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Tomorrow's news today: OH Gov DeWine to appoint Ramaswamy to US Senate [1]

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Date: 2025-01-16

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is preparing to announce Vivek Ramaswamy as Ohio’s next US Senator, replacing incoming Vice President JD Vance. While I cannot reveal my sources, and this is not yet being reported in the media, I have it on good authority that this decision has been made, and the announcement is forthcoming as early as next week.

Ramaswamy’s appointment will come at the urging of President Elect Trump, who recently met with Gov. DeWine at Mar-a-Lago. It has been widely reported in the last 24 hours that DeWine held this meeting, with unnamed sources saying that Trump has been “urging” Ramaswamy to say yes to the appointment if asked. It has also been widely known that the Governor was also considering Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted for the role.

But according to my sources, Trump conveyed in no uncertain terms to DeWine that he was “not confident” in Husted, a moderate, toeing the party line in the Senate and voting to support the full Trump agenda, and that Ramaswamy was his preferred choice. He would join recently elected Ohio conservative businessman Bernie Moreno in the Senate.

It was also shared with me that this was not a case of Trump swaying DeWine to make a choice he had not yet made; I’m told this is a reversal, and that John Husted had been informed he was to be appointed to the US Senate. It’s unclear what leverage Trump would have attempted to use against the veteran pol DeWine, who is term-limited out in Ohio and will likely retire from political life when his term ends next year, or against Ohio, home of two Republican senators, huge electoral majorities, and of course of incoming VP Vance.

But once again Trump has found a way to get what he wanted. Despite Ramaswamy’s publicly backing out of the race to replace Vance back in November and being appointed to the newly created and entirely imaginary Department of Government Efficiency, Trump’s approach would re-inject him directly into the US Senate and give him a broad new platform from which to directly influence legislation from the inside. It’s unclear whether Ramaswamy would need to “resign” from DOGE, or could simply continue in a largely ceremonial role while serving in the Senate day-to-day.

Both Husted and Ramaswamy have been discussed as possible future Ohio Governor candidates (along with others), with the telegenic Husted generally seen as an easy front-runner (both in primaries and in the general, where Ohio Democrats’ bench continues to be very thin). DeWine had seen Husted as “following in his footsteps” in ascending to the Senate, only to consider returning to run for Governor later in his career, as DeWine himself did. But Trump’s intervention makes it more likely that Husted will remain in Ohio and reconsider the Governor’s Mansion in 2026.

Make no mistake: DeWine’s forthcoming appointment of Ramaswamy is not just being discussed; it’s a done deal. And a big deal: a full MAGA center-of-the-bullseye Trump insider and confidant receiving a gift-wrapped two-year appointment to the US Senate — no election necessary — gives Trump eyes and ears and increased influence in that body that he otherwise lacks. The betrayal of longtime governing partner Husted, and others in Columbus, will have its own fallout and implications.

The inauguration on Monday will be the bigger spectacle. But another big Trump win will come later in the week — and it may have far-reaching consequences as well.

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