Trump gets high marks for transition to White House and public optimistic: new CBS poll

Most Americans approve of President-elect Donald Trump’s handling of his administration’s transition back into the White House — and are bullish about the next four years, a new poll shows.A sizeable 59% of Americans support his moves so far, as he angles to stack up his next administration with “disrupters,” while 41% disapprove, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.Trump, 78, rounded out his cabinet selections last week, though he will still need to navigate the Senate confirmation process to officially get them on his team.Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F.

Kennedy Jr.drew the most positive reactions from poll respondents, with 47% ranking him as a “good” pick compared to 34% saying he was “not good.”Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio garnered 44% “good” to 25% “not good,” Director of National Intelligence-designate Tulsi Gabbard scored 36% to 27%, and Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth notched 33% to 28%.

The least favorable of the cabinet picks was former Rep.Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who ended up withdrawing as Trump’s choice to serve as US attorney general over a sex scandal.

He nabbed a 30% “good” to 38% “not good” rating.Many of Trump’s picks have come under fire in the media since being announced.Kennedy’s past skepticism of vaccine safety standards has drawn blowback from health experts and Gabbard’s meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2017 has sparked concerns from the intelligence community.

Additionally, Hegseth has faced resurfaced sexual-assault allegations that he denied.But those various controversies appear to have had a limited effect on public opinion.

Trump has openly floated the possibility of trying to bypass the at times cumbersome Senate confirmation process.But 76% of respondents want confirmation hearings for his picks, the poll said.

More than half, 55%, of even Republicans said they want the hearings, too.Morning Report and Evening Update: Your...