“Republicans from Capitol Hill to the White House are battling internally over the basic tenets of Donald Trump’s first 100-day agenda — including which priorities should come first — in a preview of the landmines looming over the GOP’s ambitious agenda despite controlling all of Washington,” CNN reports.

President-elect Donald Trump named Alina Habba, one of his personal attorneys and fiercest media surrogates, as counselor to the president on Sunday, The Hill reports.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) posted on X that she wants to give Pete Hegseth a “fair hearing” to be Defense Secretary.

Playbook: “That may sound unremarkable, but it’s a reminder of something that is: No Republican — not even Ernst — is yet willing to publicly and explicitly oppose his nomination.”

“Now, a new pressure campaign aims to keep it that way.”

Donald Trump said that everyone who served on the congressional committee that investigated Jan. 6 should go to prison, the New York Times reports.

But he then says “no,” when pressed on whether he would direct his attorney general to send them to jail.

Jonathan Swan: “Trump is sending clear public signals to his nominees that he wants retribution, although he is then saying he will not direct them to act. But by saying that Jack Smith is ‘corrupt’ and that members of the Jan. 6 committee belong in prison, Trump is making no secret of what he wants his Justice Department to do.”

Associated Press: “Having won the election and sweeping to power, Republicans are planning an ambitious 100-day agenda with President-elect Donald Trump in the White House and GOP lawmakers in a congressional majority to accomplish their policy goals.”

“Atop the list is the plan to renew some $4 trillion in expiring GOP tax cuts, a signature domestic achievement of Trump’s first term and an issue that may define his return to the White House.”

“President-elect Donald Trump vowed to make immediate and sweeping changes after he takes office on Jan. 20, such as pardons for those convicted in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and said he wants to find a legislative solution to keep Dreamers in the country legally,” NBC News reports.

“Trump also said he’ll work to extend the tax cuts passed in his first term. He said he will not seek to impose restrictions on abortion pills. He plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and try to end birthright citizenship. And he said the pardons for Jan. 6 rioters will happen on day one, arguing many have endured overly harsh treatment in prison.”

“President-elect Donald Trump is building his second administration at a breakneck speed, announcing his choices for nearly all of the roughly two dozen top-tier nominations, including Cabinet posts, at earlier dates than he did when starting his first term. It’s a sign not only that Trump’s team has more experience than it did in 2016, but also that it has a much more defined sense of what it wants: loyalty,” NBC News reports.

“The expedited pace, however, has not come without setbacks and intrigue. Trump has long skipped the careful vetting of the backgrounds and financial records of potential picks that most incoming administrations undertake. This approach has led to surprise controversies and unexpected bumps for some of his more contentious choices.”

“Trump has ‘botched up the nomination process pretty bad,’ a Republican senator said, adding, ‘They clearly aren’t vetting these people.’”

“President-elect Donald Trump, a lifelong teetotaler whose brother struggled with alcoholism and died at 42, was shaken by reports about a history of heavy drinking by his choice to lead the Pentagon, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s response was to encourage Hegseth, who has said he has never had a drinking problem, to fight for his job. Trump instructed aides to defend Hegseth, activating his campaign’s rapid-response apparatus and encouraging surrogates to publicly show support. Allies have threatened primary challenges for senators who oppose his picks, and a group funded by billionaire Elon Musk released an ad pressuring senators to back Hegseth.”

“But Trump has held back on pushing hard himself, according to advisers who, like many of the more than a dozen figures interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to relate private conversations.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team still has not sent policy advisers to coordinate with the federal agencies he is preparing to take over, delaying preparations that could be key to executing his ambitious agenda,” Politico reports.

“That puts Trump officials nearly a month behind their recent predecessors, who began what is known as the ‘agency review’ process — meeting with existing agency staff and getting briefed on major policy issues and challenges — right after the election, to ensure their incoming administrations would be up to speed. Trump, however, delayed for months in signing an agreement with the Biden administration to authorize those teams, before finally reaching a deal just before Thanksgiving.”

“Amid other transition delays — including in processing security clearances — former officials in both parties say this lag in beginning the usual crash course in agency operations only adds to the obstacles Trump will face as he looks to rapidly implement his sweeping policy agenda. That’s particularly true in areas like health policy, where few of the president-elect’s picks to lead the agencies have any experience in government or in managing such large and complex bureaucracies.”

“President-elect Trump has been dipping into the ranks of current and former House members to fill out his administration at a historic rate,” Axios reports.

“It’s no coincidence that Trump prefers the lower chamber to the more detached and regal Senate — where even now members are flexing their independence from the incoming president.”

“House members, by contrast, have to run for reelection every two years and are typically more in touch with the fanatically pro-Trump GOP base.”

Marc Caputo: “There are few political acts that Trump values more than defiance in the face of media scrutiny. And Hegseht’s charge on Thursday—clearly directed at an audience in Mar-a-Lago—bought him both time and goodwill. After rampant speculation that he could soon drop his nomination, there is little expectation of that now. In fact, Trump’s transition team has settled on two theories for why Hegseth should stay in: time and magnetism.”

“Aides believe that the longer Hegseth remains in contention for the post, the higher his chances of confirmation will be, simply because it subjects GOP senators to a sustained pressure campaign from the MAGA base, and because many will have a hard time scuttling him in a public vote. Those aides also believe that if Hegseth is drawing fire from critics, there will be less attention and heat on Trump’s other controversial nominees like Kash Patel (FBI), Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence), or Robert Kennedy Jr. (HHS).”

Said a senior Trump adviser: “Hegseth is a heatshield. Pete can take the heat, and that’s better for everyone else.”

“This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won’t be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I’m doing it.”

— Pete Hegseth, pledging to Megan Kelly to not drink alcohol while serving as defense secretary.

“If you want to rub elbows with President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration during inaugural celebrations, it’ll cost you — between half a million and $2 million, specifically,” USA Today reports.

“I think you have seen more happen in the last two weeks than you have in the last four years.”

— Donald Trump, quoted by the Associated Press.

“The high-stakes battle on Capitol Hill over Pete Hegseth’s quest to lead the Defense Department is causing no shortage of angst in the Pentagon, where officials are watching nervously to find out who their next boss will be,” Politico reports.

Said one Pentagon official: “The biggest thing I’m picking up is a level of discomfort and uncertainty. People want to know who their leadership is going to be and what they’re going to be asked to do, these are professionals who can put personal feelings aside.”

“President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health wants to take on campus culture at elite universities, wielding the power of tens of billions of dollars in scientific grants,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford physician and economist, is considering a plan to link a university’s likelihood of receiving research grants to some ranking or measure of academic freedom on campus.”