News Brief #4: Trump appoints his cabinet members, Beyonce gets her own class, and NASA controversy

Micah Lopez, Staff Writer

November 20, 2024

News Brief #4

(Audrey Goetz)

Trump’s picks for cabinet

Over the last week, President-elect Donald Trump has been making his picks for high ranking administration positions after his election victory. Here’s are some of the major ones:

Former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan will become the ‘border czar’, which is someone charged with fixing the border.

Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik will become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio will become the new secretary of state.

Fox News commentator and veteran Pete Hegseth will become the new secretary of defense.

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy has been chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

These selections have led to many news outlets and politicians calling Trump’s picks highly controversial and unqualified for the job, citing lack of experience in the fields.

(Audrey Goetz)

Elon Musk becomes head of Department of Government Efficiency

President-elect Donald Trump has announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency. To lead this newly created department, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. According to Trump, the purpose of this newly created department is to regulate government spending and cut wasteful expenditures.

Musk responded to this announcement on X saying, “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk has already claimed during a Trump rally that he would be able to shrink the federal budget by about 2 trillion dollars.

(Audrey Goetz)

Yale's new course on Beyoncé

Starting next semester, students at Yale University will be able to take a course on Beyoncé's music career. The class, which is titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music” claims that it will examine interdisciplinary works of black intellectual thought.

Professor Daphne Brooks, who also teaches African American Studies and music at Yale, will be leading this class. She said the reasoning for starting this class was because her previous music and culture class were overenrolled. “There was so much energy around the focus on Beyoncé,” she stated. “I thought I should come back to focusing on her and centering her work pedagogically.”

(Audrey Goetz)

NASA astronaut addresses weight controversy

NASA astronaut Sunti Williams had concerns raised about her weight last week as she, along with fellow astronaut Barry Willmore, are staying at the International Space Station. This comes as technical issues have caused them to have to stay in space till February of 2025.

Last week, the New York Times suggested that Williams was looking gaunt, sparking rumors about her health and if the zero gravity was negatively affecting her. However during a video interview on Tuesday, Williams refuted the claims, stating that she weighs the same as she did five months ago when she arrived at the station.

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About the Contributors

Micah Lopez, Staff Writer

Hello! My name is Micah Lopez, and I am a staff writer for the CHAT. I am a junior and this is my second year in the newspaper. Newspaper is my favorite class to be in and I love writing for it. I am pumped for another successful year and working with my peers. If you need to contact me, my email is [email protected].

Audrey Goetz, Graphics Staff

Hello there. My name is Audrey Goetz. I am currently a sophomore and this is my first year working on the CHAT. I am a member of the graphics team, so I get to do cool stuff with Photoshop, as well as other things. While in class I like to make posters and edit photos to make them more visually appealing, as well as working on video editing. In my free time, I like to make digital drawings, work on stories I’ve made, learn about something completely unnecessary, but somehow really interesting, and relax. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at [email protected].

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News Brief #4: Trump appoints his cabinet members, Beyonce gets her own class, and NASA controversy

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