Tom Cotton

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose massive new tariffs upon entering office on Jan. 20, calling them “the greatest thing ever invented.” And unlike some of his other campaign promises, he’s been consistent, repeatedly suggesting he’ll impose a 10% to 20% tariff on all foreign goods and a tariff of 60% or higher on products coming from China.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has secured a solid majority of Republican senators' votes to elect him GOP Conference Chair — the No. 3 leadership position, sources with direct knowledge of the Cotton team's whip count tell Axios.Why it matters: Cotton has long served as a bridge between Senate leadership and the more conservative faction of the conference. He also holds sway in President-elect Trump's orbit.Cotton had been a serious contender for top positions in a Trump administration, but he decided to remain in the Senate, as Axios first reported. Cotton's expected win on Wednesday would box out Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) from leadership entirely. Sen. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.) is running for the No. 4 position currently held by Ernst.Zoom in: Cotton has called every senator in the conference, including incoming senators, addressing their ideas and concerns, according to a source familiar with his efforts.The GOP conference chair leads and shapes the party's political messaging, often providing guidance to fellow senators on how to approach hot issues of the day.Cotton has told colleagues he will fight for them on key votes as well as win the political debate with American voters on the airwaves, the source said.What they're saying: "Kamala thought she had it locked up too. Anyone who assumes the world's most deliberative body has made up its mind before closing arguments takes their colleagues for granted," an Ernst spokesperson told Axios in a statement.Cotton's team declined to respond. Zoom out: The only other competitive leadership race on Wednesday will be over who will succeed GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).Sens. John Thune (S.D.), John Cornyn (Texas) and Rick Scott are all vying to be GOP leader. The current conference chair, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.), is running unopposed for the No. 2 position of majority whip.

In just over 70 days, Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States will become the 47th, and he'll begin implementing his vision of an all powerful chief executive.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected].

President-elect Trump will appoint Cabinet members to serve alongside him over the next four years, and several candidates are being floated for the top positions.

President-elect Trump wants to put familiar faces on his national security team after being burned during his first term.Why it matters: Sources said Trump doesn't want former generals on his national security team and prefers businessmen and CEOs — but he's also considering a line-up of loyalists in prominent D.C. positions.Trump said several times in his campaign that during his transition he would begin pushing for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.He also signaled in public and in private that he wants to see the wars in Gaza and Lebanon end by the time he is inaugurated.Zoom in: Here are the top contenders, based on people close to this process:State Department: A top candidate for Secretary of State is former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, two sources said.The sources said Grenell advised Trump on foreign policy during the campaign and would likely focus on Russia-Ukraine diplomacy.Republican control of the Senate neutralizes any difficulty Grenell could have had in being confirmed.Two other candidates for the Secretary of State job are Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who served as ambassador to Japan during Trump's first term, and Trump's former national security adviser Robert O'Brien.Former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus is also often mentioned for a senior State Department position in D.C. or a key ambassador post.Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is a leading name for U.S. Ambassador to the UN.Defense Department and intelligence agencies: Several names have been floated for Defense Secretary, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.).Waltz could also be considered for CIA director, in addition to John Ratcliffe, who briefly served as the Director of National Intelligence under Trump.Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was also mentioned for top defense or intelligence roles but Axios' Stef Kight reports he told Trump's team he wouldn't be accepting any cabinet roles.Another former Trump official who could get a senior foreign policy and national security position in the new administration is Brian Hook, who was Trump's Iran envoy and will lead the new administration's State Department transition team. Hook could end up in a senior position at the department, a source said.The White House: Grenell and Waltz are also potential candidates for national security adviser in the next Trump White House.Reality check: A former senior Trump administration official told Axios it's hard to predict who Trump decides to appoint.At the start of Trump's first term, "Rex Tillerson wasn't in the first 3,000 people who were mentioned as candidates for Secretary of State," the former official said.The official said the most important thing is that Trump's new national security team helps him implement his policy rather than trying to obstruct him like his team did at the beginning of his first term.Tillerson and the Secretary of Defense James Mattis objected to several of Trump's initiatives.Zoom in: During Trump's previous term, the Middle East file was mostly run by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who drafted an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and negotiated the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.Kushner has said publicly several times during the campaign that he isn't interested in going back to government.But Trump's victory, the current crisis in the Middle East and the opportunity to get a Saudi-Israeli peace deal might change his mind.Others to watch: Avi Berkowitz, who worked with Kushner on the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and on the Abraham Accords, could also make a comeback and be part of Trump's Middle East team.David Friedman, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel during Trump's first administration, could go back for another term in this post.Trump's former envoy Jason Greenblatt and Friedman's chief of staff Aryeh Lightstone might also return to government to work on the Middle East.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has told President-elect Trump's team he will not be accepting administration roles, despite being a top contender for positions including CIA director and Secretary of Defense, two sources familiar tell Axios.Why it matters: Cotton — a relatively young, conservative defense hawk — is a much-speculated future presidential contender.Cotton will remain a Trump ally in the Senate where he is running against Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) for conference chair, the No. 3 Senate GOP leadership position.He's thought to have the edge in the leadership race slated for next Wednesday, sources tell us.Ernst, who is currently ranked No. 4, was upset when Cotton jumped the gun earlier this year in announcing his bid for Republican Conference chair without giving her a heads-up.

The winner of Arkansas' race for state Supreme Court chief justice won't change the conservative majority of a court that has been targeted by Republican groups in recent elections

Nearly 20 years before he became president, Illinois' favorite son was facing off against then-state Auditor James Shields with broadswords on Bloody Island on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Alton.

'We've got a great shot'

Lest we forget. Openly racist former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump is not an anomaly. He actually represents a continuum of the policies and positions of former President Ronald Reagan, who holds “Saint Ronnie” status in the minds of far too many Americans. Yes, the very same Reagan who opened his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi. That’s where civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were tortured and murdered during “Freedom Summer.” The same Reagan who we have to thank for the meme of “welfare queens.”Reagan’s policies and positions didn’t just shape Republican domestic policy. He manufactured a military push to flex his anti-communist bona fides, choosing the tiny island of Grenada to make an example of by invading it on Oct. 25, 1983. That invasion was dubbed “Operation Urgent Fury” and sent 7,000 U.S. troops into an island nation only about twice the size of Washington, D.C. Was Grenada a threat to the U.S.? You be the judge. The past is far too often prologue, and the Caribbean our Caliban. But if we forget recent history, it could be repeated on a far larger scale should Trump win another presidency.

The U.K. Labour Party is organizing a visit by 100 former and current staff to boost Vice President Kamala Harris in battleground states across the U.S., an unusual effort by British liberals to bolster their political allies across the pond.

Governments often chafe at the presence of a free press. The reason is simple: A robust and independent news media keeps a sharp eye on government and, when necessary, exposes abuse of power, corruption, incompetence and waste.

The vice president later said she’d differ from Biden as president by putting a Republican in her cabinet.

Former President Donald Trump is seen at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18.

It was not all that long ago that the Republican Party stood for the rule of law and defended America’s most cherished institutions.

Nearly 15 years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the fight over Obamacare is flaring up again in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential race.

The legislation would also increase tariffs by 100 percent on Chinese imports deemed important to U.S. national security.

A group of Republican senators is unveiling a new bill that would cease all permanent normal trade relations with China and double the tariffs on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) goods.

Senate Judiciary ranking member Lindsey Graham and Chair Richard J. Durbin will have a lot to consider in the lame-duck session. A press shield proposal may not make the list.

Should he return to the White House, Trump would to build a leadership team once again — a challenge made more daunting by his track record and his ability to win Senate confirmations for the loyalists he would need to carry out his orders.

Trump claimed at an event against antisemitism on Thursday that Jewish voters didn't treat him "properly."

While JD Vance sounded somewhat willing to believe Robinson's denial, Sen. Lindsey Graham called the reports "beyond unnerving."

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) described the scandal-embroiled North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson as the "new dream candidate" to run against.Why it matters: North Carolina has not flipped blue since 2008. But former President Trump's campaign is concerned that the streak of scandals and incendiary rhetoric from the Republican nominee for governor could hurt Trump's prospects in the key swing state.Team Trump is working to distance the former president from Robinson, whom Trump once described as "Martin Luther King on steroids," after CNN reported the gubernatorial candidate referred to himself as a "black NAZI!" and a "perv" on a porn site's messaging board and expressed support for reinstating slavery. Robinson has denied the allegations and vowed to stay in the race against North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat.Driving the news: In his first interview after Robinson's alleged comments were revealed, Stein disputed Robinson's denial, saying his behavior was "in keeping" with his long history of controversial statements. "Mark Robinson is absolutely unfit to be the governor of North Carolina, and that was true before your story broke last Thursday; the story has only served to underline and put an exclamation point on that fact," Stein said on CNN's "State of the Union."Robinson's poll numbers have plummeted in recent months.Zoom out: Trump held a rally in North Carolina Saturday, but Robinson's name was absent from his speech.With all eyes on the Tar Heel state, where Harris has found recent momentum, GOP vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Trump are increasing travel to the state.What they're saying: "It would be wonderful and almost ball game if Harris wins North Carolina," Fetterman said on NBC's "Meet the Press.""But she's made North Carolina competitive already, and then after Robinson, now, we're in the best possible situation to win," he added.The other side: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) told NBC's Kristen Welker that Robinson has a right — and "an obligation" — to defend himself against the "beyond unnerving" charges, but emphasized that if the reporting is true, "He's unfit to serve for office."Graham added, "If they're not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel," advising Robinson to hire the best lawyer he can find.But Graham argued that the Trump-backed nominee's alleged scandal does not hurt the former president."Should every Republican in the country be held responsible for this guy? I would say no," he said. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the allegations "concerning" on "State of the Union" Sunday and said Robinson "owes the people of North Carolina more answers."But he dismissed North Carolina as "one state," saying, "We're talking about a presidential race that's is going to affect every American." Go deeper: In the long list of Mark Robinson's controversial statements, 1 stands out

The Trump campaign says discussions of who might serve in key Cabinet roles are “premature,” but that hasn’t stopped D.C.’s rumor mill from taking stock of who might serve in top roles in a second Trump administration. Trump is in the unusual position of not being backed by a number of members of his previous [...]

The Middle East-America Dialogue summit concluded over cocktails on Monday night as Israel launched strikes on a tent camp of displaced Palestinians in Gaza.

By The Associated Press Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are gearing up to take the stage for Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia, where they’ll fight to sway 2024 election voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics. The event, at 9 p.m. Eastern, will offer Americans their most detailed look at a campaign that’s dramatically [...]

'This election is about whether we as a nation stand with Israel or capitulate to terrorists,' Sen. Rick Scott said.

As senator, Tim Sheehy will fight for a stronger military and support the sanctions on Iran that Sen. Jon Tester voted to erase.

IVF, making up only 2% of U.S. births, has sparked debate among Republicans and pro-life advocates after Trump proposed federal funding for the treatments.

Hawley was among eight US senators who cleared more than $100,000 last year in book royalties. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, led the pack with about $460,000 in 2023.

Gov. Tim Walz has a long history of ties to a Minnesota research institute with deep connections to the Chinese Communist Party and a doctor investigated by the FBI.

Democrats are defending Vice President Harris for not diving too far into policy during her condensed campaign, arguing the short timeline lends itself to a focus on broad themes. The Democratic National Convention focused on topics from freedom to patriotism, was heavy on biography and history, and emphasized building on the momentum behind Harris’s campaign. [...]

Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are set to sit for their first joint interview since they rode to the top of the Democratic ticket about a month ago. CNN’s Dana Bash landed the coveted task of interviewing the duo during a stop in Georgia with the interview airing on [...]

The Republican Presidential hopeful spoke to the National Guard in Detroit hours after he threatened to pull out of an ABC debate with Kamala Harris on September 10.

'Why am I doing it? Let's do it with another network,' he said Monday.

The Trump and Harris campaigns are in disagreement about whether microphones should be muted during a scheduled upcoming debate, prompting former President Donald Trump to raise questions about his participation.

Harris is leading Trump by 1.5 points in polls, according to RealClearPolitics’ polling average.

Former President Trump on Sunday raised questions about his participation in next month's debate with Vice President Harris hosted by ABC News.

Former President Donald Trump suggested Monday that he might back out of the scheduled ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10 because he said the network is hostile toward Republicans.

The debate is scheduled for Sept. 10.

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention Thursday evening. Both will be campaigning this week. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) criticized Republicans who spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week, saying they were suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in a Sunday interview on ABC News’s “This Week.” “What I make of them is that Trump Derangement Symptom is a real thing,” Cotton said when asked what he makes of the [...]

From the commentary, "

Attempts to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act have faltered, leaving tens of thousands of Afghans who fled chaos during the fall of Kabul in limbo.

"They will carry out the orders... without going through the trouble of firing everyone who resists"

The Biden-Harris administration has badly mishandled the Mideast, especially our anti-American adversaries in Iran, It will only get worse if Kamala Harris becomes president.

Democratic superdelegates, also known as automatic delegates, celebrated Vice President Harris choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate.

House and Senate Republicans are celebrating facing a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket in November.