Gingrich backs Johnson, Kim has concerns about Patel, Hegseth

BY THE HILL STAFF

© Associated Press

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) praised House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for the way he’s handled his role as top Republican in the House.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) also signaled an openness to supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for their respective posts in the forthcoming Trump administration but said he has concerns about Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth.

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Sen. Kim signals openness to Stefanik, Rubio, but has ‘real concerns’ about Patel, Hegseth

BY SARAH FORTINSKY

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) on Sunday signaled an openness to supporting Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for their respective posts in the forthcoming Trump administration but said he has concerns about some of President-elect Trump’s other choices.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Dana Bash asked Kim whether he could imagine voting for Kash Patel or Pete Hegseth, whom Trump selected to serve as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and secretary of Defense, respectively.

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Sununu says Trump has ‘definitely not’ permanently changed the GOP

BY SARAH FORTINSKY

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate Republican, said on Sunday that he does not think President-elect Trump has permanently changed the GOP.

“We’ve always been a spectrum in the party. We’ve had moderates, we’ve had fiscal conservatives and social moderates and social conservatives. It’s a huge spectrum, and it’s a big tent, and it will be, it will continue to be,” Sununu said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” in an interview conducted less than two weeks before he leaves office.

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Lawler says Johnson should be House Speaker: He ‘inherited a disaster’

BY RACHEL SCULLY

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) should be re-elected as House Speaker, noting the Louisiana Republican “inherited a disaster.”

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” host Jonathan Karl asked Lawler whether Johnson would and should be reelected as Speaker.

“Yes, and yes,” he replied. “The fact is that Mike Johnson inherited a disaster when Matt Gaetz and several of my colleagues teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove Kevin McCarthy, which will go down as the single stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in politics.”

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Schmitt H-1B program: ‘American workers have been left behind by this economy’

BY LAUREN IRWIN

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.) said that U.S. workers “have been left behind by this economy” during a discussion on “Fox News Sunday” about the H-1B work visa, a key program to attract international talent that’s been criticized as too complicated and susceptible to abuse.

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