Trump taps Sessions, Flynn, Pompeo for top position

NEW YORK (AP) Nov. 18, 2016 — President-elect Donald Trump is announcing his choices for three key administration jobs Friday, naming Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and former military intelligence chief Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama's handling of terrorism and national security, and their selection likely signals a sharp shift in U.S. policy. In tapping Sessions and Flynn, Trump is also rewarding a pair of loyalists who were among his most ardent supporters during the presidential campaign.
Trump planned to announce the picks Friday, according to a senior transition official. The official insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the decisions ahead of Trump's announcement.
Trump is a foreign policy novice and his early moves on national security are being closely watched both in the U.S. and overseas. Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not.
Pompeo is a conservative Republican and a strong critic of Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. A three-term congressman, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and from Harvard Law School.
Flynn was a critic of Obama's military and foreign policy long before he began advising Trump on national security issues during the presidential campaign. As national security adviser, Flynn would work in the West Wing and have frequent access to the new president.