday: The Bidens travel to Nantucket, Mass., for Thanksgiving.