Trump’s McConnell problem

Trump’s McConnell problem Presented by Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the preparations, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s transition. “You’ve got to get more aggressive about calling out Mitch McConnell as the problem,” STEVE BANNON, a Trump ally who served as White House chief strategist during the president-elect’s last term, told West Wing Playbook. He said McConnell “opposes MAGA and opposes Trump on every key part of the populist, nationalist agenda.” Bannon, a longtime critic of establishment Republicans, blames McConnell for the downfall of MATT GAETZ, Trump’s first attorney general pick, who dropped his embattled bid for the job amid concerns from some Senate Republicans. McConnell hasn’t publicly weighed in on any of Trump’s selections, but he said Gaetz pulling out “was appropriate.” Other controversial selections — like TULSI GABBARD for director of national intelligence, ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. for Health and Human Services secretary and PETE HEGSETH for Defense secretary — will be early tests of McConnell’s willingness to defy Trump. A message from the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions: What We're Reading Republicans’ big idea for remaking public education hits voter resistance Even one-time Trump critics are lining up to work with DOGE Reporters Brace for the Frenzy of a Second Trump White House The Fox News Rebound A message from the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions: REJECT DURBIN-MARSHALL–PROTECT OUR MILITARY’S READINESS!