Trump picks Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem as new cabinet appointments continue: Live

New York Judge Juan Merchan is due to decide today on whether to undo the president-elect’s conviction in his hush money case because of a US Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

Judge Merchan, who presided over Trump’s historic trial this spring, is now tasked with deciding whether to toss out the jury verdict and order a new trial – or even dismiss the charges altogether.

The judge’s ruling also could speak to whether the former and now future commander-in-chief will be sentenced as scheduled on November 26.

The Republican won back the White House a week ago but the legal question concerns his status as a past president, not an impending one.

A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in October 2016.

The payout was to buy her silence about claims that she had sex with Trump.

He says they didn’t, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic meant to harm his latest campaign.

Just over a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for actions they took in the course of running the country and prosecutors can’t cite those actions even to bolster a case centered on purely personal conduct.

Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some evidence it shouldn’t have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and testimony from some White House aides.

Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was a first for any ex-president.

It left the 78-year-old facing the possibility of punishment ranging from a fine or probation to up to four years in prison.

MAGA Republican Kari Lake has lost her race for the Arizona Senate to Democrat Ruben Gallego, who becomes the Grand Canyon State’s first Latino senator.

Gallego’s win helps prevent the GOP further extending its majority in the upper chamber of Congress and continues his party’s successful run in Arizona over the last decade, where voters have repeatedly rejected candidates backed by Donald Trump.

Trump himself beat Kamala Harris there in last week’s presidential race, however, securing his clean sweep of the swing states.

“Gracias, Arizona!” Gallego, 44, wrote on X after his victory was confirmed, thanking the state’s voters for a win that nevertheless means Republicans still hold 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate.

Gallego is a five-term House member and a Marine Corps Reserve veteran of the Iraq War, who will replace Kyrsten Sinema, whose 2018 victory as a Democrat created a formula that the party has successfully replicated ever since.

One last cabinet pick and then we’ll move on.

The president-elect is thought to be going for ex-New York congressman Lee Zeldin, a man who “voted against environmental bills 85 percent of the time”, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Another man who looks set to join Trump in Washington DC is Florida Representative Mike Waltz, who will step into shoes previously worn by HR McMaster, John Bolton and Robert O’Brien if he is indeed chosen.

In another key appointment, the president-elect has chosen the Florida Republican lawmaker, who was a regular on the 2024 campaign trail with him, to become the country’s top diplomat, sources told The New York Times on Monday evening.

The Cuban-American, 53, will become the first Latino to serve in the role when Trump takes office in January.

He’ll face a geopolitical landscape where multiple US allies are at war abroad, including Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, and Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

He’ll also be expected to deliver on key campaign promises that are closer to home, like dramatically cutting illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border.

Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010 and was reportedly considered as a 2024 running mate by Trump.

He is viewed as a hawk on both China and Iran and a staunch supporter of Israel.

Here’s more from Graeme Massie and Josh Marcus.

The president-elect has chosen South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security in his forthcoming administration as his White House team continues to take shape.

Noem might be best known to millions around the world after revealing in her memoir earlier this year that she had shot dead her disobedient pet dog Cricket, an anecdote that was seemingly intended to convey her leadership qualities but which instead may have cost her the chance to run as Trump’s vice presidential nominee, an honor that instead went to Ohio Senator JD Vance.

Here’s James Liddell on his latest appointment.

Donald Trump — who baselessly accuses President Joe Biden’s administration of “weaponizing” law enforcement and the court against him — will enter office on January 20, 2025, with an array of executive powers at his fingertips.

He could soon prepare to seek revenge against those he believes have wronged him.

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, essentially a referee of the Senate, is responsible for ensuring that lawmakers follow the rules that govern how legislation moves forward. And it’s her role that could prove to be the last roadblock before Trump can implement sweeping immigration reforms.

“The fear is that career leadership and career employees everywhere are either going to leave or they’re going to be driven out.”

The two marked Veterans Day on Monday at Arlington National Cemetary, where the two laid a wreath as part of the annual ceremony. Biden then delivered remarks at the ceremony and hardly spoke of the election.

The event at Arlington is nonpartisan, and the two appeared together, walking in solemn procession. The vice president appeared stoic with no hint of a smile during the ceremony, while Biden appeared slightly stiff and was fighting a cough. His eyes appeared closed during parts of the event.