President-elect Donald Trump is expected to appoint former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) as Secretary of Agriculture, according to a source familiar with the transition process, The Hill reports.
Loeffler currently serves as co-chair of Trump’s second inaugural committee alongside real estate mogul Steve Witkoff as preparations continue for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in January 2025.
Loeffler served briefly as a U.S. Senator from Georgia after being appointed in 2019 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R). She later ran for the seat in the 2020 special election but was defeated by now-Sen. Raphael Warnock (D).
Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler defended Donald Trump during his Georgia criminal case, asserting that the racketeering charges against him and his allies were politically motivated. Loeffler testified before a Fulton County grand jury in 2022 and was among those the special grand jury recommended for indictment. However, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) ultimately chose not to charge her.
In a February op-ed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Loeffler called for the removal of Willis from the case, citing concerns over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade and questioning her ability to prosecute Trump fairly.
Before her time in the Senate, Loeffler was the CEO of the digital asset company Bakkt. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, a team she sold in 2021.
“Trump made gains among rural voters in pivotal battleground states such as Georgia and North Carolina, which helped fuel his victory in the 2024 race,” The Hill reported.
On Friday, meanwhile, Trump responded swiftly to protests from his followers who were upset about reports that he was considering former Rep. Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race in Michigan to incumbent Se. Elissa Slotkin (D), to be the director of the FBI.
Dan Scavino, who has been working as a social media director and advisor to Trump for years, cleared up the confusion on his X account on Friday morning.
“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening — In his own words, ‘I have never even given it a thought.’ Not happening,” Scavino wrote.
Rogers is a former FBI agent, congressman, and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. After meeting with the Trump transition team at Mar-a-Lago, he was believed to be in contention to replace current FBI Director Christopher Wray.
However, after gathering additional information regarding Rogers and his history inside the intelligence agency, key figures within the MAGA movement began to voice their opposition to the idea.
In 2017, Rogers concluded that the Russians had intervened in the 2016 election, and he warned that this was a “clear and present danger to our democracy.” This led to the resurfacing of old social media statements from Rogers, which were made public after he was reported to be a candidate for the position of FBI director.
Additionally, Rogers co-founded The Alliance for Securing Democracy, which detractors have referred to as a “deep state Never Trump” organization. Former national security advisors who were responsible for the creation of the Hamilton 68 project formed this organization from the establishment.
The news about Rogers came as Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz removed himself from consideration as Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Gaetz wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had “excellent meetings” with senators the day before, but “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
