As he aims to turn the nation’s capital upside down, President-elect Trump is turning to allies and supporters of his MAGA movement and America First agenda as he quickly moves to assemble his second administration.

The former and future president is clearly placing plenty of emphasis on loyalty as he makes increasing provocative picks for top cabinet posts.

And unlike eight years ago, when the first-time politician first took control of the White House, he is not in the market for establishment types or those who served in his first administration, but in his mind, proved disloyal.

Case in point – This week’s announcement from the president-elect that he was nominating as attorney general Rep. Matt Gaetz, the controversial conservative lawmaker from Florida who has been one of Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress as he’s repeatedly claimed the criminal investigations into Trump were “witch hunts.”

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In making his announcement – which sent shock waves through the nation’s capital – Trump highlighted that “Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization.”

Gaetz, following the nomination, stepped down from Congress, ahead of a potential damaging report by the House Ethics Committee into sexual misconduct allegations that the lawmaker has denied.

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On Wednesday afternoon, the president nominated his former rival in the presidential race – turned staunch advocate – Robert Kennedy Jr., as Health and Human Services Secretary.

Kennedy endorsed Trump shortly after suspending his campaign, and has since hit the campaign trail while touting his plans to “Make America Healthy Again” under a potential Trump presidency. 

In making the announcement, Trump said “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,”

Trump turned to another loyalist – former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate turned MAGA rock star who this year became a Republican and a top campaign trail surrogate for the former president – as his pick for Director of National Intelligence.

A day earlier, Trump named combat veteran, Army National Guard officer and Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, another major supporter, as his choice for Defense Secretary.

In announcing that Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was his pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, Trump noted that “Elise is a strong and very smart America First fighter… She was the first Member of Congress to endorse me and has always been a staunch advocate.”

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And Trump called former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, whom he is aiming to install as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, “a true fighter for America First policies.”

He named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a conservative firebrand and MAGA-world star who has long been a fierce Trump ally and supporter, as his choice for Homeland Security secretary.

Noem will work with Stephen Miller, whom the president-elect has picked as his incoming deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was the architect of much of the first Trump administration’s hard-line policy on immigration and border security.

She will also collaborate with Thomas Homan, who, as acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during the first administration, was often the face of Trump’s controversial immigration policies. The president-elect has named Homan as his incoming “border czar.”

And Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his choice for Secretary of State.

Rubio was a rival to Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, but over the years has become a strong Trump ally in the Senate.

Trump also named Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida as his national security adviser. Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, is a longtime Trump ally.

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Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler who raised big bucks for Trump’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, noted that Trump is in a very different situation than he was eight years ago, when he first won the White House.

“He’s got a stronger mandate because he won the popular vote, and he won all seven swing states,” Eberhart emphasized. “I also think he knows what he wants, and he knows better how to get what he wants out of Washington. He’s going to have a more cohesive, more MAGA team, that’s hopefully able to accomplish more.”

 Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A leading strategist in Trump’s political  orbit, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that “one thing that is noticeable this time around is that instead of a team of rivals who are all over the place ideologically, Trump is largely bringing people on who are aligned with his America First agenda.”

Matt Mowers, a veteran Republican consultant and 2020 GOP congressional nominee in New Hampshire who worked on Trump’s 2016-2017 transition and served in the first Trump administration, told Fox News that Trump has “decided he needs everyone aligned.”

“What he’s doing is he’s choosing a lot of people who aren’t just going to undo the Biden polices but really try to take a hammer to the bureaucracy… which is what he calls the ‘deep state,’” Mowers added.

Those whom the president-elect feels have not shown their loyalty to him appear to be iced out.

Trump this past weekend announced in a social media post that he would not ask former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – who served as ambassador to the U.N. in his first administration – and former Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas – who served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in Trump’s first term – to join his incoming cabinet.

Former Republican presidential candidate, former U.N. ambassador, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16, 2024. ((PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images))

Haley ran against Trump in this year’s Republican presidential primaries and ended up as the final challenger to the former president in what turned into a divisive nomination battle.  Haley made clear this week that she wasn’t seeking a job in the second Trump administration.

Pompeo seriously mulled making his own 2024 White House run before ultimately deciding not to launch a campaign. 

Both politicians eventually endorsed Trump this year, following the primary season.

But a source in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News that the president-elect “is not looking to give a platform for those with future presidential ambitions other than JD Vance.”

President-elect Donald Trump named his personal criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general.

“I am pleased to announce that Todd Blanche will serve as Deputy Attorney General in my Administration. Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long,” Trump announced in a news release Thursday evening.

“Todd is going to do a great job as we, Make America Great Again,” he wrote.

Blanche represented Trump during his Manhattan criminal case earlier this year, becoming a focal point of Trump’s daily press conferences, as he stood behind the 45th president while he railed against the case to the media.  

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Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records following his Manhattan criminal trial in May. Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, repeatedly calling it a “sham” and “scam” and “witch hunt” launched by Democrats to injure his re-election chances ahead of Nov. 5. 

The Manhattan judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, agreed to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the felony conviction proceedings against Trump earlier this week. The decision follows the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office, but not for unofficial acts.

Amid Trump’s lengthy court trial, which stretched from mid-April until the end of May, Blanche defended Trump both in the courtroom and to the public during press conferences. 

“President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office should never have brought this case,” Blanche said in his opening remarks during the trial. 

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Attorney Todd Blanche listens as his client former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Deputy attorney general is the second-most powerful position in the Department of Justice, and entails overseeing the department’s day-to-day dealings. Trump announced Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general pick, which sent shockwaves among Democrats and some Republicans in Washington, D.C.

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“Gaetz has been Trump’s chief defender when it comes to Trump’s assault on democracy. His attempt to overthrow the government on January 6th. And he has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies if they don’t get in line with conservative political priorities,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of the choice. 

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., waves on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Gaetz said it would be an “honor” to serve in the Trump administration earlier this week, and celebrated Trump’s pick of Blanche as deputy on Thursday. 

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“We are building an incredible team at the Department of Justice in the Trump/Vance Administration! Todd Blanche and Emil Bove are brilliant litigators and top-tier legal minds. We can’t wait to get to work for the American People,” Gaetz posted to X. 

Last week, following Trump’s massive win over Vice President Kamala Harris, reports spread that the FBI reportedly notified Blanche that Chinese hackers breached his phone and procured voice recordings and texts, Fox News Digital previously reported. Chinese hackers had reportedly targeted Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and individuals connected to Harris’ campaign.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

WASHINGTON  —  Since he began taking over the Republican Party nearly a decade ago, President-elect Donald Trump has demanded increasing levels of loyalty from lawmakers who serve in Congress.

With few exceptions, they have gone along, refusing to convict him in two impeachment trials and, even after he was convicted of 34 felonies, helping him win a second term in the White House as he plowed through a Republican primary and general election after falsely denying his 2020 loss.

Now, members of the Senate will face another test: Whether to cede their long-held independent authority under the Constitution to review an increasingly controversial group of Cabinet picks.

Many senators in both parties have already expressed concerns about some of Trump’s selections, but Trump has said he expects the body to test a controversial tactic that would let him bypass the confirmation process.

In the last several days, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth, a Fox television host and veteran who has never held a leadership post, as his secretary of Defense; Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic House member accused of spreading Kremlin talking points, as his director of National Intelligence; and Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who resigned his seat in the House on Wednesday while facing a congressional investigation into sex trafficking, as his attorney general.

Then on Thursday, Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vociferous vaccine skeptic who has promoted false conspiracy theories concerning healthcare, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump is known for defying tradition and going against the grain, but the recent appointments suggest a larger agenda, some political observers say.

“There is a difference between having a broader ideological mix and choosing a [accused] sex trafficker for attorney general of the United States,” said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s legislative affairs director during his first term and as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence.

“I think he’s trying to disrupt,” Short said of Trump. But “I’m not convinced that it’s clearly thought through.”

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican whose career in Congress was upended when Gaetz led a rebellion against him, predicted that at least the Gaetz nomination would fail, telling Bloomberg Television on Thursday that he “won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that.”

McCarthy called the nomination “a good deflection,” hinting at a popular Washington theory that Gaetz, even if defeated, could help Trump win approval of other controversial nominees by using up whatever willpower Republican senators have to take on the new president next year.

At the center of it all is Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who won an internal vote to become Senate majority leader on Wednesday. He replaces Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who occasionally clashed with Trump during his first term but prevented an all-out intraparty war by largely acquiescing to the president. The Senate under Thune will be even more Trump-friendly, with more members who come into office with Trump’s support, while some of the more skeptical Republicans are no longer in office.

Trump had mixed results with his first-term nominations, even as he chose from an inexperienced talent pool. Several of his high-level nominees faced drawn-out battles — a few withdrew, but most were eventually approved.

Before Thune defeated two of his colleagues to win the leadership post, Trump said on social media that he wanted the new Senate leaders to push his nominees through using recess appointments, where the Senate would declare itself closed for business for 10 days so the president can appoint a Cabinet secretary for the remainder of the two-year session.

The tactic, conceived in the horse-and-buggy days when Congress met part time, would probably be challenged in court. Opponents argue against their routine use, and members of the Senate are historically protective of their role as a check on the executive branch.

Thune told South Dakota reporters Wednesday that he would prefer to avoid a recess appointment but did not rule it out.

“I’m willing to grind through it and do it the old-fashioned way,” he said, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

He reiterated that point to ABC News on Thursday, promising “we expect our committees to do their jobs and provide the advice and consent that is required under the Constitution.”

Lawmakers in both parties have already said they want to know more about the House Ethics probe into Gaetz, which was closed when he resigned his seat. The comments signal that they do not want to cede their right to review his record. One lawmaker who said he “absolutely” wants to see the House report was Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a high-ranking Republican member of the Judiciary Committee who ran against Thune for majority leader.

The use of recess appointments to avoid the Senate is a concern to some who’ve worked in the federal government.

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said that immediately adjourning the Senate at the new president’s direction would signal a dark day for the country.

“This is the way it works in dictatorships,” said Painter, who ran for Senate in Minnesota in 2018 as a Democrat. “To have a president sworn in and then immediately dissolve Congress? Absolutely nuts.”

But the pressure to push Trump’s preferred choices is mounting. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, one of Trump’s most ardent allies, warned would-be dissenters during an appearance on Fox Business that if they stand in the way of Trump’s agenda, “we’re gonna try to get you out of the Senate.”

The Senate has a long tradition of protecting its status, as one of two houses in Congress, as part of a co-equal branch of government, even if the president is in the same party. The late Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada rankled some fellow Democrats in 2009 when he said in an interview: “I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him.”

But a former Reid adviser, James Manley, said he believes Trump is consciously trying to erode that boundary, and he’s skeptical that Republican lawmakers have the stomach to stand up to him.

“The House is broken. They’ll do whatever he wants,” Manley said. “Now, he’s turned his attention to the Senate.”

Ben Olinsky, senior vice president of structural reform and governance at the liberal Center for American Progress, said that how the Senate handles this moment — where Trump is simultaneously putting forward deeply questionable candidates and demanding the Senate allow them to sail through without vetting — “will tell us a lot about what’s going to happen in the next couple of years.”

“I absolutely think it’s a test of independence and also integrity for them,” Olinsky said. “It may be a direct loyalty test from the president.”