
Trump transition falling short of hiring goals, sources say
Offer letters is expected to go out Monday to political appointees in Trump's incoming administration, sources say.
Watch CBS News
Ed O'Keefe is CBS News' senior White House and political correspondent reporting for all CBS News platforms.
He is part of the team covering President Trump and covered all four years of Joe Biden's presidency. O'Keefe previously reported on the 2024 presidential election, including Biden's decision to exit the race and the quick emergence of Vice President Harris as the Democratic candidate. He served as a floor reporter at the 2024 Democratic and Republican conventions. In 2020, he was lead correspondent for the Biden-Harris campaign, the Democratic presidential primaries, and at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Since 2018, O'Keefe has helped lead coverage of election nights and the ensuing days from CBS News' Election Headquarters in New York City. He also helped lead CBS News' hours-long coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol.
From the White House to the campaign trail, O'Keefe's reports stretch from the politics of the moment to how policy enacted in Washington affects the nation and the world. His reporting has taken him to Canada to assess President Trump's trade war; to Guatemala to see why people immigrate to the United States and ignore warnings about the dangers of doing so; to Las Vegas to interview service workers eager for tax breaks on tipped wages; and to multiple states for lengthy conversations with voters grappling with their choice for president. Along the way, he's interviewed dozens of presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates.
Since joining CBS News in April 2018, O'Keefe has contributed to coverage of the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump; the 2018 and 2022 midterm elections; the contentious confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh; funerals for late presidents and senators; the record-long 2019 federal government shutdown; and the blackface and sexual misconduct scandals that rocked Virginia state government that same year.
Before CBS News, O'Keefe spent more than a dozen years with The Washington Post covering federal agencies, federal employees, Congress, and presidential elections. A proud Guatemalan-Irish-American, he is a lifetime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and once served as one of the group's national vice presidents. He grew up in Delmar, New York, and attended American University in Washington.
Offer letters is expected to go out Monday to political appointees in Trump's incoming administration, sources say.
In the closing days of his administration, Biden plans to travel to California to dedicate the Chuckwalla National Monument, sources said.
President Biden is weighing giving preemptive pardons to perceived enemies of President-elect Donald Trump to shield them from possible "retribution."
Several candidates under consideration to replace Trump's defense pick, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst.
President-elect Donald Trump is considering replacing former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, his embattled pick for defense secretary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Sources familiar with the transition tell CBS News that President-elect Donald Trump is considering naming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as pick for Defense Secretary.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Gaetz as his nominee to be attorney general last week.
If confirmed, this will be Russ Vought's second time as OMB director. He authored a chapter of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a GOP administration.
Linda McMahon is a co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team and was the Small Business Administrator in his first term.
Kennedy has a long record of criticizing vaccines, including spreading misleading claims about their safety.
President-elect Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida were once political rivals.
The national security adviser is a top aide to the president who plays a major role in foreign and national security policy decision-making.
Stephen Miller, Trump's pick to be deputy chief of staff for policy, was the face of his immigration policy in his first term.
The ballot boxes in Arizona's Pinal County are equipped with GPS tracking devices, something officials say can assure the public all election equipment is protected.
Biden was responding to a joke made at a Trump rally by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, in which Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."