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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

President-elect Trump's initial nominee for Attorney General, former Florida Representative

Matt Gates, says he has no plans to join the next Congress.

In an interview with podcasts and radio show host Charlie Kirk, Gates says he still plans to keep fighting for Trump, but from a new perch.

We need a leadership structure under President Trump that's going to allow for durability of our movement

and the ability to continue this great realignment of our politics.

And so I'll play a part in that.

I plan to be a big voice, but

maybe not as an elected member of the government. Gates had resigned from the U.S. House when he

was tapped for AG. Within days, Gates pulled his name from contention as sex trafficking and drug

use allegations that he has repeatedly denied threatened his confirmation. President-elect Trump

swiftly moved on to Pam Bondi,

former Florida Attorney General and a close ally, to lead the Justice Department. Trump has been

moving quickly to name people for his incoming administration, but NPR's Tamara Keith reports

Trump's been slow to deal with other aspects of his transition. The Trump transition has failed

to sign at least three required

formal agreements with the Biden administration needed to gain access to agencies and classified

briefings. It's incredibly important for national security purposes. Danielle Caputo is

legal counsel for ethics at the campaign legal center. Instead, they're going to be spending the initial periods

in the administration trying to play catch-up on a lot of information that they didn't have access

to because they failed to sign these memorandos. The Trump transition team says it is still

...