Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head up the Department of Health and Human Services, one of the most deeply entrenched bureaucracies of the federal government. He is a maverick when it comes to health and is a vaccine skeptic who spoke out against the Covid-19 vaccines. He also believes the degradation of the American food system and quality of foods that Americans eat are harming their health. Some might even call him a “health nut.”
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” Trump announced on TruthSocial.com
Kennedy ran for president but came to appreciate Trump and ultimately dropped from contention and backed Trump’s campaign, although RFK Jr.’s name remained on the ballots of some states, such as Alaska.
Kennedy is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated while running for president. He is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated while in office on Nov. 22, 1963 in Parkland, Texas. RFK Jr. is a former Democrat who is from a family of Democrat royalty.
Lisa Murkowski is itching to vote against Republican firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz as U.S. Attorney General. She may not get the chance. If the new Senate leadership recesses the Senate for three days, Gaetz can take office as a recess appointment, circumventing the confirmation process. It remains to be seen if Senate Majority Leader Thune will play ball.
The Gaetz appointment is a giant middle finger to those in the Department of Justice who have harassed Trump since before he took office in 2017. It started with the Russia hoax, and it’s been going on, nonstop, for eight years. The final straw came when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, including searching Melania’s closet, purportedly looking for evidence of a crime.
Trump will not allow this invasion of his wife’s privacy will not go unavenged. Heads will roll down the entire change of command which was responsible for this travesty. If these people are smart, they’re already packing their bags.
If Thune refuses to allow a recess appointment , it’s highly unlikely Gaetz can be confirmed. If that’s the case, Trump’s replacement appointment, regardless of who it is, will look reasonable by comparison.
Gaetz also serves to distract attention from other controversial appointments, such as Pete Hegseth for Secretary of the Department of Defense.
The Department of Justice is infused with arrogance. These people think their loyalty is to their ideas about the law, not to the democratically elected President who appoints them.
As the execrable James Comey put it in the title of his book, they have “A Higher Loyalty.”
But the courts decide the law, not the Department of Justice. They are the president’s lawyers and are obliged to advocate for him. President Trump, with his appointment of Gaetz, is putting these people in their place.
It’s pleasant to think that this is just the beginning of four years of fearless leadership.
Fritz Pettyjohn’s first venture in politics was working for Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. He served in the Alaska Legislature in the 1980s and writes the blog ReaganProject.com.
In a stunning reversal, the Biden-Harris Administration decided that allowing the people of King Cove, Alaska to have a life-saving road to the airport in Cold Bay is OK after all.
For the entire four years of Biden-Harris, the administration blocked a land swap that would allow the road to be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge so that those needing to be medevaced from King Cove would be able to reach the all-weather airport. The weather in King Cove is such that many times planes cannot land there due to severe crosswinds. The weather in the Alaska Gulf and Bering Sea area can prevent access due to wind and waves.
But the land swap that Biden has ok’d may be seen as a rotten deal. Some have even called it “extortion.”
The federal government proposes taking tens of thousands of acres in exchange for about 206 acres that would be needed for the road. Under President Donald Trump, it was going to be a fair-market-value trade.
In a draft environmental reviewdocument released this week, the administration stated that it supported pursuing the road’s construction, under the conditions that take advantage of Alaska Natives.
In the deal proposed by the Biden-Harris Administration, approximately 13,300 acres of land owned by King Cove (Native) Corporation (surface estate but excluding tidelands and submerged land of rivers, streams, and lakes determined navigable for purposes of title through federal judicial or administrative procedures), located near Mortensens Lagoon and the mouth of Kinzarof Lagoon, would be conveyed to the U.S. and added to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
The Kinzarof Lagoon parcel would also be added to Izembek Wilderness. As a part of the exchange, the King Cove Corporation would also relinquish its selection of 5,430 acres in Izembek Wilderness on the east side of Cold Bay made under the terms of the Alaska NativeClaims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
The feds want approximately 1,600 acres (surface and subsurface estate) within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on Sitkinak Island, including land withdrawn for use by the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) and approximately 170 acres of refuge-managed land would be transferred to the State.
Approximately 43,093 acres of land owned by the State of Alaska, adjacent to the North Creek and Pavlof Units of the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, would be conveyed to the United States (U.S.) and added to the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness. This includes the subsurface estate, but does not include submerged lands including tidelands, lakes, rivers, and streams to be retained by the State of Alaska.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was overjoyed with the proposed deal.
“There has never once been a moment of doubt in my mind that a life-saving road is the only way to truly protect the good people of King Cove,” Murkowski said. “After a more than a year-long process, and after reviewing the options to protect residents’ health and safety at all times, a Democratic administration has sided with King Cove and determined that a life-saving road can be built safely, while also protecting the environment.”
She then thanked outgoing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
“I thank everyone at Interior for their work on a strong, defensible analysis that adds to the overwhelming case for a life-saving road. I spoke with Secretary Haaland this morning and thanked her for visiting King Cove with me, for listening to the people who actually live there about the environmental injustices they face every day, and for directing her team to make an honest recommendation to her about the path forward. That path forward is clearly a life-saving road, and we must now finish the job by finalizing the process so that a road can be built as soon as possible,” she said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan was more careful in his response.
“I’m still reviewing the details, but to be clear, after decades of the Alaska Native people of King Cove pleading with their federal government to be allowed to build an 11-mile, life-saving road from King Cove to Cold Bay, the former Trump Administration resolved this issue fairly,” Sullivan said.
“President Biden’s Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland heartlessly killed that solution. Now, after nearly four years—and the loss of at least one life—the community’s health and safety is being leveraged for an outrageous price: 31,000 acres in exchange for 500 acres,” he said. “While I’m relieved that this life-saving road might be built, Alaska Native lives should never be leveraged, especially by their own federal government. The people of King Cove deserve much better.”
Rep. Mary Peltola remained silent on the decision by the Biden Administration to rip off Alaska Natives.
Rep. Mary Peltola knows something the Alaska Division of Elections doesn’t know.
Peltola tells supporters in a Wednesday fundraising letter that there are “thousands” more than “41,000 votes” to be counted in Alaska’s general election. That’s a minimum of 6,000 more than the Alaska Division of Elections estimates are yet to be counted.
Peltola asks people to send money to her, “so every voice will be heard.”
In her fundraising letter, Peltola says:
“We’re getting new info about my race by the minute, and I urgently need your support before the next surge of details come through. Across Alaska, thousands of in-person votes remain to be counted, and they’re coming from areas with large Alaska Native populations (where I often perform best).”
And then she continues, “On top of those in-person ballots, we estimate that there are still at least 41,000 absentee and early votes that are yet to be counted.”
The Division of Elections says there are up to 35,000 more votes to be counted, yet Alaska’s current member of Congress claims there are at least 20% more votes than that — the 41,000 and some unknown thousands that she has not disclosed. And, she says, they are ballots from “large Alaska Native populations.”
Must Read Alaska on Wednesday did the calculations on the ballots still to be counted, which can be analyzed in this link:
There is one rural precinct that has not reported in — Atkasuk: District 40, Precinct 006. That’s between Wainwright and Prudhoe Bay, south of Utqiagvik. There are 155 registered voters in that precinct. The normal turnout in District 40 region is 28%. Those voters appear uninterested in this election, as they have not bothered to report in.
Peltola doesn’t explain why her numbers are so high. But she’s apparently ready to litigate to victory, telling Democrats, “But the reality is, we likely won’t know who won until the ranked choice voting process plays out in the coming days.“
“Team Mary is prepared for any and all scenarios, and we’re ready to fight to ensure that every single vote is counted. The catch is, while other campaigns are done fundraising, we still need to power this work – however long it takes,” she writes. “We can’t ensure every Alaskan’s voice is heard without support.
“So please, will you split $25 between the Alaska Democratic Party and I to ensure that we have the resources to keep this seat in the people’s hands?“
The Democrats appear to be ready to drag the election out for “however long it takes” to secure a win.
Any hope that these last-arriving ballots will break for Peltola is up against the reality that another 8,500 votes counted on Wednesday didn’t give her the trend she needs.
Based on the latest 8,500 count, Must Read Alaska stands by its prediction that Peltola cannot honestly catch Begich, who appears to be poised to win with 52% after ranking takes place.
In a landmark vote, Alaska’s Local Boundary Commission approved the petition to create the Xunaa Borough in Hoonah, with a 3-2 margin.
This historic decision would dissolve the first-class City of Hoonah and reincorporate it as a borough with authority over much of northern Southeast Alaska, including sections of Glacier Bay National Park. Many of the areas it would incorporate are remote settlements that may perceive little benefit.
If approved by local voters, the change could give Hoonah residents a stronger voice in their governance, reflecting their values and traditions without interference from external bureaucratic pressures.
At the heart of this decision was a push for individual liberty over what Commissioner John Harrington, who cast the deciding vote, viewed as Alaska’s entrenched bureaucratic rigidity. He noted that the borough boundaries, crafted with community needs in mind, satisfy the legal standards and align with Alaskans’ interests for greater local control.
Commissioners Ely Cyrus and Clayton Trotter, voting in favor, underscored the decision reflects Alaska’s spirit of resilience and autonomy — values that resonate deeply within the proposed Xunaa Borough’s territory.
Dissenters Larry Wood and Clay Walker argued for consolidation as the most efficient model, citing the absence of three nearby communities (Pelican, Tenakee Springs, and Gustavus). Their stance was overruled.
In an analogy, Trotter likened the excluded communities to “crabs in a bucket,” pulling down another that’s just about to escape.
The new borough, if approved by residents, will rely primarily on tourism revenue, particularly from cruise ships that dock at Icy Strait Point. However, the LBC unanimously suggested that, after formation, Xunaa should consider discussions with the three excluded communities, opening a door for those communities to join in the future.
The state will schedule a special election for voters within the proposed borough to gauge if they want to become a borough. If they approve it, it will be the first new borough in Alaska since Petersburg incorporated as a borough in 2013.
The Division of Elections released information today that sheds light on the state of the Nov. 5 election’s ballot count.
“Unofficial estimate of ballots left to be counted/received is approximately 35,000. Our election officials are working around the clock. The deadline to receive absentee ballots postmarked on election day and mailed within the U.S. and its territories is Friday, Nov. 15,” the Division reported. Not all of the absentee ballots that were requested by voters will be returned; some people choose to vote in person, even if they have an absentee ballot, while others just never return.
The count includes about 48,000 absentee ballots, 69,000 early votes, and 3,800 questioned ballots, the division told AP.
They have received 73,148early ballots. They’ve counted 69,000 early ballots. There are about 4,000 left to count.
There are 13,093 questioned ballots. They’ve counted 3,800 of them. There are about 9,300 left to count.
The division sent out 60,122absentee-by-mail ballots and have received 44,936 ballots back from voters. There are 17,438 absentee-by-mail ballots left to count.
They have counted or will count 14,622 in-personabsentee ballots.
They have processed 5,086 online absentee ballots, and 18 faxed absentee ballots.
They have processed 776 special-needs absentee ballots.
The absentee total is 66,341. They’ve counted about 48,000 of those. That leaves about 18,341 left to count.
In 2020 and 2022, roughly 20% of absentee ballots by mail that were sent out to voters were never returned to the Division of Elections.
In 2024, the division sent out 60,122 absentee-by-mail ballots, and has received 45,494 back. At most, based on historical results, we can expect around 3,000 absentee-by-mail ballots, at most, more to come in.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will be the Senate Republican majority leader beginning in January, as Republicans are poised to take control of the Senate, the House and the Oval Office.
With 53 seats now Republican, Thune will not need the cooperation of Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who are two senators who are unreliable allies of the Republican caucus.
Thune spoke to the Alaska GOP convention in July in Milwaukee, Wisc. at the invitation of Sen. Dan Sullivan. Thune has been a strong supporter of the Alaska economy, believing in Alaska’s resource potential. He has been to the state several times.
““All three candidates for Senate Majority Leader are good friends of mine who will work relentlessly to implement the Trump policies that the American people just overwhelmingly voted for. I pressed each of them on implementing key elements of the incoming Trump administration agenda, as well as important priorities for Alaska. Senator Thune has a long history of helping Alaska and understanding our state’s unique challenges. I am confident our new Majority Leader will work closely with the new administration and members of the new Senate Majority to confirm President Trump’s nominees, advance our legislative agenda, and put America back on track,” Sullivan said in a statement to Must Read Alaska.
In the 1980s Thune worked for President Ronald Reagan, and later was the executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, before being named the director of the state’s railroad. He ran in 1996 and won a seat in the U.S. House and later won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004.
For the 118th Congress, he serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee. He serves as ranking member of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband and ranking member of the Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight.
He also serves as the Senate Republican whip, the number two position in Senate Republican leadership, and has previously served as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009–2011 and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference from 2012-2018.
Both Sen. Sullivan and Sen. Murkowski supported Thune in his bid to lead the U.S. Senate.
On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump threw his support to House Speaker Mike Johnson to continue in that role in the coming year. The House Speaker is third in line to the presidency, and is a position of interest to any sitting president.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s director of National Intelligence.
Gabbard was a longtime Democrat who quit the party, endorsed Trump, and then became a Republican. Critics have pounced on her, saying she lacks experience. It was the Biden Administration who placed her on a secret terror watch list, she said earlier this year, labeling her a potential terrorist. She said it was political retaliation.
She is a former United States Army Reserve officer, and served as U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She also was the first Samoan-American member of Congress.
Gabbard came to Alaska in 2020 to complete one of her U.S. Army Reserve duty commitments, and spent time in the Aleutians.
“Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength,” Trump said in a statement. In her new role, Gabbard will be overseeing 18 spy agencies.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has been named the Trump nominee for U.S. Attorney General. Again, the legacy media immediately pounded him, as he is conservative and a known fighter. He attended William and Mary Law School and will replace Merrick Garland, who has led a crusade against Trump by weaponizing the Justice Department.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got the official nomination from Donald Trump on Wednesday as the next U.S. Secretary of State. His nomination had been leaked out a few days ago, but it was not official until today.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries. I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!” Trump wrote.
Rubio, who ran against Trump in 2016, was born in Miami in 1971, the son of Cuban immigrants. His father worked as a banquet bartender, and his mother was a hotel maid.
“From an early age, Rubio learned the importance of faith, family, community, and dignified work to the good life,” Trump’s announcement said. “Rubio was drawn to public service in large part because of conversations with his grandfather, who saw his homeland destroyed by communism. After meeting and marrying his wife Jeanette—and earning degrees from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School—Rubio served as a city commissioner in West Miami and Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. In 2010, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate.”
Although he must be confirmed by the Senate, that should be a fairly easy process, as Rubio is well-respected among his peers.
He is a decade younger than current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose political alliances go back to the Clinton Administration, when he served in senior positions at the State Department.
