Charlton Allen to be General Counsel, Federal Labor Relations Authority
John Walk to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Thomas Bell to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Allen is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast.
Walk serves as Judicial Officer at the United States Department of Agriculture. He served as Associate Counsel to President Donald J. Trump at the White House Counsel’s Office from January 2017 until December 2020. At the White House, Walk advised the President and senior White House officials on the exercise of the President’s constitutional authority, regulatory matters, executive actions, and implementation of public policy. Prior to the White House, Walk served as an attorney at the Department of Homeland Security, providing advice on DHS operations and defending against federal litigation as agency counsel as an ally of Stephen Miller. Before entering the legal profession, Walk was a senior government relations advisor at an international law firm and served as a congressional staffer in the House of Representatives. Walk is the son-in-law of Jeff Sessions, married to Sessions’ daughter Ruth.
As Inspector General for Health and Human Services, Thomas March Bell will oversee fraud, waste and abuse audits of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which spend more than $1 trillion annually. Bell currently serves as general counsel for House Republicans and has worked for GOP politicians and congressional offices for decades. The president’s nomination of this anti-abortion extremist is a “brazenly political” one. Bell was ousted from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality in 1997 after a state audit showed he improperly authorized a nearly $8,000 payment to the agency’s former spokesman. He was staff director for House Republicans’ 2016 investigation into Planned Parenthood. During the first Trump administration, Bell helped create the Conscience and Religious Freedom division within the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Bell held leadership positions in Gary Bauer and Pat Robinson’s presidential campaigns.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Brent Christensen, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Benjamin León, Jr., of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Principality of Andorra
Leo Brent Bozell III, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, all of the Department of State
Brent Bozell is a notorious climate denier and right-wing propagandist, the long-time head of the Scaife-backed Media Research Center. His son was a January 6 rioter.
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
H.R. 4276 (Rep. Case), To amend the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act to authorize grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations, and for other purposes.
H.R. 5682 (Rep. Issa), To take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Pechanga Band of Indians, and for other purposes.
H.R. 5696 (Rep. LaMalfa), “Strengthening Tribal Real Estate Authority and Modernizing Land for Indigenous Nation Expansion Act” or the “STREAMLINE Act”
On Wednesday, November 19, at 10:00 a.m., U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, will hold a hearing examining PFAS cleanup and disposal policy.
Witnesses;
Eric Gerstenberg, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Clean Harbors
Leah Pilconis, General Counsel, Associated General Contractors of America
Kate R. Bowers, Supervisory Attorney, Congressional Research Service
Charlton Allen to be General Counsel, Federal Labor Relations Authority
John Walk to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Thomas Bell to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Allen is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He is the founder of the Madison Center for Law & Liberty, Inc., editor of The American Salient, and the host of the Modern Federalist podcast.
Walk serves as Judicial Officer at the United States Department of Agriculture. He served as Associate Counsel to President Donald J. Trump at the White House Counsel’s Office from January 2017 until December 2020. At the White House, Walk advised the President and senior White House officials on the exercise of the President’s constitutional authority, regulatory matters, executive actions, and implementation of public policy. Prior to the White House, Walk served as an attorney at the Department of Homeland Security, providing advice on DHS operations and defending against federal litigation as agency counsel as an ally of Stephen Miller. Before entering the legal profession, Walk was a senior government relations advisor at an international law firm and served as a congressional staffer in the House of Representatives. Walk is the son-in-law of Jeff Sessions, married to Sessions’ daughter Ruth.
As Inspector General for Health and Human Services, Thomas March Bell will oversee fraud, waste and abuse audits of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which spend more than $1 trillion annually. Bell currently serves as general counsel for House Republicans and has worked for GOP politicians and congressional offices for decades. The president’s nomination of this anti-abortion extremist is a “brazenly political” one. Bell was ousted from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality in 1997 after a state audit showed he improperly authorized a nearly $8,000 payment to the agency’s former spokesman. He was staff director for House Republicans’ 2016 investigation into Planned Parenthood. During the first Trump administration, Bell helped create the Conscience and Religious Freedom division within the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Bell held leadership positions in Gary Bauer and Pat Robinson’s presidential campaigns.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
The House Select Committee on China will hold a hearing titled Predatory Pricing: How the Chinese Communist Party Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain Its Dominance. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at 10:00 A.M. in 390 Cannon House Office Building.
The event will be live-streamed.
When: Wednesday, November 19 at 10:00 A.M.
Where: 390 Cannon House Office Building.
Witnesses:
Jonathan Evans, Chief Executive Office, Lithium Americas
Matthew Sloustcher, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs, MP Materials
Jonathan Rowntree, Chief Executive Officer, Niron Magnetics
Additional witnesses to be determined.
House Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Committee
On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
H.R. 338 (Rep. Costa), “Every Drop Counts Act”, expands the Bureau of Reclamation’s Small Storage Program, which is a grant program for small surface water or groundwater storage projects in certain western states
H.R. 1514 (Rep. Ezell), “Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act”, to manage the inland fishery resources of the Mississippi River Basin
H.R. 3756 (Rep. Crenshaw), “Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025” or the “FISH Act of 2025”, to increase efforts against global illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing
H.R. 5699 (Rep. Rutherford), “Fisheries Data Modernization and Accuracy Act of 2025”, to rely more on state-level data collection programs for recreational fishing data
The purpose of the hearing is to examine how the BLM land use planning process under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) affects permitting for energy, mining, grazing, and infrastructure projects on public lands.