President-elect
Donald Trump scheduled meetings with an array of politicians and former
government officials on Monday, including a Democratic congresswoman who
backed
Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary against Hillary
Clinton.
War veteran
Tulsi Gabbard, a U.S. representative from Hawaii who quit the Democratic
National Committee in February to endorse the independent U.S. senator from
Vermont, will be first on Trump's meeting list, transition officials said.
Gabbard, the
first Hindu member of the U.S. Congress, has veered from Democratic Party
positions at times, backing policies cracking down on immigration to the United
States by Muslims in particular.
In November,
she was one of a few dozen Democrats who joined Republicans to pass a bill
mandating stronger screening process for refugees from Iraq and Syria seeking
to enter the United States. In 2014, she called for a rollback of the visa
waiver program for Britain, Germany, France and other European countries with
what she called "Islamic extremist" populations.
The
Republican president-elect has hosted a parade of visitors at his offices in
Manhattan, and in New Jersey over the weekend, as he works to build a Cabinet
and fill other senior administration positions for his term that begins on Jan.
20.
In addition
to seeing Gabbard, Trump was scheduled to meet on Monday with former Texas
Governor Rick Perry, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, former House of
Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and Elaine Chao, the U.S. labor secretary
under former President George W. Bush, advisers said.
Perry is
being considered for Cabinet posts including defense, energy and veterans
affairs, Trump's transition team said. Fallin's name has come up as a
possibility for interior secretary, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said
on Fox News.
Conway said
the transition team is "way ahead of schedule" on Cabinet decisions
as Trump speaks to a variety of current and former leaders and experts from
many fields. "Most people who meet with him are not going to be in his
Cabinet," she said.
Trump, a New
York businessman who has never previously held public office and who was the
surprise winner over Clinton in the Nov. 8 election, has so far chosen three
senior leaders of his national security and law enforcement teams.
They are
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, U.S. Representative Mike
Pompeo as CIA director, and retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as
national security adviser.
Over the
weekend, Trump held court at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where
he conferred with retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, a contender for
defense secretary, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a fierce
Trump critic during the presidential campaign who is now under consideration
for secretary of state.
Summing up
two days of talks on Sunday evening, Trump said he had made decisions on a
couple of appointments. "We really had some great meetings, and you’ll be
hearing about them soon,” he said.
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