--- title: Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires description: If you're a general or a billionaire, President-elect may have a job for you. The Senate pays tribute to Vice President Biden. canonical: https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-08T20:21:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:12:36.916Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires og:description: If you're a general or a billionaire, President-elect may have a job for you. The Senate pays tribute to Vice President Biden. og:url: https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires twitter:description: If you're a general or a billionaire, President-elect may have a job for you. The Senate pays tribute to Vice President Biden. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 8, 2016 8:21 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 8, 2016 8:21 PM UTC Are you a general? A billionaire? Donald Trump may have a job for you. The President-elect has been turning to retired military brass and those with deep pocketbooks to fill out many of the top posts in his administration. The latest selections of Retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security and former WWE executive Linda McMahon are likely not to be the last, as Trump continues to meet with individuals meeting those criteria. Democrats are in the wilderness, and they are risking following Republicans down the Scam-PAC rabbit-hole. More details are emerging about Trump’s plans to maintain financial stake in his business, while transferring operational control to his kids. And the Senate plays tribute to Vice President Joe Biden. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [The Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Could Make an Early Debut ](http://time.com/4593420/harriet-tubman-20-bill-donald-trump-design/)To pressure the Trump administration to not kill it, TIME’s Maya Rhodan reports [Why Jill Stein’s Recount Push is Bad News for Democrats ](http://time.com/4592583/jill-stein-recount-democrats-liberals/)In the age of Trump, the scam PACs that have plagued Republicans could migrate across the aisle, TIME’s Alex Altman reports. [Donald Trump Is Said to Intend to Keep a Stake in His Business ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/politics/trump-organization-ivanka-trump.html?%5Fr=0)Ignoring ethics guidance \[New York Times\] [Donald Trump Insulted a Union Leader on Twitter. Then the Phone Started to Ring. ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/07/donald-trump-retaliated-against-a-union-leader-on-twitter-then-his-phone-started-to-ring/?utm%5Fterm=.52bb633c76a6)Carrier deal fall-out \[Washington Post\] [Donald Trump’s Choice of Generals for Top Posts Raises Concerns ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-choice-of-generals-for-top-posts-raises-concerns-1481157356)Critics see threat to civilian oversight of government; backers cite nominees’ broad experience \[Wall Street Journal\] [Reid Predicts Death of Filibuster ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/harry-reid-interview-232346)Says Democrats are doing fine in exit interview \[Politico\] [Senate Celebrates ‘Friend’ Joe Biden, Paying Tribute to 44-Year Career ](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/senate-celebrates-friend-joe-biden-paying-tribute-44-year-career-n693316)Vice President grows emotional \[NBC\] **Sound Off** “It’s great honor.” — President-elect Donald Trump on being named TIME Person of the Year. He added “I didn’t do anything to divide,” when pressed about the “Divided States of America” subhed “Classic Joe Biden, he’s never stopped talking since.” — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell teasing the departing vice president and praising him for overcoming a speech impediment **Bits and Bites** [Watch Out, Alec Baldwin: Duterte Unveils Trump Impersonation](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-07/watch-out-alec-baldwin-duterte-tries-out-trump-impersonation?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-politics&utm%5Fcontent=politics&utm%5Fcampaign=socialflow-organic&utm%5Fsource=facebook&utm%5Fmedium=social) \[Bloomberg\] [Joe Biden Says He Has ‘No Intention’ of Running in 2020](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/12/07/joe-biden-says-he-has-no-intention-of-running-in-2020/) \[Wall Street Journal\] [The art of punching down](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/12/08/daily-202-the-art-of-punching-down/58486788e9b69b7e58e45f2d/?utm%5Fterm=.6ca424cb3406) \[Washington Post\] [Trump thrills donors with tales of election night](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-donors-transition-breakfast-232322) \[Politico\] [Why Canceling the New Air Force One Is an Awful Idea](http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/airlines/a24175/trump-canceling-air-force-one-bad-idea/) \[Popular Mechanics\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires","datePublished":"2016-12-08T20:21:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:12:36.916Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: December 8","url":"https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4595020/donald-trump-picks-generals-and-billionaires/","name":"Donald Trump Picks Generals and Billionaires"}}]}] ```