Suspicious Cat smells some possible streamlining and downsizing afoot.

Not only has President Trump announced the nomination of Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, but he has also announced that Lutnick will carry the role and “responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative” (USTR).

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Perhaps in the second term President Trump and Howard Lutnick are going to fold the USTR into the Dept of Commerce?  Interesting.

Hopefully, Howard Lutnick, like Wilbur Ross, will keep the U.S. Chamber of Commerce blocked from influence over the upcoming trade discussions and potential trade agreements.  We note that former USTR Lighthizer was part of the transition discussion, and it seems odd his name has not surfaced…. yet.

Regardless, Howard Lutnick is an excellent choice for all the reasons previously outlined.

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The “Big Ugly” was always a description of the battle that few understood.  You cannot be betrayed by your enemies; that happens when your allies reveal themselves against your interests.  Majority Leader John Thune will play his cards carefully in order to extract maximum damage.

The Senate is factually the core of republican opposition to MAGA and President Trump.  The visible battle against Obama, Biden, Harris and the professional political left, always consumes the most attention.  However, it is the less-visible battle against the entrenched ideological republicans that proves to be the hardest.

The Republicans in the upper chamber will not relinquish power easily.  They have a multitude of weapons to use against the insurgency of President Trump supporters.  We are seeing this play out now in the alignment of Republican Senators who stand in opposition to President Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz as U.S. Attorney General, and this recent report aligns with exactly the type of move we would expect.

The basic outline is that senate leadership will reluctantly support Matt Gaetz for Main Justice, where ‘support’ means they will not directly oppose; in exchange for the nomination of FBI Director Mike Rogers to defend their interests at FBI.

This is the typical type of deal the DeceptiCons are well known for.

Thune and McConnell (in background) have yet to reveal who they have planned to place in the chair positions of multiple committees. We are very interested to see who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence because that mutually dependent relationship is the core of the IC influence in the legislative branch.  The same may be said for the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ultimately the Gaetz nomination.

This recent report aligns with information we have received from the senate staff offices who are discussing the Gaetz nomination.  Thune would not make such a proposal openly, for obvious reasons, but intermediaries would relay the message between the upper chamber and the transition team.

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In September we noted Howard Lutnick was the *ONLY* person, other than former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who accurately outlined: (1) Energy as the core source of sticky inflation; and (2) ending the Marshal Plan for EU tariffs as a key objective in term-2.

In combination with his eloquence in outlining MAGAnomics, which is remarkably impressive, this combination of skillsets would make Howard Lutnick the ideal candidate for Term-2 Commerce Secretary.  The guy simply ‘gets it.’ {SEE HERE}

Howard Lutnick was also in the running for Treasury Secretary; however, today several media outlets are reporting that Lutnick is likely to be nominated as Commerce Secretary, making him the first and leading WOLVERINE announced in the MAGAnomic team.

WASHINGTON DC – Donald Trump is expected to nominate veteran Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department, according to people familiar with the matter, elevating one of the financial world’s most vocal supporters of the president-elect to a crucial position overseeing the incoming administration’s economic agenda.

Lutnick, chief executive of the financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, in recent months has become a close Trump ally and had been a top contender to lead the Treasury Department. As the co-chair of the president-elect’s transition team, Lutnick has spent much of his time at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private Florida club, poring over shortlists of candidates for positions in the administration.

A spokeswoman for Lutnick declined to comment. A Trump transition team spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Punchbowl News earlier reported that Trump was expected to chose Lutnick for the role. (read more)

Howard Lutnick gets it. The essential core of MAGAnomics.  Drive down the cost of goods through expanded energy development, then leverage reciprocity in tariffs to end the exfiltration of wealth.  Then cut out regulation and unleash American enterprise. This is the way to reverse this insufferable economic trajectory that creates a “service driven economy.”   The entire interview is well worth watching:

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Jeff Clark has some keen insight into the strategy of how to confront the Lawfare operation within Main Justice, as well as how President Trump can navigate the process of ‘recess appointments’ against the likelihood of a reluctant Senate confirmation process. {Direct Rumble Link}. WATCH:

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According to NBC, DOJ Lawfare operatives and FBI agents within the corrupt and weaponized silos, are calling their friends for legal assistance and protection against investigations of their past activity.

It is easy to see how DOJ-NSD officials would be worried, particularly given the nature of how Deputy AG Lisa Monaco organized them over the past four years to continue Lawfare efforts against President Trump.  Perhaps one name, Mary McCord, should be concerned a little more than most.

Additionally, the FBI agents who participated in the witch hunts against President Trump and his allies are also concerned.  Both groups now reaching out to lawyers proactively evaluating their risk against the backdrop of demonstrably corrupt and illegal activity.

In short, the article outlines how they were nervous before, but they are extremely worried now that Matt Gaetz has been nominated as Attorney General.  Many of them planning to exit quickly and take a low-profile position.

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WASHINGTON DC – Multiple current and former senior Justice Department and FBI officials have begun reaching out to lawyers in anticipation of being criminally investigated by the Trump administration, according to three people with knowledge of their deliberations.

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It’s a little funny, in an ironic way.  Much was made of homosexual Pete Buttigieg, together with his husband, using a gender-binary surrogate to become parents. President Trump nominates Sean Duffy to be Buttigieg’s replacement; Duffy has nine kids.

President Trump has announced the nomination of former Wisconsin Congressman, Sean Duffy, to be Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

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Russ Vought ran the Office of Management and Budgets under President Trump in the first administration, and there is a strong likelihood he will again.

Mr Vought sat down with Tucker Carlson for a lengthy interview outlining what he learned about how the deep state actually works. WATCH:

Chapters:
0:00 What is the Office of Management and Budget?
7:57 How Our Intel Agencies Overrule the President
29:21 What Will the Congressional Hearings Look Like for Trump’s Appointees?
36:18 The Evil Think Tanks Trying to Undermine You

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It should not come as a surprise to see the same methods deployed against President Trump in 2024 that were used by the FBI in 2016.  The difference is now that President Trump understands the full power of his office in the security clearance process and that he doesn’t need the FBI.

In 2016 the FBI used their power to conduct security clearances as a tool to stall and block President Trump appointments.  Historically this is one of the ways a very corrupt and political FBI interfere in any system that might be against the interests of the Intelligence Community that controls them. However, in 2024 President-Elect Trump and his transition team have already taken a different approach.

First the report:

WASHINGTON DC – An official at FBI headquarters in Washington is warning that the bureau’s security clearance division is politicized and can’t be trusted to screen President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for top administration jobs.

The allegations of political bias at the FBI’s security division, or SecD, were revealed in a protected whistleblower disclosure sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which The Washington Times reviewed.

The official said the security clearance process has been “contaminated by the political agendas of [security division] officials and other executives in the FBI.” (more)

This is not any earth-shattering revelation. We painstakingly discussed this in a multitude of prior research discussions. The motive of the Whistleblower to come forth now, is likely because President Trump is already working around the problem.

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The question is not really whether Sea Island will attempt to regain their power position in 2028 through Ron DeSantis, the question is more appropriately considered: from what position will they launch DeSantis into 2028.

The Florida Governor’s term ends in 2026. Will the traditional path of a year in the private sector to accumulate wealth be followed, or will DeSantis take this opportunity to fill the Senate Seat of Marco Rubio with himself.

[Source]

Perhaps the last sentence in that statement provides a clue. No one uses the phrase “proven record of results” more than the tribe of power organizers who constructed the public image of Ron DeSantis. You cannot converse with a member of Sea Island about DeSantis without them saying “proven track record of results.” It’s almost an autonomic response.

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Brendan Carr has been the censorship buster, investigating Newsguard, Facebook and social media censors directly. Today President Trump announces that Brendan Carr will be moved to the FCC Commissioner’s Chair.

“I first nominated Commissioner Carr to the FCC in 2017, and he has been confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate three times. His current term runs through 2029 and, because of his great work, I will now be designating him as permanent Chairman.”

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“Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel,” Carr captioned a letter to CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Google parent company Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai shared on X. “The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with ‘fact checking’ groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives. The censorship cartel must be dismantled.” {LINK}

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