Lawmakers and policy shops have largely moved on from the shock of Kamala Harris's defeat and are preparing for Donald Trump's return to the city in January.
Joe Biden was among those who seemed to have made peace with the outcome over the past few days..
Now firmly in the "lame duck" stage of his presidency, the president spent the weekend in South America, participating in the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. He ended prepared remarks during a visit to the Amazon rainforest by disappearing into the trees.
Meanwhile, the race to fill Trump's remaining Cabinet positions fell under the shadow of the newest member of the president-elect's entourage: Elon Musk.
The Twitter/X CEO — who now travels with Trump frequently and hangs around Mar-a-Lago when not — is using his massive platform and his access to the president-elect in an attempt to shape the incoming administration.
On Saturday, his latest effort took form as he endorsed Howard Lutnick, Trump's transition team co-chair, for the position of Treasury Secretary.
Lutnick's key competitor for the job, Scott Bessent, had auditioned for the job just a day prior. The timing of Musk's endorsement looks extremely convenient.
And there's more. CNN reports Musk has been "weighing in on staffing decisions – making clear his preference for certain roles". And Axios reported on Monday about a blow-up between Musk and Boris Epshteyn, one of the president-elect's longtime close advisers.
According to the news outlet, Musk angrily accused the Trump loyalist of leaking to the media about other Cabinet nominations and accused Epshteyn of having too much influence over Trump. What was described as a "huge explosion" played out in front of Mar-a-Lago guests and club members, according to the report.
Epshteyn isn't saying a word publicly on the matter, and declined to comment when asked by The Independent about it. His silence comes as other Republican insiders say that talking to the press has been strongly discouraged among those jockeying for government positions in Trumpworld.
A number of Trump's Cabinet positions remain open besides Treasury, which is one of the biggest remaining prizes — but far from the last.
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