Geoff Bennett

President-elect Trump began putting his new team in place, announcing that his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, will be his chief of staff when he takes office next year. She is the first woman to be appointed to that position. A veteran of Florida politics, Wiles ran campaigns for Sen. Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis before running Trump's winning bid. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Marc Caputo.

Newly-elected House members won’t take their seats until January but they are on Capitol Hill this week for congressional orientation. Republican Congressman-elect Rob Bresnahan is among them. He flipped his district in the northeast corner of Pennsylvania from blue to red. Bresnahan joined Geoff Bennett to discuss more.

While a majority of Black and Latino voters turned out for Vice President Kamala Harris this election, President-elect Donald Trump made significant inroads with both groups. Voter surveys from the Associated Press show Trump won 43 percent of the overall Latino vote, an eight-point increase from 2020. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Pastor Samuel Rodriguez.

If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard would oversee 18 intelligence organizations including the CIA and NSA. Her nomination could set off a fight since Gabbard has no intelligence experience and is accused of defending dictators and parroting disinformation. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Michael Leiter, former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.

President-elect Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services is sparking concern. There are worries too about his history of false statements and beliefs in debunked conspiracy theories. At the same time, he’s pushing hard on some major problems that experts say are real. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Dr. Katelyn Jetelina.

Donald Trump is likely to be the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in the last 20 years. Pre-election polls have consistently underestimated his support since he first ran eight years ago. That’s left some folks spending the last week trying to figure out what happened. Geoff Bennett and NPR’s Domenico Montanaro discussed what the polls got right and what they missed.

The day after the presidential election, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement warning of a hostile climate for press freedom under a second Trump term. That comes as advocates are urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would protect journalists from government spying and other interference. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Jodie Ginsberg.

In her new collection of columns from The Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer Prize-winner Peggy Noonan takes readers on a journey through the essence of our nation’s character. With her trademark blend of storytelling, historical insight and journalistic rigor, Noonan explores what unites us as a people even in divisive times. She sat down with Geoff Bennett to discuss “A Certain Idea of America.”

President-elect Trump’s pick of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education is already raising alarm bells among critics who feel the role should go to someone with more experience in education. But it has also been met with praise by supporters of parental rights and school choice. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Jon Valant of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.

President elect-Trump's controversial pick for attorney general, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The meetings come amid mounting pressure on the House Ethics Committee to release a report looking into several allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Claudia Grisales of NPR.