Trump pick Kristi Noem to appear at confirmation hearing – CNN
• Inauguration moving inside: President-elect Donald Trump confirmed his inauguration Monday will be moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda due to dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital.
• TikTok ruling: After the Supreme Court ruled Friday that a controversial ban on TikTok can take effect this weekend, the company said it would turn off access to more than 170 million Americans on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration acts urgently. Earlier, Trump told CNN he will make a decision on what to do with the app.
• Noem’s confirmation hearing: On Capitol Hill, senators quizzed Trump’s pick to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. She assured them that there would be no political bias when it comes to disaster relief. The South Dakota governor also described the US-Mexico border as a “war zone.”
Our live coverage of Trump’s presidential transition and inauguration plans has moved here.
The Biden administration believes its Friday morning statement was sufficiently clear, a White House official told CNN in response to TikTok’s threat tonight turn off access to more than 170 million Americans on Sunday.
While the official did not rule out further action before the deadline, they said the administration had clearly signaled that it would not penalize service providers like Google and Apple for hosting TikTok on Sunday.
The Biden administration has made clear that this is entirely up to President-elect Donald Trump.
The statement: On Friday morning, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law. Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
President Joe Biden has no public events on his final Saturday at the White House.
On Sunday, the president will travel to Charleston, South Carolina, where he is expected to deliver remarks and attend a church service.
The president is also expected to tour the International African American Museum in Charleston.
Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, according to a source familiar with the arrangements, though they cautioned that his plans have yet to be fully finalized given he is currently traveling in Asia.
The New York Times first reported on Pence’s plans to attend.
TikTok said Friday night that it would turn off more than 170 million Americans’ access to the super popular video app on Sunday, unless President Joe Biden’s administration acts urgently to assure the company it will not be punished for violating the terms of its looming ban.
The Supreme Court earlier in the day allowed a controversial ban to stand. Biden signed the bill in April, which was passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress. The law requires TikTok to sell to American buyers by Sunday or face a ban in the United States
But the Biden administration signaled it would leave enforcement of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday, TikTok said that was not enough.
“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” the company said in a statement. “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”
Trump has suggested – but not outright stated – that he will not enforce the ban. He had asked the Supreme Court to stay the bill so his incoming administration could work out a deal to sell TikTok to American buyers. But the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the app’s owners that claimed the ban violated the First Amendment, allowing the ban to take place.
So TikTok could turn itself off Sunday, only to turn itself back on at a later date if Trump gives it assurances it will go unpunished for violating the ban.
Read more about the controversial ban here.
The US Secret Service said it, along with its partners, is working with inauguration and Congressional officials to “adapt our security plans as needed due to the inclement weather” expected in Washington, DC, on Monday.
“While details are being finalized, additional vehicular, public transportation and pedestrian impacts should be expected in the area around the Capital One Arena,” the Secret Service said in a statement Friday evening.
It reiterated that its goal is to “provide the most secure environment” for the inauguration.
Some more context: CNN previously reported fencing has already been set up around the Capitol and security for the event will reflect how the US Capitol Police, in partnership with the Secret Service and others, secures the building and surrounding area for these kind of events.
It will be closed off to the public, who have instead been directed to the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, where Trump has said there will be a “live viewing” and where the inauguration parade will be held.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has named his senior staff, many of whom he’s pulling from his former Senate office, a source familiar with the picks confirms to CNN.
Jacob Reses, who served as Vance’s chief of staff in the Senate, will become chief of staff to the vice president. Bryan Gray, who served as state director in Vance’s former Senate office, has been named deputy chief of staff. Gray was also newly-elected Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno’s campaign manager.
Ben Moss has been named director of domestic policy. He previously served as general counsel to Vance in the Senate. Andy Baker, who previously worked as national security adviser to Vance, will also remain in that role. Abby Delahoyde will serve as director of operations. She formerly served in the same role for Vance’s Senate office.
Sean Cooksey, commissioner and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, will also serve as counsel to Vance. Cooksey’s resignation from the FEC is effective January 20 at midnight.
“It is an honor to be asked to serve as Counsel to Vice President-elect Vance and to join President Trump’s administration. Americans deserve a government that puts its citizens first, and that is what they will have for the next four years,” Cooksey wrote in a post on X.
Vance’s communications arm will be helmed by William Martin as communications director, Luke Schroeder as deputy communications director, and Taylor Van Kirk as press secretary.
Shannon Fisher, special assistant to Usha Vance during her husband’s most recent campaign, will serve as chief of staff to the second lady. Fisher was also the deputy director of external and GOP affairs for the Republican National Convention.
The publication NOTUS was first to report the staffing list.
Law enforcement agencies are working to craft a new plan around Donald Trump’s inauguration now that the ceremony and parade are being moved indoors, which could make security easier in some respects, sources familiar with the planning tell CNN.
The Rotunda in the US Capitol, where the inauguration will now be held, can hold approximately 700 people and is only set to be open to members of Congress, their spouses and VIPs, one congressional source tells CNN, though a final plan is still in flux.
Fencing has already been set up around the Capitol and security for the event will reflect how the US Capitol Police, in partnership with the Secret Service and others, secures the building and surrounding area for State of the Union addresses. It will be closed off to the public, who have instead been directed to the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, where Trump has said there will be a “live viewing” and where the inauguration parade will be held.
The arena has a capacity of just over 20,000 whereas law enforcement officials have said that over 200,000 individuals had tickets to the inauguration. The Sergeant at Arms for the Capitol told congressional offices that the “weather plan precludes the vast majority of ticketed guests from attending the ceremonies in person.” They also said that inaugural tickets could still be handed out as commemorative items for those who can no longer attend.
Security measures for the arena and the surrounding area are still being worked out between the Secret Service, DC police and other agencies.
Vice President-elect JD Vance said Friday that he called Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to congratulate him on his appointment to the US Senate.
“Look forward to working with both Jon and Bernie Moreno to Make America Great Again!” Vance added in his post on X.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that he selected Husted to fill Vance’s seat earlier today.
The nation will hit its roughly $36 trillion debt limit on Tuesday, when the Treasury Department will start taking extraordinary measures to allow the government to pay its bills, outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders on Friday.
The notice comes just three days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Reaching the cap ramps up pressure on congressional Republicans, but lawmakers have a little time before they must act to avoid a first-ever default, which would likely cause global economic upheaval. The extraordinary measures, which are mainly behind-the-scenes accounting maneuvers, will continue through March 14, Yellen wrote.
Some context: Although Republicans control Capitol Hill, they remain divided over how to address the debt ceiling. They have several major agenda items they want to push through Congress along party lines, including border security, energy and tax cuts, possibly in one package or two. Plus, lawmakers still must pass a government funding bill for fiscal year 2025, which began October 1. (A temporary spending measure expires on March 14.)
The US Capitol Sergeant at Arms said in a note to congressional offices that the decision to move the inauguration inside “precludes the vast majority of ticketed guests from attending the ceremonies in person.”
“At this time, based on the inclement weather plan, the Sergeant at Arms believes at most we will be able to accommodate guests with Platform, Upper West Terrace, and possibly Section 3 tickets, and some of these guests will be seated in Emancipation Hall,” the note reads.
President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of ticketed guests and involve roughly 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel.
Trump said in a social media post on Friday that his address will be delivered in the Capitol Rotunda because of the cold weather and that the presidential parade will be hosted in the Capital One Arena, confirming CNN’s reporting.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed reporting.
Judge Aileen Cannon suggested Friday she was not inclined to allow the Justice Department to share special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case against Donald Trump with Congress — at least for now.
“At the end of the day, what’s the urgency of doing this right now?” Cannon asked Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro at a hearing in her Fort Pierce, Florida, courtroom.
Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this week released the part of Smith’s report focusing on January 6 and Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The Justice Department is seeking to show the classified documents report to a handful of members of Congress, but not yet make it public.
Cannon did not announce during the public portion of the hearing a final decision on whether to continue her current hold on the DOJ disclosing any information from the classified documents part of the report outside of the agency, as the president-elect and his former co-defendants in the case are requesting.
After more than an hour of public proceedings, the hearing moved to a closed session to discuss details from the report.
While the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies always makes contingency plans to host the event in multiple locations in case of weather or other obstacles, there is still a ton of work playing out right now behind the scenes to shift Donald Trump’s ceremony inside to the Capitol Rotunda.
Among the issues? How to facilitate the thousands of people that would have been outside on the presidential platform and in other ticketed seats close by now that the ceremony is moving indoors. There is no feasible way to have them all in the rotunda given it holds just a fraction of the crowd.
The Joint Congressional Committee for Inaugural Ceremonies has sent out a notice officially alerting ticket holders now to the change.
“The vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person. At this time we know that those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress will be able to attend in person. While we know this is difficult for many attendees, we strongly suggest people who are in Washington for the event attend other indoor events at indoor venues of their choice to watch the inauguration,” the message said.
The committee said it is “designating certain places to watch and will provide additional information.”
The sergeant at arms also sent out a similar message to congressional offices, a source tells CNN.
On the last day of federal court before Donald Trump takes office, a judge told a defendant who admitted to disorderly conduct on January 6 that he may be the last US Capitol rioter she’ll sentence.
“This may be, depending upon what happens outside these walls, the last one of these,” Judge Tanya Chutkan told the defendant, Brian Leo Kelly, who also pleaded guilty to a second misdemeanor charge, trespassing inside the Capitol.“I’m fully aware you may never serve a sentence in this case,” she added.
Chutkan sentenced Kelly to 10 days in jail plus probation, community service and a restitution payment. She allowed him to walk out of the courtroom and voluntarily surrender at a later date – if he is not pardoned.
Kelly is among the nonviolent January 6 defendants, who walked through the Capitol halls, the air hazy from chemical irritants, filming on his cellphone and “taking photos as souvenirs,” prosecutors said.
After the hearing, Kelly told CNN he didn’t want to say if he expected Trump to pardon him.
“I hope the best for everybody – Democrats and Republicans,” he said.
Remember: If Trump grants blanket pardons, as expected at least for nonviolent offenders charged in the Capitol siege, the judiciary’s role in overseeing the cases would end immediately. If Trump were to also pardon violent offenders and seditious conspirators, those who are serving prison time could be released from federal custody.
Here’s how others’ sentencing unfolded:
Others being sentenced Friday included a man who broke down one of the original, 171-year-old wooden doors in the US Senate, and two men who separately sprayed police guarding the Capitol complex with chemical irritants.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel will resign Monday as President-elect Donald Trump takes office, paving the way for a major shift at the agency.
Werfel’s five-year term wasn’t scheduled to expire until 2027. But Trump has already picked former congressman Billy Long to head up the agency.
“While I had always intended to complete my full term as Commissioner, the President-elect has announced his plan to nominate a new IRS Commissioner,” Werfel wrote in a message to IRS employees Friday and obtained by CNN.“After significant introspection and consultation with others, I’ve determined the best way to support a successful transition is to depart the IRS on January 20, 2025,” he said.
Werfel was picked by President Joe Biden to oversee an $80 billion overhaul of the agency. Funded by the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has been using the money to ramp up enforcement and improve taxpayer services.
Republicans have criticized the funding as wasteful and successfully clawed back $20 billion of the $80 billion provided by the spending package.
Long, a Republican from Missouri, served 12 years in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023. During that time, he co-sponsored, along with dozens of other Republicans, bills to abolish the IRS and replace the federal income tax system with a national sales tax.
President Joe Biden said Friday that it has been the honor of his life to serve as president of the United States, and that his work will continue after his term finishes on Monday.
“Serving as your president has been the honor of my life while my term in office is ending, the work continues. Your work continues,” Biden said.
Biden told the group of mayors that this is one of the final events he will do as president and that he wanted to come address the mayors because it was one of the first things he did when he was elected. He joined the conference during its winter meeting on January 23, 2021 – the organization said at the time.
“This is one of the last events that I’ll be doing as president. The reason I chose to be here is because of the first thing that I did as president, was to speak to this conference,” Biden said.
Biden also touted a number of actions his administration took Friday in the waning days of his presidency, including his announcement that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution.
“I affirm the Equal Rights Amendment to have cleared all the necessary hurdles to be added to the US Constitution, now,” Biden said. “The Equal Rights Amendment is the law of the land, now. It’s the 28th amendment to the Constitution, now.“I’ve consulted dozens of constitutional scholars to make sure this was all within the power to do this. And the fact is, we did,” the president added.
Before Biden delivered his remarks, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio Andrew Ginther awarded the president the United States Conference of Mayors’ Award for Distinguished Public Service, the organization’s highest award.
The top-ranking Justice Department prosecutor in Washington, DC, who oversaw the prosecution of more than 1,500 people charged in connection to the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, told CNN on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump should not pardon anyone involved in the insurrection.
“I don’t think anyone that our office prosecuted should be pardoned — full stop,” Matthew Graves, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said in an interview.
Graves was appointed to the role in the wake of the riot and served for more than three years before stepping down Thursday. Some of his office’s most consequential work during his tenure — running the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history — is now at risk of being undone as Trump promises to pardon at least some of those convicted for participating in the attack.
Regardless of Trump’s pledge to pardon January 6 defendants on day one of his new administration, Graves insists the hundreds of successful prosecutions were not a “waste of time.”
“Even if there are pardons of any defendants — all defendants — that doesn’t undermine the prosecutions,” Graves said. “There has been a historical record created; the rule of law has been vindicated.”
“A pardon does not wipe away what occurred,” he said.
The CEO of TikTok, which is set to be banned in the United States on Sunday, thanked President-elect Donald Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution” to keep the app available.
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform — one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Shou Chew said in a TikTok video.
Trump, 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.
Chew is expected to be at the inauguration on Monday, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
In the video, Chew promised users that the company “will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives” and said it is a matter of taking a “strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”
Some context: CNN reported Wednesday that Trump is weighing a plan that could delay the ban, giving the new administration more time to potentially cut a deal with a US buyer to save the super-popular video app, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The potential executive order, which was first reported by The Washington Post, would strive to allow TikTok’s 170 million American users to continue to use the app for a certain period of time.
In her confirmation hearing Friday to be the next Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem claimed that DHS’ cybersecurity agency has “gotten far off mission” by involving itself in misinformation and disinformation, and that the agency needs to refocus itself on protecting businesses from cyberattacks.
But the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has actually retreated from much of its work related to mis- and disinformation in the last two years under political pressure from Republicans. And, with bipartisan support from Congress, the agency has carried out various programs to try to make things like schools and hospitals less vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Here are some ways that has happened:
Today, some election officials think that CISA has over-corrected to the point of not being prepared to respond to viral falsehoods spread by Americans that could potentially lead to attacks on election infrastructure, CNN previously reported.
Senate Republican leaders are hopeful but uncertain that they will vote to confirm secretary of state pick Marco Rubio — and possibly other top national security Cabinet picks — on Monday after Donald Trump is sworn in as president. That’s because Democrats have not signaled if they will give the unanimous consent required to act so quickly.
Rubio, who is popular with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, appears best positioned to be confirmed on day one.
“I don’t know that there’s anything that’s firm,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN when asked if he expected to vote on Rubio Monday. “But I feel good that there’ll be an interest in expediting his (nomination).”
Several Democratic senators said they would be fine voting to confirm Monday but one Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, would not commit, saying she will have to review his hearing before deciding.
That’s one of the challenges facing GOP leaders: Any one senator for any reason can object to moving quickly. If Thune were forced to break filibusters of Rubio or other Cabinet picks and any senator decided to drag out the procedural clock, it could take days to get them confirmed and consume precious floor time.
Only 51 votes are needed to break a filibuster of a nominee, and Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. That means most of Trump’s choices will be easily confirmed even if Democrats force them to take longer than they want.
Besides Rubio, a GOP aide said they hoped to get CIA director choice John Ratcliffe confirmed as early as Monday, too.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee will meet Monday, according to their respective chairs, to vote to send Rubio and controversial defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth to the floor so votes can be scheduled.
The Secret Service and other agencies, including DC and US Capitol Police, are working to determine how moving the inauguration and parade indoors will change security plans for Monday, two law enforcement sources familiar with the planning tell CNN.
Agencies now have just three days to put together a new security plan that previously took months to game out and plan. The agencies have worked since early 2024 in planning for the inauguration — designated by the Department of Homeland Security as a National Special Security Event, which triggers a multi-pronged federal approach.
President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of ticketed guests and involve roughly 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel.
Over 30 miles of fencing — more than has ever been erected for such an event — was still being set up and was meant to filter crowds through security checkpoints in anticipation for Trump’s now-scrapped outdoor inauguration and parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
Secret Service agents accompanying the president had been practicing security maneuvers on the route and how they would have secured the president, as part of plans that now appear to be moot.
President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration committee announced that he will use Abraham Lincoln’s Bible when he’s sworn in as president on Monday.
Lincoln used the Bible during his swearing-in ceremony in 1861.
Trump will also use a personal Bible when he takes the oath of office. Both Bibles were used by Trump during his inauguration in 2017.
Former President Barack Obama used the Lincoln Bible during his two inauguration ceremonies.
Vice President-elect JD Vance will take the oath of office using a family Bible dating back to his great-grandmother.
The Republican National Committee on Friday reelected Michael Whatley as chair, solidifying President-elect Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP as he prepares to start a second White House term.
The RNC also elected KC Crosbie of Kentucky to serve as co-chair and Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters as treasurer, both of whom were endorsed by Trump.
Crosbie succeeds Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, who announced last month she planned to step down from her RNC role. Crosbie previously served as the committee’s treasurer.
“We’re shuffling the decks,” Whatley said at one point during the elections.
All three newly elected officials were unopposed.
Why it matters: The elections and proceedings at the RNC winter meeting in Washington, DC, held just a few days before Trump will be inaugurated, are among the starkest signs of the president-elect’s firm grip on the GOP. During the 2024 presidential campaign, elements of the RNC body resisted Trump and even vocally opposed him at various meetings.
It was apparent throughout the winter meeting proceedings this time around that any opposition to Trump among the RNC rank-and-file had dissolved.
Whatley told reporters after the vote that, over the next two years, the RNC would focus on boosting Republican candidates going into the 2026 midterms.
“We are certainly going to do everything that we can to support the nominees that Donald Trump has put up to move forward, but the key is the House and the Senate are going to have to move forward with Donald Trump’s America First agenda, which is strongly supported by Americans all across the country,” Whatley said.
President-elect Donald Trump said in a social media post on Friday that his inauguration address will be delivered in the Capitol rotunda because of the cold weather and that the presidential parade will be hosted in the Capital One Arena, confirming CNN’s reporting.
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!),” he posted on Truth Social.
He noted that former President Ronald Reagan held his 1985 inauguration indoors due to below-freezing temperatures.
“We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade. I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In,” he added.
The forecast for Monday is a nighttime low temperature around 10 degrees and a high temperature of around 22 degrees.
CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller contributed reporting.
Here’s what some senators are saying about the Supreme Court’s ruling that a controversial ban on TikTok can take effect this weekend:
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Friday he believes TikTok will ultimately be sold “if the price is right” and that an extension is appropriate in the meantime.
“This decision is the right one. The law is clearly constitutional. TikTok is a threat to our national security and ought to be sold, not banned, but sold by the Chinese so they stop surveillance, illegal collection of information about America and representing a threat to our national security. I think an extension is appropriate and likely, so that TikTok can be sold. We want it to exist, but not under Chinese control and ownership,” Blumenthal told reporters.
“It’s all about the money. If the price is right, the Chinese will sell it. … The Chinese have to be rational and recognize that a sale is in their interest, as well as ours,” Blumenthal said.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley — who believes the Supreme Court ruled correctly “on the law” with TikTok — said the problem right now is that China is preventing its sale to a US buyer.
“I think somebody would buy it if China would sell it. That’s the problem. They’re preventing its sale. So, but I predict somebody will buy it,” Hawley said. “It’s entirely up to Beijing. I mean, there are willing buyers.”
Hawley said he thinks President-elect Donald Trump will probably go for an extension to continue discussions about a sale.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey said the decision reinforces the need for his legislation to implement an extension for the app to divest from its Chinese parent company.
Markey expressed the need for more time to find a “solution” to the pending ban and said Republicans are trying to block his bill.
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court made their decision two days before the ban goes into effect that doesn’t allow for any time to consummate a sale of TikTok or to work on other solutions that might be able to be put in place,” he said, adding that TikTok has a right to “exhaust its legal remedies.”
The Supreme Court ruling to uphold a ban on TikTok in the US “enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco added: “The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time.”
Remember: The outgoing Biden administration has signaled it would leave enforcement of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office on Monday.
Trump has in recent months vowed to “save TikTok,” but his plans to do so are still unclear.
Here’s what to know about the popular app’s uncertain future.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to name Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the US Senate seat recently vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, two sources with knowledge of the decision told CNN.
Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, vowed to uphold the Constitution during her confirmation hearing when pressed on whether she’d send federal law enforcement officials into a state without coordinating with its governor.
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan asked Noem, “If the president asks you to send in federal law enforcement to a state without coordination of that governor, would you support that action?”
Noem responded, “Senator, my job, if nominated and sworn in as secretary of homeland security, is to uphold the Constitution and to uphold the rules of this country.”
Slotkin interjected to say, “So you would push back?”
Noem said, “Yes, that will be the oath and the pledge that I will be making.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is expected to be moved indoors Monday due to dangerously cold temperatures forecast in the nation’s capital, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the plans told CNN.
Plans are underway to have Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance be sworn into office inside the Capitol rotunda, the sources said.
Discussions regarding where to hold the inaugural parade and other celebrations are still underway. However, Trump’s team has been in talks to potentially hold some of the festivities at Capital One Arena, where Trump will host a rally on Sunday.
Trump’s team is also in talks with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies about how to handle the tens of thousands of people who had planned to travel to the National Mall on Monday to witness Trump being sworn in publicly. Those decisions are still under consideration, the sources told CNN.
Officials are worried about the low temperatures being a health risk to attendees and guests.
The last president to be sworn in indoors was Ronald Reagan in 1985, when daytime temperatures dipped to 7 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of -25. Reagan took the oath of office inside the Capitol rotunda. His inaugural parade was canceled.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.
Rapper Nelly will perform at the Liberty Inaugural Ball on Monday, according to two sources familiar.
During her confirmation hearing, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was asked about the dynamic between the Department of Homeland Security and President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Tom Homan as his border czar and who, ultimately, was responsible for border security.
“The president will be in charge of the border,” Noem said.
Democratic Sen. Andy Kim pressed Noem on whether Homan would be giving orders to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection and other homeland entities, asking the nominee to lead the department who “is in charge?”
“Tom Homan has a direct line to the president,” Noem said. “He is an adviser to the president, the border czar.”
Noem said that if she is confirmed, she will “be responsible for the authorities we have and the actions that we take” as the Department of Homeland Security.
“If he’s going to be making decisions,” Kim said of Homan, “then he should come before this committee, as well.”
Noem said she and Homan would be working together on a daily basis and that no authorities were being removed from the department.
“But it sends some mixed signals,” Kim said of the dynamic of who is in charge of border security, “when they hear Mr. Homan say ‘I’m making the decisions.’”
Noem concluded, saying that the “authorities will remain as they are.”
The Supreme Court’s opinion allowing the TikTok ban to take effect leans heavily into references to President-elect Donald Trump, reminding Americans that the former president once supported banning the platform as well — even if he no longer does.
“President Trump determined that TikTok raised particular concerns, noting that the platform ‘automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users’ and is susceptible to being used to further the interests of the Chinese government,” the court’s opinion noted.
During his first administration, Trump signed an executive order that would have effectively banned the app before federal courts blocked it from taking effect, finding he exceeded his authority. More recently, Trump has said he’s warmed to the platform and has vowed to save it when he takes power January 20.
In his first reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the TikTok ban, Trump told CNN’s Pamela Brown that he will decide what to do with the app.
The high court seemed eager to note that banning the platform once had bipartisan support — including in Congress, when it passed the most recent ban.
CNN’s Pamela Brown contributed reporting to this post.
A law that requires TikTok to find a new, non-Chinese owner or face a ban is scheduled to go into effect Sunday — and there is little indication the company is set to pull off a sale before then.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law, bringing the ban one step closer.
That’s left many users asking: Will TikTok simply disappear from your phone on deadline day?
Experts had expected the app to be removed on Sunday from the Apple and Google app stores — which could face fines under the law for continuing to host TikTok after the deadline. That would mean anyone without the app already on their phones couldn’t download it, but existing users could continue accessing it, without security updates, until it eventually becomes glitchy or stops working.
But the White House said again Friday that outgoing President Joe Biden plans to leave it to President-elect Donald Trump to enforce the ban.
That could mean that, given Trump takes office the day after the ban takes effect, there would be no one to explicitly instruct app stores to remove the platform on Sunday, potentially leaving them to decide for themselves whether to comply.
But even if the app stores left TikTok alone, the company may decide to pull the plug itself. The Information reported Wednesday that TikTok was preparing to shut itself down entirely on Sunday and instead direct users to an informational page about the ban.
So, users should mentally and emotionally prepare to potentially lose access to the app starting Sunday, unless they want to download a VPN to get around the ban.
Read answers to more of your questions about the ban.
President-elect Donald Trump, in his first reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the TikTok ban, told CNN’s Pamela Brown that he will ultimately decide what to do with the app.
“It ultimately goes up to me, so you’re going to see what I’m going to do,” he said in a brief phone interview on Friday.
Asked if he would take measures to try and reverse the pending ban, Trump said he’ll “be making the decision.”
“Congress has given me the decision, so I’ll be making the decision,” he said. He did not provide further details.
Now that the Supreme Court has allowed the ban to go through, it is scheduled to take effect on Sunday. A White House official said Thursday that because the ban’s timing comes at the end of President Joe Biden’s term, it will be up to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to decide how to implement the ban.
CNN has previously reported that Trump was weighing a plan that could give TikTok parent company ByteDance more time to work out a deal. It’s unclear what Trump will ultimately do, and any action he took will happen after the ban is already in effect.
The law allows the president to impose an extension of up to 90 days, but it requires the president prove that negotiations surrounding the purchase of TikTok make significant progress, and ByteDance has maintained that they have no intention to sell the app. Still, some lawmakers have expressed that they would like to see the ban delayed.
Trump also confirmed his conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying they had “a great talk about TikTok and a great talk about many other subjects.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, said there would be no political bias when it comes to disaster relief.
“Under my leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, there will be no political bias to how disaster relief is delivered to the American people,” Noem said at her confirmation hearing after she was asked about withholding disaster relief based on politics.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut pressed Noem on if she would stand up to Trump if he said that they were going to withhold money from a state because he doesn’t like the governor or politics in the state.
Noem said she doesn’t speak to hypotheticals but said if she is secretary of Homeland Security, she would “deliver the programs according to the law and that it will be done with no political bias.”
Some background: As Los Angeles continues to grapple with a wildfire battle, Trump has blamed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the wildfire crisis. Even before the latest California wildfire crisis, Trump warned he’d let the state burn unless Newsom fell in with his demands for changes in the way it manages its water. “If he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires. And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems,” Trump said in California in September.
Shortly after the Supreme Court upheld the ban on TikTok, the White House said implementation of the law will fall to the incoming Trump administration.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released the following statement:
“The Administration, like the rest of the country, has awaited the decision just made by the U.S. Supreme Court on the TikTok matter. President Biden’s position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the President’s desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law. Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday.”
Some Democratic lawmakers had been pressuring the Biden administration to delay the law’s effect. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer spoke to Biden on Thursday to encourage him to keep TikTok available past Sunday’s deadline.
The law allows Biden to impose an extension of up to 90 days, but it requires the president prove that negotiations surrounding the purchase of TikTok make significant progress, and ByteDance has maintained that they have no intention to sell the app.
“A 90-day extension can only be granted if the company puts forward a credible divestment plan, which they haven’t,” one White House official told CNN Thursday, prior to the court’s decision.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told senators Friday that she’s talked “extensively” with President-elect Donald Trump about the border policy known as “remain in Mexico.”
When asked by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley about the policy, Noem, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, said:
“The president and I have talked extensively about this and will 100% partner with him to reinstate the remain in Mexico policy.”
Trump’s Day One executive orders are expected to include launching negotiations for the return of the program informally known as “Remain in Mexico,” which required migrants to stay in Mexico while they went through immigration proceedings in the US.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, called the situation along the US-Mexico border a “war zone,” as she explained her decision to send National Guard to Texas in 2021.
“It is a war zone down there,” Noem, who would be charged with overseeing border security, told senators during her confirmation hearing Friday, describing the US southern border and providing insight into her view of the region.
In 2021, Noem announced she would send the National Guard to Texas to “secure the border” amid a “national security crisis.” CNN previously reported that Noem ended up ordering three deployments to the southern border over the next few years — at a cost of roughly $2.7 million.
When Trump is sworn in next week, he’ll inherit a border with fewer crossings than when he left office.
In December, the last full month of the Biden administration, US Border Patrol recorded 47,300 migrant encounters, a slight increase from November but marking the lowest daily average for a month since July 2020.
The US economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of 2.7% in 2025, according to a new forecast from the International Monetary Fund released Friday.
That’s a faster pace of growth than the 2.2% it projected in the fall, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook showed.
However, the agency warned that “an excessive rollback of regulations” in the US “may generate boom-bust dynamics.” Such a move could cause the US economy to grow but could also cause the reverse in quick succession.
While the report did not directly mention President-elect Donald Trump, his ambitions in his second term largely center around curbing government regulations he views as unnecessary.
The report cited another risk to the US economic outlook: “Labor force disruptions driven by reductions in migration flows to the United States,” another reference to Trump’s policy goals involving mass deportations of immigrants who entered the country illegally. If implemented, it could “permanently reduce potential output and raise inflation during the adjustment period,” the IMF warned.
Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan asked President-elect Donald Trump’s Homeland Security pick Kristi Noem during her confirmation hearing Friday about how she plans to address the threat of US-based terrorists.
Noem, the governor of South Dakota, said that Trump has a mandate to secure the border, but said that in addition, “we need to focus on domestic terrorism and homegrown terrorism.”
“Homegrown terrorism is on the rise,” she said. “We see more and more incidents of people that are US citizens that have become radicalized, and knowing when people are leaving the country and coming back and changes to their behaviors and what their actions are is critically important. So, the resources that the Department of Homeland Security has need to be utilized as far as identifying those threats and being proactive to prevent them but also protecting civil rights and liberties in that process.”
During the exchange, Noem also denounced the New Year’s truck attack in New Orleans, calling it a “horrific event.”
Noem went on to say, “I hope that we can get your support for this nomination and get confirmed quickly so that we can address the threats that we currently face and make sure we don’t have any repeats of the day that we saw just starting this year on New Year’s Day.”
The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a controversial ban on TikTok may take effect this weekend, rejecting an appeal from the popular app that claimed the ban violated the First Amendment.
The court handed down an unsigned opinion and there were no noted dissents.
The decision, which followed warnings from the Biden administration that the app posed a “grave” national security threat because of its ties to China, will allow the ban to start Sunday – though it remains unclear whether the app’s 170 million American users will notice any change at all.
In the runup to the ban’s effective date, President Joe Biden’s administration signaled it would leave enforcement of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday. Despite that, TikTok has said it may “go dark” when the ban takes effect.
Trump has said he’s warmed to the platform and will try to save it. The law gives him considerable leeway to do so.
In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court acknowledged that for 170 million Americans TikTok offers “a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community.”
But the court said, Congress was focused on national security concerns and that, the court said, was a deciding factor in how it weighed the case.
“Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court wrote.
In her opening remarks during Friday’s confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Homeland Security, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem highlighted the growing threat landscape in the US, focusing on border security and her time and experience as governor.
“As we face the evolving threats of the 21st century, the mission and success of DHS is more critical than ever,” Noem said. “We must be vigilant and proactive, and innovative to protect the homeland. The challenges in front of us are extremely significant. We must secure our borders against illegal trafficking and immigration. We must safeguard our critical infrastructure against cyberattacks, respond to natural disasters, and also terrorism.”
In highlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s primary focuses, Noem said border security was “a top priority, adding that she would “restore dignity” to the work of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and “create a fair and lawful immigration system that is efficient and is effective.”
The governor added: “Getting criminal aliens off of our streets and out of the country will help make American communities safer again. The bravery and dedication of the Border Patrol and ICE are unmatched, and I will restore dignity to their work.”
President-elect Donald Trump said Friday he spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and that they discussed TikTok, among other topics.
“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
It comes days before Trump’s inauguration and before a nationwide ban is set to take effect if TikTok’s China-based parent company does not sell off the app and if the US Supreme Court does not block it.
The call also follows confirmation earlier today that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will attend Trump’s inauguration on behalf of Xi.
CNN’s Alayna Treene and Shawn Deng contributed reporting.
This post has been updated with Trump’s confirmation of the call.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune introduced Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, at the outset of her confirmation hearing Friday.
Both Thune and Noem are from South Dakota. “I have known Kristi Noem for a long time. She has a very compelling personal and family story, which inspired her entrance into the public arena,” he said.
Citing her track record of holding public office, Thune said of Noem, “I think she brings to this job a number of things that are going to be really essential.”
“As we tackle what is an enormously complicated and hard issue, which is our southern border, it’s going to require a skill set, which I believe she possesses,” Thune said. “It’s going to require a tremendous amount of persistence and determination, which I think she has, an enormous amount of energy, which she has in abundance and, frankly, what I would say is just absolute toughness. It’s going to take some tough and hard leadership to get things back in order.”
As the hearing for Kristi Noem gets underway, a key dynamic to watch is Sen. Rand Paul’s new role as chair of the Senate Homeland Committee. Paul — who made his name in the Senate as a rabble rouser and thorn in the side of former GOP Leader and fellow Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell — is taking the helm of the committee in a high profile confirmation today.
Paul is a fiscal hawk who has traditionally shunned major government programs and voted repeatedly to deny aid after natural disasters. In fact, he made headlines in 2021 for pushing for disaster aid for victims in Kentucky after voting against aid repeatedly for other states. Paul will have oversight over FEMA in this role.
Paul also has made no secret of the fact that he plans to spend time on his committee investigating the origins of Covid — something he’s made a major priority and tussled repeatedly with Dr. Anthony Fauci over in high-octane hearings.
In his opening remarks, Paul bemoaned the size and scope of the Department of Homeland Security’s agency and responsibility, arguing it’s so big, the department can’t even clearly articulate what exactly its role is.
The confirmation hearing for Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, has started.
Noem is appearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where she’ll face questions from Democratic and Republican senators.
Noem was originally scheduled to appear before the committee on Tuesday, but a delay on her FBI background check caused it to be postponed, a Congressional aide told CNN earlier this week.
The new Panamanian ambassador was given strict instructions as he prepared to meet then-President Donald Trump one day in 2019: Do not engage him in any substantive discussion of critical issues.
This was meant to be a carefully choreographed photo op, nothing more but a brief stop on the diplomatic conveyor belt as foreign ambassadors lined up in the West Wing to formalize their positions atop embassies across Washington.
But the instructions left Juan De Dianous unprepared for the brief interaction with Trump that followed. As he went to shake Trump’s hand, the president mentioned that in his experience there were “a lot of crooks” in Panama.
De Dianous died in 2021 and never sought to publicize or draw attention to the moment. But the story was relayed or confirmed to CNN by several former Panamanian government officials, who, like the rest of the world, are now grappling to divine Trump’s views on the Central American nation of 4 million people.
Through a series of social media posts and then most prominently during a press conference last week where he repeatedly railed against former President Jimmy Carter’s decision to give the Panama Canal over to Panama, Trump has set off a global guessing game about his intentions. His decision not to rule out the use of military force to retake the critical waterway escalated a dispute that seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Interviews with more than a dozen people in Washington, Mar-a-Lago and during several days of reporting on the ground in Panama suggest Trump’s skeptical views of the country stretch back decades.
Read the full story.
Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today for her confirmation hearing, after it was postponed from it’s originally scheduled time slot on Tuesday.
A delay on the FBI background check for Noem prompted the postponement, a Congressional aide told CNN earlier this week.
Today’s hearing is scheduled to kick off at 9 a.m. ET.
Thursday’s trio of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees put the focus squarely on Trump’s domestic and economic agenda, which will dominate the debates on Capitol Hill this year.
None of the nominees appearing Thursday before the Senate – Scott Bessent at Treasury, Doug Burgum at Interior and Lee Zeldin at the Environmental Protection Agency – appear to be in any danger of not winning Senate confirmation. But their hearings offered a preview of the coming battles the Trump administration will fight this year to implement the president-elect’s agenda on taxes, spending, tariffs and the environment.
Here’s a look at some of the key takeaways from Thursday’s hearings:
Bessent says Trump tax cuts should be made permanent: Bessent, a hedge fund manager tapped to lead the Treasury Department, pitched Trump’s economic agenda as a way to “unleash a new economic golden age” that would “lift up all Americans.” That agenda includes making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, he said.
Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, one of Trump’s signature achievements in his first term, is a top priority of the incoming administration and congressional Republicans, who control Capitol Hill. The sweeping individual income and estate tax cuts — which included a reduction in individual income tax rates, a doubling of the child tax credit and a near-doubling of the standard income deduction — are set to expire at the end of the year. Most of the law’s corporate tax reductions are permanent.
Burgum vows to follow the law and Constitution: Burgum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday that he will “follow the law and follow the Constitution” if confirmed, when asked whether he would stand up to demands made by Trump.
Zeldin says he believes “climate change is real”: Zeldin, a former New York congressman who ran for governor in 2022, said at his confirmation hearing Thursday that he sees climate change as a threat, while he defended the incoming president’s position on the matter.
“I believe that climate change is real,” Zeldin said, when pressed by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Read more takeaways from the third day of confirmation hearings here.
New York Mayor Eric Adams will meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, according to a statement from the city.
Adams, who Trump has said he would consider pardoning, was indicted in September on charges of bribery, corruption, wire fraud and soliciting and accepting donations from foreign nationals. He pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.
“Mayor Adams has made quite clear his willingness to work with President-elect Trump and his incoming administration on behalf of New Yorkers — and that partnership with the federal government is critical to New York City’s success,” Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy said in the statement.
The statement said Trump and Adams will “discuss New Yorkers’ priorities” and that the mayor looks forward to a conversation about “how we can move our city and country forward.”
Trump, during a news conference last month, said he believed Adams had been “treated pretty unfairly” by prosecutors and promised to “look at” the case — and a potential pardon.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-transition-cabinet-news-01-17-25/index.html
