All right, we're just going to give them a moment to return at 4 p.m. Eastern today to consider a handful of bills, including legislation banning the U.S. government from awarding a contract to anyone with business ties with the current Venezuelan government.
Also, a measure to increase transparency of mail-in ballots by requiring ballot envelopes to have tracking barcodes.
Looking ahead, House Democrats will hold their leadership elections tomorrow for the next Congress.
And newly elected House members are in Washington for orientation sessions, including selecting their Capitol Hill offices by lottery.
Off the floor, both the House and Senate continue their talks on government funding.
Federal spending legislation must pass by December 20th to avert a shutdown.
As always, live coverage of the U.S. House is here on C-SPAN.
I want to show you some of the headlines in this morning's major national papers on Donald Trump's picks for his cabinet in his second administration.
This is Peter Baker writing for the New York Times the headline, Trump swings a wrecking ball at the status quo, startling picks seen as a government stress test in USA Today.
It is Susan Page.
Her column, Trump Signals Combat Ahead, is the headline.
And Stephen Dinan writes in the Washington Times today, in Trump's cabinet loyalty tops experience.
He writes that it's his cabinet this time around, a severe detour from his approach in 2017 when his picks included the head of ExxonMobil, two four-star Marine Corps generals, a former cabinet secretary, and several business tycoons.
Stephen Dinen writes, Mr. Trump felt burned by many of those picks, figuring they were more hindrance than help towards his MAGA makeover.
This time, he's chosen people he expects to be loyal as he carries out an unprecedented government house cleaning.
Asking you this morning what you think will be the most important cabinet position in a second Trump administration.
Again, phone lines split as usual by political party.
The numbers are on your screen.
We'll show you from the New York Times their tracker on the cabinet-level posts.
These are the Senate confirmation required posts.
It's about half of those positions have been named at this point.
We're still waiting on positions, including the Labor Secretary, Treasury Secretary, Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Affairs, CDC, Surgeon General, the Small Business Administration, the Trade Representative, the Office of Management and Budget, and a few others.
But about half those posts have been named at this point.
Confirmation battles ahead for some of them.
Lots of talk on the Sunday shows about what that could include.
And we'll bring it to you this morning.
But we mostly want to hear from you asking you to look ahead.
What will be the most important cabinet position?
Louie is up first in Highland Park, Illinois, a Democrat.
Louis, good morning.
Good morning.
I think it's an excellent question.
To me, the most important appointee would be health and human services.
As we can see, that happened to America in the last pandemic.
It almost crippled us.
We're very thankful to Dr. Fauci and his staff and all the people involved in health that saved our country from total devastation.
And on the other side of it, we have stupid people who are like Donald Trump, who are walking around in public without a mask, spreading the virus, making our country more fallible, more dangerous.
So Louie, are you happy with the idea of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary?
Absolutely not.
The man has no scientific background, has no way to understand data, and he's going to be in charge of literally thousands and thousands of health care professionals who are supposed to take care of this country and keep us safe.
Absolutely not.
No Kennedy.
That's Louis in Highland Park, Illinois.
As we said, plenty of discussion on the Sunday shows.
It was most of the discussion yesterday on Donald Trump's cabinet picks.
This was Deborah Burks, Donald Trump's COVID response coordinator in his first term.
She was reacting on Face the Nation yesterday on CBS to President Trump's pick, President-elect Trump's pick, of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
This is what she had to say.
I think when we talk about things in public health, we don't acknowledge the concerns.
Because when my children went to school, there was maybe one in a thousand kids with autism diagnosed autisms.
Now it's three per hundred.
So every mom is seeing a classroom of kindergartners where one of the children has autism.
That's scary to moms and dads.
They want to know why.
So it's not good enough for us to just say vaccines don't cause autism.
It's us finding what is the cause of autism.
Well, everybody would absolutely agree that it is ridiculous that there isn't a lot of research and established causation of autism.
But what he has said in the past is that autism is caused by vaccines.
And there's no scientific basis for that conclusion, as I understand it.
That's correct.
And so that's why when he talks about transparency, I'm actually excited that in a Senate hearing, he would bring forward his data and the questions that come from the senators would bring forth their data.
What I know for sure is he's a very smart man who can bring his data and his evidence base forward and we can have a discussion that many Americans believe already is a problem.
So until we can have that transparency and that open discussion from both sides, I know the members have incredible staffers who will bring great questions from their constituents.
And that hearing would be a way for Americans to really see the data that you're talking about.
That was from Face the Nation yesterday, Deborah Burke's going on that program.
And the conversation around Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues in the pages of the New York Times today.
One of the opinion pieces that they run is from Rachel Bedard, a medical researcher.
The headline of the piece, What Kennedy Gets Right About American Healthcare.
Here's a little bit from that piece.
She said, I believe there is a healthcare agenda that finds common ground between people like myself, a medical researcher, clinician, and Mr. Kennedy.
There are seeds of truth to some of what Mr. Kennedy says.
And we can't spend four years simply fighting his agenda.
Non-cooperation won't protect the integrity of the American public health or advance its interests.
Rather, there's an opportunity to leverage Mr. Kennedy's skepticism and relative political independence for good, she writes, to turn his most valid criticisms of the American health care system into constructive reforms.
For instance, she writes, there's been no meaningful public reckoning from the federal government on the success and failures of the nation's pandemic response.
The lack of effort to build consensus about what the country did well and what to avoid next time is a missed opportunity to bring closure to a difficult era while preparing for the next pandemic.
More from Rachel Bedard from the pages in the New York Times today.
That's just one of the cabinet positions.
We're simply asking you this morning, what do you think will be the most important cabinet position in a second Trump administration?
Robin in Maryland, good morning, Republican.
Good morning.
I can't decide between Department of Defense and Homeland Security.
I think both of the choices were excellent.
Pete Hegstett is a true patriot.
He loved America.
He has two bronze stars.
I think he did a great job.
I think he's going to do a great job.
And the current head of the DOD went AWOL for five days and lied to his boss about where he was.
So I certainly think Pete Hegstett's going to be a great choice.
Chris Genome, I think she's great.
I am very happy that she's going to head up DHS.
Our current head of the DHS lied to us, told us that the border was secure.
We have millions and millions of illegals coming over.
And we've been told there's nothing to worry about.
There's no problem there.
I think Christie's going to be a great choice.
And I just wanted to mention, someone had talked about how Trump didn't wear masks.
Well, keep in mind that anything other than a N95 or KN95 mask had no value whatsoever.
So where we were all told we had to wear masks, those masks did absolutely no good whatsoever.
So thanks very much for taking my call.
That's Robin in Maryland this morning.
This is Pennsylvania, Ridgeway, Pennsylvania.
Steve, good morning, Republican.
What's the most important cabinet post?
Good morning.
I think it's a kind of a hard stretch to say what is the most important.
You know, the Department of Homeland Security could certainly be cut completely as far as I'm concerned.
Combating terrorism with another gigantic bureaucratic nightmare of a department is a waste of time, effort, and money.
But I want to talk about the first caller talked about the experience or lack of experience by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a second, if I may.
When you look at the current Secretary of DHS, I think his name is Xavier Becerra.
I might have his last name spelled wrong.
Precera's correct.
But he is nothing but a career politician.
You know, he has, if you want to talk about an unqualified person, if all we do is the heads of departments be nothing but career politicians, then we're going to get exactly what we deserve.
We need a shake-up.
Donald Trump and company aren't going to shake it up.
And we're going to see where it falls out.
If it falls out good, well, then, you know, Trump, he's done after this term.
So that's the end of his presidency.
But perhaps American people will start looking at things a little bit differently than business as usual.
Steve, what do you think about the Senate confirmation process and how much pushback Donald Trump's nominees would get in a Republican-controlled Senate?
Well, I think they should be.
If they just rubber stamp everything, then that's not the solution either.
They have to, there are some legitimate questions that have to be asked and have to be answered.
So you would not be in favor of recess appointments, this idea of appointments that would go till the end of the 119th Congress, not a full presidential term, but avoiding the Senate confirmation process?
Well, then I would, if it draws, starts to draw out, then I would support recess appointments.
If it draws up for that length of time, that it handcuffs the president in this administration, then I would just support recess appointments.
That's Steve this morning out of Pennsylvania.
More from the Sunday show.
CNN stated the union had one of those senators who would vote on the confirmation process.
It is Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
John Fetterman saying Democrats should stop freaking out about some of these appointees.
Here's part of that discussion.
Well, I mean, there's some that I would absolutely be excited to vote for, like my colleague from Florida or the representative from New York, of course.
And then there's others that are just absolute trolls, just like Gates and those things.
And that's why, you know, Democrats, you know, like Trump gets the kind of thing.
I mean, he gets the kind of thing that he wanted, you know, like the freak out and all of those things.
And he hasn't even been, it's still not even Thanksgiving yet.
And if we're having meltdowns, you know, every tweet or every appointment or all those things, I mean, it's going to be four years.
And just the last time, I think, the last time I was on your network, I was warning about the jackpot.
And I use that metaphor of the slut machine, the 777.
And if Trump wins, then it's likely that's going to happen.
He's going to get the House.
You know, we're going to have the Senate and the presidency.
And the real jackpot is the Supreme Court.
And that's been very clear that that's a strong conservative slant.
So they can run the table right now.
And at least for the next two years, those are the things, if you really want to be concerned about that, that they have the absolute ability to run the table, at least for the next two years.
And that's what I think we should all be concerned on, not small tweets or random kinds of appointments.
Senator John Fetterman, the Democrat from Pennsylvania on CNN yesterday, back to your phone calls, asking you simply, what's the most important cabinet post in a second Trump administration?
Ann, Maryland Democrat, good morning.
Good morning, yes.
I was calling about vaccines.
I taught school for many years, and there are some great concerns, not just for children, but for everyone.
But these children in elementary school, preschool, need their vaccines.
They need more than just the vitamin C, which is not strong enough to help them within their immune system or inside their immune system.
And as a result, I'm just giving one feeling about one of these candidates.
As a result, this person who comes from a well-known family name is using his family name just to be in a position that will be detrimental to children who will attend school for the first time, children who need to have these kinds of things in their immune system to strengthen them so that they can go on with the life's journey, not only to school, but for whatever work they desire later.
I am 74.
Thank God I was given that opportunity.
Right now, it's as if everybody is being cut off from being given an opportunity to live well, healthy, and to find a better way in life with their jobs and schooling.
I understand that this is what they want to do, but I cannot believe that I live in a position or in a time like this within this country to have these people to come here just because they're angry with certain other people.
Those other persons, Democrats, were not liberals.
Republicans were not too conservative.
I like both sides of it.
Unfortunately, these people don't like any side.
They just want to destroy people.
I'm sorry, this is what we're going to see in our lifetime at this point.
I cannot believe that this country comes to this, but I will still help to make this country better.
Thank you.
That's Anne and Marilyn.
This is Charles in Charleston, Arkansas.
Republican, good morning.
Charles, you with us?
Yes.
Go ahead, sir.
Yes.
The question is, what is the most important cabinet position?
And I say that the most important position is Matt Gates as Attorney General, simply because we have three branches of government.
We have executive, legislative, and judicial, and we must fill the judicial, which is very important.
And that is all I have to say.
That's Charles in Charlestown.
This is another Charles in Texas Democrat.
Good morning.
Hello.
Go ahead, Charles.
The Treasury Department.
Because if you let Donald Trump control who controls that money in the Treasury Department, you can guarantee all he can think about is money and power.
His family is going to eat the United States up because money is going to be diverted in different places, and you'll never know it.
If I'm not mistaken, it is one when last election that he was in, someone diverted some money, money came up missing in the Treasury Department.
They never did find out where it went.
So if Trump can control that Treasury Department, look for him and that family.
If he ain't being there, he will be before you leave out again.
And if people don't believe that, there's something wrong with him.
Thank you.
Wall Street Journal today focusing on the jockeying to lead the Treasury Department.
We have yet to hear who Donald Trump will name for that post.
But this is what they write.
A messy fight over who should be president-elect Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary has played out privately at Mar-a-Lago in recent days, and it all spilled into public view this weekend.
Two of Donald Trump's most powerful allies, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., used social media to signal their support for billionaire businessman Howard Luttnick to lead Treasury as Trump continues to deliberate on that crucial post.
Musk's support for Lutnick even went as far as to discredit another finalist for the job, investor Scott Besant, who Trump has expressed great admiration for and who is considered a top contender.
Late Friday, it appeared Luttnick had begun to fall out of the running for the job.
People familiar with the matter said, prompting Musk and Kennedy to make their cases in public over the weekend.
The last-minute burst of public support for Luttnick, the chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald puts pressure on Donald Trump to choose him.
The Wall Street Journal with the back and forth palace intrigue right now on that position.
Peter in Reading, Pennsylvania, Independent, good morning.
Good morning.
My name is Peter, and I'm calling from Reading, Pennsylvania.
You know, as I sit here and I listen to this nightmare of people he picked.
The U.S. House is gambling in now to consider a handful of bills, including legislation banning the U.S. government from awarding a contract to anyone with business ties with the current Venezuelan government.
Also, a measure to increase transparency of mail-in ballots by requiring ballot envelopes to have tracking barcodes.