Donald Trump’s new administration continues to take shape, despite the political furore surrounding his more inflammatory decisions, including the very public withdrawal of two appointments and the possibility that a third may soon be forced from office. Trump has named Paul Atkins, a Beltway conservative, cryptocurrency enthusiast and former SEC commissioner, to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. If confirmed, Atkins is expected to focus on cutting regulations and reducing penalties for securities violations. He is known to question some of the rules put in place after Wall Street nearly collapsed the global financial system in 2008. As SEC commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, he made it clear that the regulator’s role was also to increase competition and efficiency in markets. Atkins, 66, would be a sharp departure from current Chairman Gary Gensler, who plans to leave the agency when Trump takes office. Meanwhile, Trump also named billionaire Jared Issacman (he was on the first commercial spacewalk) to lead NASA and named David Warrington as White House counsel, replacing an election lawyer from a California law firm for a previously announced election.

The French government collapses. The uproar intensified when both the far-right Rassemblement Nationale and the left-wing Socialists voted to overthrow the three-month-old government led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Barnier was appointed in September and tasked with putting the country’s chaotic finances in order. France has been in political limbo since President Emmanuel Macron called for an early national vote in June after being defeated in European elections. Voters left the lower house split into three blocs, but with Marine Le Pen’s largest party in parliament, the extremist hothead became the country’s most influential leader while Macron’s centrist coalition collapsed. Here’s how it all happened – and why.