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During a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Senate Democrats and Republicans questioned former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — President-elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. attorney general. The hearing came only a day after the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host who Trump has chosen for defense secretary.

Elizabeth Warren, Jacky Rosen, Kristen Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and other Democratic senators grilled Hegseth with a vengeance, making it obvious that they see him as woefully unqualified to lead the Pentagon. But MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, in a biting opinion column, argues that Democrats dropped the ball when they questioned Bondi and didn't do nearly enough to highlight her flaws.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has selected Attorney General Ashley Moody to succeed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, should Rubio be confirmed as Secretary of State. Moody, 49, has served under Governor DeSantis for five years. If she chooses to remain in the Senate, she would need to run in a special election in 2026.

Both Lara Trump and Matt Gaetz had been rumored at one time to be interested in consideration. DeSantis's wife, Casey DeSantis, had also been rumored as a possible replacement. Lara Trump announced she would not seek the appointment. Some political observers suggested DeSantis, who is term limited and cannot run for a third term in 2026, could appoint himself to the role, but he announced he would not.

The Guardian's Moira Donegan appears none too impressed by the way the Republican Party is rushing to confirm Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to be America's secretary of defense.

In her latest piece, Donegan slams the GOP's "servility" as it tries to jam through a nominee who appears "incompetent and seems to have no redeeming qualities."

Billionaire businessman Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Treasury Department, argued that the federal minimum wage should remain at $7.25 an hour.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) asked Bessent about raising the federal minimum wage.

Florida's freshly appointed senator may already have a primary challenger to keep the seat vacated by Marco Rubio.

Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped the state's attorney general Ashley Moody to fill the U.S. Senate seat through 2026, but another finalist for the position, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), told CNN's Manu Raju that he is considering a primary bid.

During the United States' 2024 presidential race, Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris laid out a variety of reasons why she believed that Republican Donald Trump's policies would be terrible for working-class Americans if he won — from health care to tax policy to tariffs. But right-wing media outlets repeatedly attacked Harris as an "elitist," praising Trump as the "populist" in the race — which, in the end, President-elect Trump narrowly won.

Salon's Amanda Marcotte examines the MAGA movement's "populism" in a scathing article published Thursday, arguing that Trump's and MAGA's alliance with billionaire tech bros exposes their "populism" as an "illusion."

Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled his official photo as the 47th US president -- an image that bears a striking resemblance to his viral 2023 mug shot.

In the new photo, the soon-to-be commander-in-chief is leaning slightly forward and looking defiantly at the camera, an eyebrow furrowed and lips sealed -- a pose which drew comparisons with the picture taken of him in an Atlanta prison as he was facing charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Brazil's top court on Thursday refused to return the passport of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro so that he could attend the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

The court said Bolsonaro still posed a flight risk, almost a year since his passport was seized as part of an investigation into his alleged orchestration of a coup attempt to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.

Should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his promise to impose a new 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada, the United States' northern neighbor has vowed to retaliate in a trade war that could prove costly for American consumers.

On Thursday, the Daily Beast reported that outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is contemplating a forceful response to the incoming administration's tariff threat. Trudeau reportedly said that "everything is on the table" for potential new import duties for the U.S. including orange juice, toilets and steel products, among others.

Donald Trump named a trio of MAGA actors to serve as "special ambassadors" to Hollywood.

The president-elect, who has made cameo appearances himself in dozens of movies and TV shows, made the announcement Thursday afternoon alongside picks for various administration roles, although it's not clear exactly what the movie star ambassadors will actually do in that role.

In Los Angeles County, at least 24 people have died from the devastating wildfires that have destroyed countless homes and businesses. That's the direct death toll: climate scientist Jeff Masters believes that the "eventual death toll from the disaster" is "likely to be far, far, higher" when the "health effects from the toxic smoke from the fires are fully realized."

Many liberals and progressives are citing the L.A. wildfires as a sobering reminder of the threat climate change poses. But quite a few MAGA Republicans and right-wing media pundits are blaming "woke policies" for the destruction.

They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America's new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up U.S. democracy itself.

Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy.