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Trump taps RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz, Elon Musk's DOGE mandate, Walmart's tariff warning: Politics news roundup

Plus, Delta eyes a "breath of fresh air" with Trump, and SEC Chair Gensler plans his resignation

President-elect Donald Trump and his team have been busy.

A number of high-profile planned appointments — including Howard Lutnick to oversee the Commerce Department and Medicare and Robert F. Kennedy Jr to take charge of the Department of Health and Human Services — have rocked the markets, while Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has revealed his resignation plans.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s planned government spending group has started to outline its priorities, spelling — potentially — bad news for companies like Intuit (INTU). And Wall Street is getting excited about Trump’s approach to regulation and mergers, even as companies like Walmart bemoan the effects of his tariffs.

Here’s the latest on those issues — and more — in this week’s politics roundup.

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President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reported owning as much as $600,000 in stock from companies benefiting from private Medicare services.

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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have laid out their plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Despite being labeled an “outside of government” group by President-elect Donald Trump, the two say that DOGE will work closely with Congress and the executive branch.

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A second Donald Trump administration and lower interest rates could set the stage for a renaissance in the mergers and acquisitions market.

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Walmart (WMT) may have no choice but to raise prices on certain items if proposed tariffs on imports are enacted under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, according to a company executive.

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President-elect Donald Trump said he would appoint Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Brendan Carr as chair, delivering another win to ally Elon Musk and a gut punch to Big Tech.

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Delta Airlines (DAL) CEO Ed Bastian is cautiously optimistic about President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, after what he called a “level of overreach” over the past four years of the Biden administration.

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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler has announced that he will wait to resign from his post until the day of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

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President-elect Donald Trump has picked Howard Lutnick, chief executive officer of investment giant Cantor Fitzgerald, as his Commerce secretary.

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Tax prep company stocks are falling as Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) reportedly has its sights locked on simplifying the tax code — and helping Americans file for free.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) head of vaccine safety says that President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of vaccine skeptics could be an opportunity for the science community to teach the public about the value of these life-saving drugs. However, if these efforts fail it could lead to “natural consequences.”

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A Nestle (NSRGY) executive said on Tuesday that the company is not too worried about the possibility of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been highly critical of packaged and processed food in the U.S., becoming the next leader of the Department of Health and Human Services.

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The stock of a dental supply company jumped over 6% on Monday, driven by investor optimism over a potential rise in dental treatments if Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to eliminate fluoride from drinking water succeeds.

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President-elect Donald Trump has promised to slap imports with a wide range of tariffs, making Citadel CEO Ken Griffin “very anxious.”

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On Tuesday, Elon Musk went to bat for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for attorney general, slamming allegations against him as “worth less than nothing.” Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to serve as attorney general on Thursday as more allegations were made public.

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