the lobby of trump tower had a frenetic pace on thursday as a parade of current and former officeholders and others came to meet with president-elect donald j. trump as he works to build his nascent administration. strong signal for senator jeff sessions in the cabinet. the transition team appeared to hint thursday that senator jeff sessions, republican of alabama, would be in mr. trump<u+2019>s cabinet. in a statement, the team said that mr. sessions had met with mr. trump in his new york office on thursday. <u+201c>while nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his cabinet, the president-elect has been unbelievably impressed with senator sessions and his phenomenal record as alabama<u+2019>s attorney general and u.s. attorney,<u+201d> the statement said. <u+201c>it is no wonder the people of alabama re-elected him without opposition.<u+201d> son-in-law talks to lawyers about joining administration. jared kushner , mr. trump<u+2019>s son-in-law, has consulted with lawyers about the possibility of joining the new administration, a move that could run afoul of federal anti-nepotism laws and would all but certainly invite lawsuits and ethical challenges. mr. kushner has talked to at least one lawyer and believes that by forgoing a salary and putting his business holdings into a blind trust he would not be bound by such laws, according to a person who had been briefed on the talks. under federal statute, the president cannot accept voluntary services that are not permitted by law, and a separate statute bars public officials from employing family members in any capacity. ambassador says israel will work with trump administration, including bannon. the israeli ambassador to the united states, ronald dermer, said thursday that israel would work with all members of the trump administration, including mr. trump<u+2019>s chief strategist, stephen k. bannon. mr. trump appointed mr. bannon to be his senior counselor on monday. the move has been widely criticized by democrats and minority groups who say that mr. bannon<u+2019>s website, breitbart.com, promotes anti-semitic and racist views. <u+201c>we look forward to working with the trump administration, with all the members of the trump administration, including steve bannon, in making the u.s.-israel alliance stronger than ever,<u+201d> mr. dermer said. the elevators are crowded at trump tower. rudolph w. giuliani, one of mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign confidants who has been mentioned as a possible secretary of state, arrived at trump tower in the morning, and left an hour later saying only, <u+201c>i<u+2019>m going to get some rest.<u+201d> two candidates for treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, who worked on mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign, and representative jeb hensarling , a texas republican who is the chairman of the house financial services committee, also paid a visit to trump tower on thursday. <u+201c>i<u+2019>ve got a great position in public policy today,<u+201d> mr. hensarling said. <u+201c>if he wants to talk to me, obviously about serving somewhere else, we<u+2019>ll look at serving somewhere else.<u+201d> when former secretary of state henry a. kissinger arrived at trump tower on thursday, he did not have to pass through the building<u+2019>s lobby, allowing him to avoid the news media. mr. trump and mr. kissinger <u+201c>have known each other for years and had a great meeting,<u+201d> the transition team said, adding that the two men talked about china, russia, iran, the european union and <u+201c>other events and issues around the world.<u+201d> gov. nikki haley of south carolina, a possible candidate for secretary of state or another position, also met with transition officials. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re just happy to have her here for her advice and counsel and to hear about the great success story of south carolina,<u+201d> said kellyanne conway, mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign manager. trump is asked to sever business ties. lawyers from both parties and government ethics groups on thursday called on mr. trump to sever all ties with the vast real estate and business empire that bears his name and to place it in a blind trust, warning that failure to do so could result in contentious conflicts and even threats of impeachment. in a letter to mr. trump on thursday, a group including norm eisen, president obama<u+2019>s former ethics lawyer, and richard painter, who had the same post under george w. bush, said the president-elect must transfer control of all of his businesses assets and investments to an independent trustee who would sell them and not disclose how the proceeds were invested. if he chooses to put his children in charge of the businesses, as mr. trump has said he plans to do, they added, <u+201c>a clear firewall must by established<u+201d> barring family members from being involved in policy decisions at the white house and forbidding them from discussing the business with their father or anyone in his administration. ted cruz: from bitter enemy to <u+2018>eager and committed<u+2019> to trump. senator ted cruz of texas, who battled with mr. trump during the republican primary contest, said thursday that he was <u+201c>eager and committed<u+201d> to working with the president-elect. in an interview on fox news, mr. cruz said that he met with mr. trump on wednesday and that they had a <u+201c>far-reaching<u+201d> conversation about the challenges facing the country. there is speculation that mr. cruz could be a potential nominee for attorney general or the supreme court, but on thursday he dodged questions about his future. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m eager to work with the president in whatever capacity i can have the greatest impact defending the principles i was elected to defend,<u+201d> mr. cruz said. <u+201c>i am excited for the opportunity we have to come together and get the job done.<u+201d> tim ryan of ohio challenges nancy pelosi for minority leader. in a renewed sign of turmoil among democrats after their bruising loss last week, representative tim ryan of ohio said thursday that he would challenge representative nancy pelosi of california as leader of the house democrats. <u+201c>i have spent countless hours meeting and talking to members of our caucus, and the consensus is clear,<u+201d> mr. ryan said in a letter to his democratic colleagues. <u+201c>what we are doing right now is not working. under our current leadership, democrats have been reduced to our smallest congressional minority since 1929. this should indicate to all of us that keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections.<u+201d> in a news conference thursday before mr. ryan announced his plans, ms. pelosi seemed to brush off any challenges, noting that she was the architect of the 2006 takeover of the house by democrats. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m very, very proud of that, and i see that as an opportunity now.<u+201d> the leadership vote will be held nov 30. a short-term fix is seen to keep the government open. house and senate republicans have agreed to pass a short-term spending measure through march, kicking the appropriations process, which leaders in both chambers vowed to do this year, into the next congress and administration. the bill is expected to pass before the current spending measure expires on dec. 9. appropriations bills have been contentious because they are often filled with conservative policy riders that have made those spending bills subject to presidential veto in the obama administration. with mr. trump in the white house, there will be a fresh test of the appropriations process, including a new debate on earmarks. janet yellen on the economy: <u+2018>we don<u+2019>t know what<u+2019>s going to happen.<u+2019> janet l. yellen, the federal reserve chairwoman, was asked by members of congress at a hearing thursday about the economic impact of mr. trump<u+2019>s election. markets have rallied on optimism that mr. trump and congressional republicans will stimulate growth by cutting taxes and increasing spending on defense and infrastructure. ms. yellen struck a more cautious note. <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t know what<u+2019>s going to happen,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s a great deal of uncertainty. we will be watching the decisions that congress makes and updating our economic outlook as the policy outlook becomes clearer.<u+201d> a tech round table at the 19th hole? the work on a new administration will have a brief site change on friday when mr. trump heads to his golf course in bedminster, n.j., for additional meetings. among the possible events being discussed within his campaign is a round table with tech industry leaders, many of whom view mr. trump suspiciously after his more provoking oratory during the campaign. correction: november 18, 2016 an earlier version of this article truncated a quote from rep. tim ryan. the complete quote is, <u+201c>this should indicate to all of us that keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections.<u+201d> get politics and washington news updates via facebook , twitter and in the morning briefing newsletter .
jeff sessions appears headed to a trump cabinet position
maggie haberman michael s. schmidt julie hirschfeld davis