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Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum vowed in his opening remarks for his confirmation hearing to help carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s vision for “energy dominance,” saying his experience as former governor of North Dakota has prepared him well for the role.

“The American people have clearly placed their confidence in President Trump to achieve energy dominance,” Burgum told senators, saying that Trump’s energy agenda will “make life more affordable for every family in America by driving down inflation.”

“My time as governor has been a valuable preparation for the opportunity and the privilege to potentially serve in the role of secretary of interior, as our state — and my duties specifically as governor there — put me in contact with many of the bureaus inside the department,” Burgum said.

“We live in a time of tremendous, tremendous abundance, and we can access that abundance as Americans by prioritizing innovation over regulation,” he said.

Scott Bessent, whom president-elect Donald Trump nominated to be Treasury secretary, has the backing of the Senate Finance Committee’s chairman, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho.

Trump’s pick for his administration’s top economic official has not drawn any opposition from Republicans and is expected to cruise through his nomination hearing. Bessent’s path to being confirmed looks clear.

“The next Treasury Secretary will have to work with Congress to preserve and build on pro-growth Republican tax policies that have greatly benefitted all Americans, as well as improve our global competitiveness through trade deals that create market access and combat China’s unfair practices,” Crapo said in prepared remarks shared with CNN before the hearing.

“Mr. Bessent, based upon your background, experience and character, President Trump made an excellent choice in nominating you to be a Secretary of the Treasury.”

Bessent, if confirmed, would be instrumental in implementing Trump’s proposed policies on trade, taxes and the federal budget.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing for Doug Burgum, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be interior secretary. The hearing was initially scheduled for Tuesday, but it was postponed until today.

Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, challenged Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Burgum avoided criticizing the former president on the trail but did not immediately endorse Trump when he suspended his long-shot campaign last December.

You can watch Burgum’s confirmation hearing here.

Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, is appearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Zeldin, who lost the 2022 New York governor’s race to Kathy Hochul, has remained close to Trump, regularly appearing at Mar-a-Lago throughout his 2024 campaign.

As a congressman from New York, Zeldin received the League of Conservation Voters’ worst score on environmental issues out of the entire New York delegation in 2020.

Zeldin has a 14% lifetime score from LCV, a national environmental advocacy group. While in Congress, LCV showed Zeldin voting against several things the EPA is charged with leading on, including replacing lead service lines across the country. However, in 2020, Zeldin voted against a Republican amendment that would have slashed EPA funding.

Zeldin’s confirmation hearing is available to watch here.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, one of Lee Zeldin’s first tasks as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency will likely be starting the process to overturn several of the Biden EPA’s biggest rules on climate.

The former congressman from New York will face questions from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

Zeldin most recently chaired the China policy initiative at the America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank founded to promote President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, where he had written on national security threats posed by China.

Zeldin told Fox News in November after he was announced as Trump’s pick for the job, that he will pull back “left-wing” regulations and focus on “unleashing economic prosperity” through the agency.

During his time in the House, Zeldin received the League of Conservation Voters’ worst score on environmental issues out of the entire New York delegation in 2020.

Zeldin has a 14% lifetime score from LCV, a national environmental advocacy group. While in Congress, LCV showed Zeldin voting against several things the EPA is charged with leading on, including replacing lead service lines across the country. However, in 2020, Zeldin voted against a Republican amendment that would have slashed EPA funding.

Zeldin voted against Biden’s 2022 climate law — as did every other House Republican. He was among the majority of House Republicans who also voted against the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which contained EPA funding for clean school buses, cleanup of toxic brownfields sites, and funding to replace lead pipes and service lines around the country.

Scott Turner, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will take questions from senators at his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

The former NFL player and White House official serves as chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, an outside group with close ties to Trump’s transition team that has helped develop the president-elect’s agenda.

If confirmed by the Senate, Turner would lead an agency that enforces fair housing laws, administers mortgage insurance to prospective homeowners and gives rental subsidies to lower-income families, among other things.

During Trump’s first term, Turner served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, an initiative the president-elect created in 2018 to “encourage public and private investment” in thousands of low-income census tracts designated as so-called “opportunity zones” by Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That law created a massive new tax incentive that made it cheaper to back either real estate projects or operating businesses in those areas. In 2019, Turner traveled with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson touting the program.

Turner grew up in Texas and spent nine years in the NFL, playing for the Washington Redskins, which has since changed its name to the Washington Commanders; the San Diego Chargers; and the Denver Broncos.

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton responded to Donald Trump’s Truth Social post overnight suggesting he will blacklist people who previously worked for Bolton and others who have criticized the president-elect.

“It’s very typical of Trump to open his mouth without knowing what he’s talking about,” Bolton told host Kasie Hunt on CNN This Morning. “And I bear no ill-will to the people who once worked for me who have already been announced for jobs in the Trump administration.”

Bolton continued, “I’m not going to name them and get them into trouble. … I think that list he has put out there is pretty good company to be in.”

Trump on Wednesday night wrote in a social media post that his incoming administration “has hired over 1,000 people for The United States Government.” He urged that, “In order to save time, money, and effort, it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch), ‘Dumb as a Rock’ John Bolton, ‘Birdbrain’ Nikki Haley … or any of the other people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Bolton argued that the post demonstrates Trump hasn’t been reformed or “changed at all” from his first term ahead of his second inauguration as President of the United States.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and will be seated on the platform with other prominent guests, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

Trump has vowed to “save” TikTok as the company faces a looming potential nationwide ban set to take effect on Sunday — the day before the inauguration — if its China-based parent company does not sell off the app and if the Supreme Court does not block it.

Trump is weighing a plan that could delay the ban and give his new administration more time to potentially cut a deal with a US buyer to save the popular video app, CNN has reported. He has also asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban.

The president-elect, who met with Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in December, previously called for the app to be banned over national security concerns but reversed his position during the 2024 campaign. Trump said recently he believed TikTok helped him win over younger voters and that he has a “warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”

CNN has reached out to TikTok for comment.

The New York Times was first to report Chew’s expected attendance.

Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, plans to tell lawmakers Thursday at his confirmation hearing that the incoming administration can usher in a new era of prosperity that will “lift up all Americans.”

In his opening statement, released ahead of the hearing, Bessent outlines his economic priorities, including making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, a more aggressive trade agenda and focusing on productive investment over “wasteful spending that drives inflation.”

“Today, I believe that President Trump has a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans,” Bessent will say, according to his opening statement.

Bessent, who has amassed a fortune over four decades of investment, will likely face questions about his lack of formal government experience and warnings that Trump’s trade and immigration plans could reignite inflation.

In his opening statement, Bessent details how he grew up in “the South Carolina Low Country” and started working at the age of nine after his father “fell into extreme financial difficulty.”

Notably, Bessent worked under George Soros, helping the billionaire and liberal donor famously “break” the Bank of England in the early 1990s by successfully betting against the British pound.

“My life has been the ‘only in America’ story that I am determined to preserve for future generations,” Bessent says in his statement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to use his farewell address Thursday to rally Justice Department employees to defend the department’s independence and protect its mission.

Garland took office in 2021 vowing to restore the department’s norms, which center on distance from the White House and Congress, seeking to insulate investigations from politics.

“We make that commitment not because independence is necessarily constitutionally required, but because it is the only way to ensure that our law enforcement decisions are free from partisan influence,” Garland is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared farewell address.

But Garland is ending his tenure with Democrats angry that investigations of Donald Trump ended up stretching past the 2024 election and were ultimately dismissed after Trump’s reelection, and Republicans claiming Garland and the Biden administration weaponized the Justice Department by prosecuting Trump.

“We know that only an independent Justice Department can protect the safety and civil rights of everyone in our country,” Garland will say, according to the prepared remarks. “And we know that only an independent Justice Department can ensure that the facts and law alone will determine whether a person is investigated or prosecuted.”

Garland plans to defend the work of career DOJ employees, who have received threats for working on politically sensitive investigations, and who have become possible targets for retribution from the incoming Trump administration.

“I know that, over the years, some have wrongly criticized you, saying that you have allowed politics to influence your decision-making. That criticism often came from people with political views opposite from one another, each making the exact opposite points about the same set of facts,” Garland’s prepared remarks say.

“I know that you have faced unfounded attacks simply for doing your jobs, at the very same time you have risked your lives to protect our country from a range of foreign and domestic threats. And I know that a lot is being asked of you right now. But before I leave, I have one more thing I want to ask of you. That is to remember who you are, and why you came to work here in the first place. You are public servants and patriots who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution.”

Garland’s farewell event Thursday at the Justice Department will also include remarks from outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.

Wealthy hedge fund executive Scott Bessent — whose confirmation hearing for treasury secretary is slated for Thursday — has hundreds of millions of dollars in assets and owns property from North Dakota to the Bahamas.

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, billionaire Steve Feinberg, is co-founder of a private equity firm that has owned companies with federal defense contracts. His pick for energy secretary, meanwhile, oversees a fracking-services company.

Trump is returning to the White House after making appeals to working-class voters in last year’s election, but he has assembled one of the wealthiest administrations in history — turning to nearly a dozen people worth at least $1 billion on their own or combined with their spouses’ assets — to oversee the nation’s policies and represent the US overseas as ambassadors.

This class of uber-rich officials has begun the process of detailing their vast wealth for public disclosure and developing plans with government ethics officers to unwind holdings that could pose conflicts of interest. In some cases, federal agencies have strained to complete the necessary paperwork ahead of confirmation hearings — with vetting slowed, for instance, by the incoming administration waiting a month after the election to sign an agreement paving the way for FBI background checks.

Some of the biggest questions swirl around whether the wealthiest Trump ally of them all, multi-billionaire Elon Musk, will be subject to the laws that require people who serve in government to avoid self-dealing. Along with wealthy former entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, he’s been tapped to lead a so-called Department of Government Efficiency aimed at cutting government waste.

Read more about how some incoming cabinet members are sparking ethics questions.

Billionaire Scott Bessent will field questions on Thursday from the Senate Finance Committee. He is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of the Treasury.

Bessent advised Trump on economic policy on the campaign trail and is the founder of hedge fund, Key Square Capital Management. Before that, he was the chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund started by Democratic megadonor George Soros. He gained prominence at the firm for leading efforts to bet against the British pound and Japanese yen that netted the firm billions of dollars in profits.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent’s early days on the job could be even more challenging than usual as he’ll have to face pressure to address the federal debt limit, the expiring provisions of Republicans’ 2017 tax cut package, and Trump campaign promises.

All that’s in addition to the secretary’s regular duties overseeing the Treasury Department, which pays trillions of dollars in bills, collects taxes, sells US debt securities to investors and serves as a regulator of the banking and finance industries. The secretary also serves as the nation’s finance minister on the global stage.

In a November 10 opinion piece he penned for The Wall Street Journal, Bessent has advocated for Trump to pursue policies involving deregulation and tax cuts as well as “addressing the debt burden,” which he attributed to “four years of reckless spending.”

However, Bessent made no mention of tariffs. Trump as a candidate pledged to impose 60% tariffs on goods from China, as well as 10% tariffs on goods from other countries.

Several more of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are on Capitol Hill Thursday for confirmation hearings as the president elect prepares to be sworn in next week.

Here’s who will be taking questions:

• Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, attended her confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. The committee is set to hear testimony from a panel of Bondi’s supporters on Thursday.
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing for Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick be interior secretary, after it was postponed from Tuesday.
• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing for Lee Zeldin to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Scott Turner, Trump’s choice to be secretary of housing and urban development, will appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
• The Senate Finance Committee will hold a nomination hearing to consider Scott Bessent to be treasury secretary.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, repeatedly insisted she would not allow politics to infect the Justice Department during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

She accused President Joe Biden’s DOJ of being responsible for politicizing law enforcement against Trump, saying that the “department has been weaponized for years and years and years, and it has to stop.”

Here are some of the key moments from the hearing:

• “Weaponization”: Democrats repeatedly pressed Bondi on Wednesday about her ability to stand up to Trump, who has said he has an “absolute right” to be involved in Justice Department matters and clashed with his attorneys general in his first administration when they did not bend to his wishes. Bondi responded by blasting the “weaponization” of the Biden Justice Department and vowed to follow the DOJ’s policy to limit contacts between the White House and the Justice Department.
• Trump’s retribution: Pressed on whether she would investigate officials Trump has suggested should be jailed — including special counsel Jack Smith and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney — Bondi said “no one would be pre-judged.” Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii questioned Bondi over comments she made during the 2024 election cycle that “bad” prosecutors should be held criminally responsible.
• Jack Smith: Bondi clashed with Sen. Adam Schiff of California over whether her personal political beliefs would affect decisions on January 6 pardons and the preservation of evidence from the special counsel investigations into Trump. When he pressed her on whether there was evidence to start an investigation into Smith, Bondi said, “It would be irresponsible of me to make a commitment regarding anything. What I’m hearing on the news is horrible. Do I know if he committed a crime? I have not looked at it.”
• 2020 election: Bondi told lawmakers she accepts that Trump lost the 2020 election but falsely claimed “there was a peaceful transition of power” that year, ignoring the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. But, she also sowed doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 results, citing her on-the-ground legal work that year for the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania.

Catch up on the key takeaways from all of the hearings on Wednesday here