The Washington Post, however, reported about turbulence in Trump’s transition. But Peter Hoekstra, a Republican former congressman from Michigan, defended Trump in an interview Wednesday, saying the president-elect’s team has “a monumental job to do and a short time to do it.”
“just watching all the sniping coming in. They’re not doing this right. They’re not doing that right,’’ said Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman who is reportedly under consideration for CIA director. “This is what any transition team would do. You start with the people who brought you. I think the Trump team is going to expand its outreach, absolutely. But they’re going to do it in a methodical way.’’
Yet there were further signs Wednesday that power in Trump’s transition effort was consolidating within an ever-smaller group of top Trump loyalists generally not aligned with Republican members of the Washington establishment.
Among them is Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a top Trump adviser known for his hard-line views on immigration. His former staff director at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Brian Benczkowski, is now helping to manage the Justice Department transition for Trump’s team, according to two prominent Republican lawyers with knowledge of the matter.
Benczkowski replaced Kevin O’Connor, a former U.S. attorney and associate attorney general who had been managing the Justice transition, the lawyers said. A white-collar defense attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, Benczkowski previously worked in a number of senior Justice Department jobs and is a respected lawyer.
His elevation is likely another indication that power has shifted away from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who was recently replaced as transition team head by Vice President-elect Mike Pence and who had been considered an emissary to more mainstream Republicans.
Benczkowski declined to comment.
The new developments came as Sessions himself emerged as a top candidate for defense secretary, along with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Both would bring hawkish views and military experience, but neither has executive experience running a massive bureaucracy such as the Pentagon.
Trump was also visited Wednesday by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, emerged from a meeting with the president-elect, saying he told Trump that “so many New Yorkers are fearful” of what he plans to do as president.
No comments:
Post a Comment