Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the power dynamics, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s White House.
He almost became President DONALD TRUMP’s running mate. But Trump’s former primary rival DOUG BURGUM is settling for a grab-bag of consolation prizes: a lower-level Cabinet position, head of a new “National Energy Dominance Council” and, in a fairly unusual move for his post, a seat at the secretive and powerful National Security Council.
It’s all part of the glory of being Doug Burgum, the former North Dakota governor who built a niche following during the GOP primaries.
The Cabinet job — Interior secretary, if he wins an expected confirmation vote — is a plum one for a western state governor who cares about energy policy. But the sweetener, a spot on the NSC, is the unusual part.
His inclusion reflects two things: First, Trump likes him: He was runner-up to JD VANCE on the veep shortlist; and second, the Trump administration cares a lot about his portfolio — energy, critical minerals mining and powering AI — and considers them crucial to national security as the U.S. fights for “energy dominance” and competes with China for global supremacy.
“Burgum’s role on the NSC is reflective of the role of energy in national security,” said an administration official granted anonymity to discuss personnel decisions, noting Burgum’s known expertise in energy and minerals.
Burgum, 68, ran a long-shot presidential campaign but stayed away from attacking Trump, a move that paid off when Trump was winnowing vice presidential picks and took a liking to Burgum for his measured demeanor, business acumen and experience as a two-term governor of a ruby-red state.
In addition to the usual NSC members — Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO, Secretary of Defense PETE HEGSETH, Energy Secretary nominee CHRIS WRIGHT and Secretary of the Treasury SCOTT BESSENT — Trump has also designated Burgum as one of the additional members in a presidential memo released last week.
That means Burgum will participate in regular meetings with other principals on the council and help coordinate responses to national security crises.
“Any agency or department can be asked to join an NSC meeting that is relevant to their area. But being a member of the NSC means that essentially, you get a seat at the table to weigh in on a wide range of national security issues that don’t necessarily have anything to do with your domain,” said BRETT BRUEN, former NSC director of global engagement.
Trump also asked Burgum — who led the second-leading oil producing state in the United States — to head a new “National Energy Dominance Council” (yes, we’ve confirmed that’s the new name) to fulfill his campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill” and sell more oil to U.S. allies.
“I’ve never seen the Interior secretary be included but [the George W. Bush administration] did put Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on the NSC, because global health was a major part of what we were trying to do,” former NSC Senior Director JOHN SIMON said.
Burgum has already used his Senate confirmation hearings to frame “energy dominance” as a way to counter demand for fossil fuels from countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
He also drew attention to the shortage of electricity as a national security concern, particularly the amount of energy required to supply the electrical grid. “Without baseload, we’re going to lose the AI arms race to China,” Burgum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “And if we lose the AI arms race to China, then that’s got direct impacts on our national security.”
Notably, Burgum’s role as secretary of Interior would give him purview over more than 500 million acres of federal land, which Republicans want to tap for critical minerals and energy production over objections from Democrats who want to see the land preserved closer to its natural state.
Burgum — who sold his software company to Microsoft in 2001 and founded two other businesses — calls the country’s public lands and waters “America’s balance sheet.”
Burgum’s addition to the NSC “was a very smart one because of the amount of critical minerals that are potentially contained on federal lands under the Bureau of Land Management’s control,” said CHIP MUIR, a former Trump White House official and co-founder of GreenMet Explorations. “Those deposits can include lithium in New Mexico and a gold mine with antimony in Idaho.”
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HOW MANY DAYS ARE THERE IN JANUARY? After a day of chaos following the White House’s decision to pause federal funding, the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday issued a memo rescinding the freeze, our MEGAN MESSERLY reports. A federal judge had swiftly blocked the freeze on federal aid on Tuesday, ruling that the courts need more time to consider the potentially far-reaching ramifications of the president’s order.
“If you have questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel,” the OMB’s new memo states.
The reversal comes after intense backlash and confusion, as Democrats slammed the decision while Republicans like Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE attempted to defend it in the halls of Congress — all while the White House blamed the media for creating the uproar.
White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT attempted to clarify in an X post and then subsequent statement that the administration’s plan for a funding freeze is still active. That backfired. In court, two dozen Democratic state attorneys general introduced Leavitt’s X post as evidence their lawsuit should continue. Judge JACK McCONNELL of Rhode Island agreed. He said the withdrawal of the “hugely ambiguous” OMB order appeared to be undercut by Leavitt’s subsequent statement that the freeze was still in effect, our KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEIN report.
LAW OF THE LAND: Trump signed into law the first piece of legislation of his new administration on Wednesday: the Laken Riley Act, which received bipartisan support in Congress before reaching the president’s desk. During the bill’s signing, Trump was joined by the family of LAKEN RILEY, a 22-year-old college student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally. Riley’s name became a rallying cry for Trump and Republicans in the lead-up to last year’s elections.
The bill directs authorities to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally who are accused of specific crimes, with no due process.
Before signing the bill, Trump said he plans to issue an executive order to prepare a facility at Guantanamo Bay to house tens of thousands of detained migrants, Irie reports.
GET READY FOR SOME NEW FACES: Since Leavitt encouraged non-traditional media sources — “anyone in this country” who is creating “legitimate news content, no matter the medium” — to apply for press credentials yesterday, some interesting folks have raised their hands.
JAMES O’KEEFE, the founder of the conservative group Project Veritas known for their undercover sting operations usually against liberals and members of the media, posted to X that he applied for credentials: “Let’s see what happens,” he wrote with the eyes emoji. BENNY JOHNSON, a far-right political commentator and YouTuber, posted an AI-generated picture of him in the briefing room on X, sharing the news of his registering for credentials. “Thank you to the White House for recognizing the power of independent news,” he wrote in the post, adding, “Our audience is real and we speak for the people.” Also throwing his hat in the ring: SETH DILLON of the conservative parody outlet Babylon Bee, whose website boasts the motto “Fake News You Can Trust.”
Even some diehard fans of former President JOE BIDEN gave it a try. HARRY SISSON, the 22-year-old progressive influencer always ripe to pick fights with Republicans on social media, sent in his request. CHRIS D. JACKSON, another chronically online Biden ride-or-die, also applied.
Leavitt also announced that the White House will be restoring the press passes of 440 journalists “whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration.” Who’s stoked to see SIMON ATEBA back in the room?
ON THOSE NOMS … ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. was in the hot seat today, as Senate Democrats in the Finance Committee grilled him over his past vaccine claims and suspect health assertions. In a heated exchange, as our DANIEL PAYNE reports, Sen. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.) asked Kennedy whether he had claimed that Covid-19 was deliberately targeted against certain ethnic groups, that Lyme disease was likely an engineered bioweapon, that “African AIDS” is different from “Western AIDS,” or that there should be no restrictions on abortion access.
Kennedy disputed the characterization of some of the questions and tried to clarify or qualify his previous statements.
Bennet asked Kennedy whether he once claimed that exposure to pesticides causes children to be transgender. “No, I never said that,” Kennedy responded. He has in fact made this claim.
Former New York Rep. LEE ZELDIN was confirmed by the Senate this afternoon to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
And PAM BONDI’s nomination to be attorney general was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on party lines, advancing Trump’s pick to the Senate floor for a vote. Commerce Secretary nominee HOWARD LUTNICK also appeared in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday morning.
IN CASE THIS GOT LOST IN THE SHUFFLE: Trump this week moved to fire Democratic members of two independent federal commissions — a break from legal precedent that will hand the president power over the boards that oversee U.S. workers, employers and labor unions, WaPo’s JULIAN MARK, LAUREN KAORI GURLEY and LISA REIN report.
Trump dismissed two of the three Democrats on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, JOCELYN SAMUELS and CHARLOTTE BURROWS, and removed the EEOC’s general counsel, KARLA GILBRIDE, who oversaw civil actions against employers, including on discrimination claims from LGBTQ+ and pregnant workers.
He also fired the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, GWYNNE WILCOX, a Democrat, and terminated JENNIFER ABRUZZO, the NLRB’s general counsel. It puts into question several actions underway at both agencies, including against ELON MUSK’s company, Tesla.
Trump’s pledge to lower prices is already facing a reality test (POLITICO’s Victoria Guida)
Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management (Wired’s Vittoria Elliott)
Obviously it’s not white! According to MATTHEW COSTELLO, senior historian at the White House Historical Association, the White House is off-gray. When repainting the White House, each layer requires 570 gallons of paint.
A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!