The role is key to the president-elect's plans to carry out mass deportations, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and seek retribution against those who prosecuted him over the past four years.

Get the latest news on the transition to the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump and a new Congress.

We want to close the federal Department of Education.”  But fulfilling that promise is easier said than done. Dismantling the agency – which provides billions of dollars each year to low-income public schools and billions more to help millions of Americans pay for college – would likely require the support of congressional Democrats,