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Your briefing on the latest headlines from the United States

LLawmakers and policymakers have largely gotten over the shock of Kamala Harris’ defeat and are preparing for Donald Trump’s return to town in January.

Joe Biden was among those who appeared to have accepted the result in recent days. Now firmly in the “lame duck” phase of his presidency, the president spent the weekend in South America, attending the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile, the race to fill Trump’s remaining Cabinet posts has fallen in the shadow of the newest member of the president-elect’s inner circle: Elon Musk.

The Twitter/X CEO — who now frequently travels with Trump and hangs out at Mar-a-Lago when he’s not — is using his massive platform and access to the president-elect to try to shape the new administration.

On Saturday, his latest effort took shape when he endorsed Howard Lutnick, co-chairman of Trump’s transition team, for Treasury secretary. Lutnick’s main competitor for the job, Scott Bessent, had auditioned for the job only the day before. The timing of Musk’s endorsement therefore seems extremely opportune.

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And there’s more. CNN reports that Musk has “weighed in on personnel decisions – making clear his preference for certain roles.” And Axios reported Monday an argument between Musk and Boris Epshteyn, one of the president-elect’s longtime close advisors. According to the outlet, Musk angrily accused the Trump loyalist of leaking other Cabinet appointments to the media and accused Epshteyn of having too much influence over Trump. What was described as a “huge explosion” occurred in front of guests and club members at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report.

Epshteyn is not saying a word publicly on the subject and declined to comment when asked. The Independent about this. His silence comes as other Republican insiders say speaking to the press has been heavily discouraged among those vying for government positions in Trumpworld.

A number of positions in Trump’s Cabinet remain vacant, with the exception of Treasury, which is one of the largest remaining positions. Others include the heads of the Education, Commerce, Labor, Transportation and HUD departments, as well as Trump’s new chief trade representative.

There are still opportunities for Trump to cause serious disruption with his looming choices. Many are looking to the Department of Education to see if the president-elect will install someone who believes it should be abolished — someone like Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, one of the candidates running. Her organization led purges of LGBTQ+ books and other materials in school libraries, angering progressives and some free speech advocates.

Trade, on the other hand, will likely be one of his least controversial choices. The president-elect reportedly leans towards Linda McMahon, former CEO of WWE, to lead the department; McMahon ran his Small Business Administration without scandal during his first presidency.

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A big question concerns Trump’s choice for the Federal Trade Commission. He is widely expected to fire Biden appointee Lina Khan (who has become an enemy of Musk), but his work has gained some allies in Trump’s inner circle, including JD Vance. His replacement could well follow in his footsteps.

There are also signs that Elon Musk’s influence in Trump’s inner circle is far from ironclad. A pair of Sunday and Monday articles from The New York Times And The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk’s support for Lutnick only reinforced Trump’s discomfort with Lutnick’s heavy-handed lobbying for the nomination, and revealed that two new candidates had been considered for the position: the former governor of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, and the managing director of Apollo Global Management, Marc Rowan.

Other reports have indicated that Trump’s inner circle is growing increasingly frustrated with Musk working his way into MAGAworld to the point where he has been ordained as having been granted “uncle status” by Kai Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump Jr.. Musk’s presence at Mar-a-Lago, usually dining with Trump or joining the president-elect on golf excursions, has exhausted his high-ranking aides. Even Trump himself joked about Musk holding on to his re-election campaign and post-election transition.

“He loves this place. I can’t get him out of here. He just loves it here,” Trump joked last week. “And you know what? I also like having it here.

The Tesla chief is still expected to lead the so-called “Department of Government Effectiveness” under Trump’s second presidency, which will likely just be a White House advisory board with a fancy title.

But if Musk continues to make enemies, his access to the president-elect could end up like one of his rockets: exploding before it even leaves the launch pad.