Republicans will hold confirmation hearings this week for more than a dozen high-profile administration picks for President-elect Trump's next term, including those for Pete Hegseth, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D.

Hegseth, Trump's Secretary of Defense pick, will have one of the first hearings on Tuesday, when he will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 9:30 a.m. and face questions from both Democrats and Republicans. 

Rubio and Noem were tapped by Trump to be his Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, respectively. Noem will appear before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday at 9 a.m., while Rubio is set to face the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at 10 a.m. 

TULSI GABBARD CHANGES TUNE ON CONTROVERSIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOL FOLLOWING GOP LOBBYING

Other Tuesday hearings include those for Doug Collins to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior. 

Trump also chose Pam Bondi for attorney general, John Ratcliffe to direct the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation and Chris Wright to be Secretary of Energy. Hearings for each of them will be on Wednesday. 

'DELAYING AND OBSTRUCTING': TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN HITS BACK AS DEM CALLS FOUL ON TRUMP CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Eric Turner, who Trump tapped to be his next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Scott Bessent, whom the president-elect announced as his pick to lead the Treasury Department, have hearings scheduled for Thursday. 

The hearing blitz comes as Republicans prepare to confirm as many Trump nominees as they can, as quickly as they can. 

REPUBLICANS BLAST 'JOKE' SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING IN

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., explained his hope to confirm his choices promptly, on "Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street" on Friday, saying, "In the past, the minority party has not obstructed at least a handful of high-ranking Cabinet members to be approved in the first week. So I'm hopeful that Secretary of State, as well as Department of Homeland Security, will be approved either on the day of the inauguration, the day after or that week, as well as a few others — Department of Defense."

LAKEN RILEY ACT OVERCOMES FILIBUSTER IN SENATE AS DEMS GIVE GOP HELPING HAND

"So, I'm hoping we get to it quickly and that we don't muddle it around. And I still have my fingers crossed that that's going to happen. As far as the two that I'm in charge of, I've seen no resistance on the Republican side. And some indication that we may get some Democrat support as well," he added. 

Republicans are particularly motivated to confirm Trump's national security team, especially in the wake of a recent terror attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, in which 14 were killed, and 35 people were injured. 

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is reintroducing legislation that would require federal authorities to take into custody illegal immigrants charged with killing someone, closing what she says is a "loophole" in federal law as the Senate moves forward on a number of bills cracking down on illegal immigration.

Ernst is reviving an effort to pass "Sarah’s Law." It is named after Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Iowa woman killed by a drunken driver in the U.S. illegally. The suspect, Edwin Mejia, posted bond and ultimately escaped from facing a court. 

Fox previously reported that he had been charged with motor vehicle homicide in 2016, but he posted bond and ICE did not file a detainer against him – a request that he be transferred into ICE custody on release.

SENATE DEMS TO JOIN REPUBLICANS TO ADVANCE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL NAMED AFTER LAKEN RILEY

The bill would require ICE to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. It also requires that upon encountering an illegal immigrant subject to mandatory detention, ICE must make reasonable efforts to identify victims and inform their families.

Ernst’s push for the law to be passed comes at a time when illegal immigration has emerged as a top priority for the Senate, and some Democrats appear open to laws increasing ICE enforcement.

LAKEN RILEY ACT PASSES HOUSE WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS

Last week, a dozen Senate Democrats voted to advance the Laken Riley Act to full debate in the upper chamber. That bill, named after a Georgia nursing student killed last year by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, would require ICE to detain illegal immigrants who commit theft-related crimes. It passed the House with the support of all Republicans and 48 Democrats.

"Whether it is Iowan Sarah Root or Laken Riley, too many innocent Americans have fallen victim to illegal immigrants in this country," Ernst said in a statement. "The true tragedy of crimes committed by illegal immigrants is that every single one of them is preventable. My Sarah’s Law will build upon the Laken Riley Act and close another loophole to prevent another American life from being cut short."

Lawmakers are also introducing the SAVE Act, which aims to crack down on noncitizen voting in federal elections, in both chambers. The efforts come after illegal immigration and border security were key issues in the 2024 elections, which delivered a Republican House and Senate while also returning President-elect Trump to the White House.

Other lawmakers are introducing legislation to reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which kept migrants in Mexico for the duration of their asylum hearings.

Fox News' Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

When President-elect Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, Republicans will officially control the White House and both houses of Congress.

And while the political spotlight in 2025 will remain fixed on the new administration and GOP congressional majorities, as they aim to rock the nation's capital, some high-profile ballot box showdowns across the country will grab attention as they serve as a barometer of whether Trump and the Republicans' electoral momentum can be sustained.

And for Democrats, who aim to rebuild after suffering setbacks in the 2024 elections, 2025's off-year elections can't come soon enough.

THIS REPUBLICAN WOMAN MAY BECOME THE NATION'S FIRST BLACK FEMALE GOVERNOR

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states in the nation to hold gubernatorial contests in the year after a presidential election, and because of their spot on the calendar, they both garner plenty of national attention.

And Virginia is often seen as a bellwether of the national political climate and how Americans feel about the party in the White House. The party that wins the presidency has lost the ensuing Virginia gubernatorial election in recent decades, with only one exception.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE TRUMP TRANSITION

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, three years ago, became the first Republican in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia, a onetime key swing state that has shaded blue in recent cycles.

But Virginia is unique due to its state law preventing governors from serving two consecutive four-year terms, so Youngkin cannot run for re-election next year.

Running to succeed Youngkin is Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, who would make history as the nation's first elected Black female governor.

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Sears emphasized that "I'm not really running to make history. I'm just trying to, as I've said before, leave it better than I found it, and I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THIS POPULAR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WHEN HE LEAVES OFFICE IN A YEAR

Sears, who was born in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. as a six-year-old, served in the Marines and is a former state lawmaker. She made history three years ago when she won election as Virginia's first female lieutenant governor. 

Three-term Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who represents a conservative-leaning district, is her party's candidate for governor.

One of them will likely make history as the first woman elected Virginia governor.

Democrats currently control both houses of the Virginia legislature, after flipping the House of Delegates in the 2023 elections. All 100 seats in the state House are up for grabs in 2025, as Republicans aim to win back majorities in both the House and state Senate, where there will be special elections for two members who recently won election to Congress.

With little electoral competition, expect outside groups to sink millions in outside money into Virginia's statewide and legislative showdowns in 2025.

In blue-state New Jersey, Trump dramatically increased his support at the ballot box in the 2024 elections.

He came within six points of defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the state in November, a dramatic improvement from his 16-point loss to President Biden in New Jersey in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's showing is giving Republicans encouragement that they can win governor's office in a state where Democrats control the government and enjoy a vast voter registration advantage over the GOP.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who won the 2017 and 2021 gubernatorial elections, is term-limited, and a crowded field of Democrats and Republicans are lining up to try and succeed him.

New Jersey's election for governor, like the contest in Virginia, is sure to grab the attention and resources of outside groups.

So will 2025 elections that will determine if Democrats hold onto their majorities on the state Supreme Courts in two key battleground states - Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Also garnering attention in the new year will be the mayoral election in the nation's most populous city.

New York City's embattled Democratic mayor, former police captain Eric Adams, has been indicted on federal corruption charges.

While he says he'll seek a second term steering New York City, the race may attract numerous challengers, possibly including former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who stepped down in 2021 amid scandals.

• Blue Origin was set to launch its New Glenn rocket on Monday morning.
• But the launch was postponed due to a "vehicle subsystem issue," Blue Origin said.
• "We're reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt," the company said.

Rocket company Blue Origin canceled its highly anticipated New Glenn rocket launch on Monday morning, citing a need to "troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue."

The launch, which was originally set to take place within a three-hour window from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern Time, was repeatedly delayed before it was ultimately postponed.

"We're standing down on today's launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window," Blue Origin wrote in an X post. "We're reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt."

Ahead of the launch, Blue Origin's leadership — including its founder, Jeff Bezos — was waiting for the rocket's blastoff at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

A liftoff time of 1:31 a.m. was first set at the beginning of the launch's livestream. It was then delayed from 1:52 a.m. to 2:07 a.m., 2:27 a.m., 2:48 a.m., and finally, 3:15 a.m.

Ahead of the initially scheduled launch, Blue Origin said on X that the company was hoping to "reach orbit safely."

"Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. We know landing the booster on our first try offshore in the Atlantic is ambitious—but we're going for it," the company wrote on X early on Monday morning. "No matter what happens, we'll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch."

Representatives for Blue Origin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Donald Trump's second administration is embracing big tech and disruptors in Silicon Valley, with some of the industry's biggest players holding a lot of sway.

Some workers are accepting lower salaries in exchange for the possibility of working remotely, as employers fail to bring them back into the office full-time.

Officials reportedly fear Beijing hopes to take advantage of the chaos in Seoul.

Americans agree that something needs to be done to fix the housing crisis. The median sales price for homes in the United States has increased more than 30 percent just since the pandemic.

Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has revealed that he is taking inspiration from UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

COCOA BEACH, Fla.—With 45 minutes left in a three-hour launch window, Blue Origin scrubbed its first attempt to launch the massive New Glenn rocket early on Monday morning

Throughout the window, which opened at 1 am ET (06:00 UTC), the company continued to reset the countdown clock as launch engineers worked technical issues with the rocket.

Officially, both on its live webcast as well as on social media following the scrub, Blue Origin was vague about the cause of the delayed launch attempt.

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© Blue Origin

Before this cool kid rockin' a summer tan turned into a reality TV star and a fitness app creator, he was just playing in the San Diego sand and playing with shaving cream as young kiddo. He first emerged on the Hollywood scene when he went on…

Southern Charm’s Madison LeCroy shared her day on a plate while committed to the 75 Hard challenge.

LeCroy, 34, took to social media in the new year to shine a light on her meal plan while on the widely publicized wellness plan, which was created by author and entrepreneur Andy Frisella and involves sticking to six strict lifestyle rules for 75 days straight.

The reality TV star kicked off her 75 Hard journey early January and told her social media followers that she’s “been flooded with messages about meal plans” ever since.

“I want to clear a few things up,” LeCroy wrote via her Instagram Story. “Nothing fancy! The meals I’m sharing are exactly what they look like. If you see a turkey patty, it’s straight from the store — no secret recipes, no homemade sauces and definitely no lettuce fresh from my garden (because I don’t have one!). I simply make foods and meals I enjoy, especially when I’m working on a program like 75 Hard. I’m happy y’all are excited about it!”

‘Southern Charm’ Star Madison LeCroy’s Family Album With Son Hudson

LeCroy then included multiple screenshots of her meals, beginning with “Breakfast Day 1/75,” which featured a glass filled with green juice and a plate dotted with three slices of tomato, a heaped spoonful of cottage cheese and two boiled eggs sprinkled with seeds.

The post was then followed by “Lunch 1/75,” which included a turkey burger patty, “w/ this Carolina BBQ sauce … Salad w/ Annie’s goddess dressing … Rice … Lemon water,” in addition to a side salad of spinach leaves, sliced cucumber and sliced cherry tomatoes.

LeCroy, a trained hair and makeup stylist who joined Southern Charm during season 6 in 2019, then shone a light on the day’s dinner, capturing a plate filled with diced sweet potatoes, a small portion of fillet mignon steak and a side of caesar salad. She admitted in the dinner post that the meal was, “not my best, got home late!”

The 75 Hard challenge, which was formulated by Frisella in 2019 and promises to enhance your mental toughness, mental fortitude, confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, self-belief and grit by “100 times,” according to his website, also involves drinking a gallon of a water a day, not indulging in any cheat meals or alcohol, exercising twice a day, reading 10 pages of a book each day and taking a progress picture every day.

Regarding the meal portion of the challenge, subscribers are advised to stick to the same diet as it must be structured and followed consistently for all 75 days. It is unclear what LeCroy’s updated dinner ingredients entail.

One of the toughest elements of the challenge involves restarting from Day 1 if any of the six goals are missed.

Although the rules are rigid, LeCroy hasn’t let it stop her from enjoying the start of 2025. She posted photos of herself enjoying a hotel stay with son Hudson, who was born in November 2012 and with whom LeCroy shares with ex husband Josh Hughes, via her Instagram Story on Sunday, January 12.

LeCroy shared photos of the pair dining at The Charleston Place in South Carolina, as well as a look at two breakfast plates delivered to their suite via room service.

Blue Origin, the private space company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has pulled a major test of its rocket.

© REUTERS

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© ITV

• The latest US sanctions on Russia's energy sector impact China and India, altering trade dynamics.
• The sanctions target Russian oil giants and tankers, raising oil prices to a four-month high.
• China and India may seek oil from other regions, while Russia might offer discounts.

The US' latest move to hit Russia's energy revenues is changing up the industry's global trade flows.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department— together with the UK — slapped new sanctions against Russia's key energy sector, including restrictions against oil giants Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas.

The Biden administration also imposed sanctions on 183 tankers associated with Russia's oil trade. Last year, that group of ships transported about one-quarter of Russia's energy exports, mostly crude oil, Goldman Sachs analysts estimated in a Sunday note.

Buyers from China and India — Russia's top oil customers — are likely to be impacted by the new sanctions, changing the world's energy trade dynamics.

Traders in China and India look to the Middle East, Americas

China will be impacted by the latest sanctions because most targeted tankers ship oil to the country, wrote Matthew Wright, the lead freight analyst at analytics firm Kpler, on Friday.

The sanctions, which would impact oil shipping, trading, and insurance, sent prices of the commodity up to a four-month high on Monday.

International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were 1.7% higher at $81.15 a barrel at 2.10 a.m. ET. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures were up 1.9% at $78 a barrel.

Both Brent and WTI oil futures are up 8% this year to date.

Traders told Reuters that China and India will be forced by the new sanctions to seek non-sanctioned oil from the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

A Singapore-based trader told the news agency the sanctioned tankers shipped close to 900,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil to China over the past 12 months and that these exports are going to "drop off a cliff."

Even before this round of sanctions, oil traders in China and India have been anticipating higher curbs on Russian oil. They have increased crude oil purchases from the Middle East and the Atlantic Basin, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

These latest developments illustrate the fast-changing pace of the world's energy flow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered sweeping sanctions against the energy giant.

They also come just days before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The incoming American leader has pledged to lift energy output and boost the US' energy exports.

Russia is a top supplier of crude oil to both China and India.

Not a 'game-changer'

The incoming US administration's stance on the energy sector is one reason why recent oil price gains may not continue, wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research for Asia, excluding Japan.

Varathan said in a Monday note that while the latest oil sanctions against Russia are boosting the market, they are not a game-changer.

Not only is the potential of higher US supply expected to hold up the market, but demand from China — the world's second-largest economy — has also slowed amid prolonged economic malaise.

Goldman Sachs analysts also cited the high spare capacity in oil as a factor that could weigh on prices.

Meanwhile, Russia is likely to pull out countermeasures to the US' latest sanctions package.

"Russian oil can discount to incentivize continued shipping by a dynamic shadow fleet and continued purchases by price-sensitive buyers in new or existing destination countries, with both the ships and buyers being less sensitive to Western sanctions," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.