Tag: Trump transition trouble

Transition Team Had an Unrealistic Timetable for Repeal and Replace

Buck Banks

36 days

Washington Post: “The legislative timetable was hugely ambitious. One transition document, for example, called for Congress to complete work on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act by Feb. 24, or Day 36 of the administration. The GOP health-care bill wasn’t even introduced by that date and was pulled from a House vote last month after meeting fierce resistance, even from many Republicans.”

Donald’s Government Is Missing Scientists

Buck Banks

1

President Trump “has moved to fill just one of 46 key science and technology positions that help the government counter risks ranging from chemical and biological attacks to rising seas,” the Washington Post reports. “The vacancies in the 46 Senate-confirmed posts range from the president’s science adviser, to the administrators of NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.”

Democrats to Focus Opposition on Eight Trump Cabinet Picks

Buck Banks

8

Number of Trump cabinet picks Democrats will oppose, reports the Washington Post: “Incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that Democrats will home in especially on Rex Tillerson, Trump’s choice for secretary of state; Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), his pick for attorney general; Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget; and Betsy DeVos, selected to serve as education secretary. … There’s also Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and oversee changes to Obamacare, who is expected to be attacked by Democrats for his support for privatizing Medicare. Andrew Puzder, a restaurant executive set to serve as labor secretary, will face scrutiny for past comments on the minimum wage, among other policies. Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner set to serve as treasury secretary, and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trump’s pick to lead the EPA, will also be the focus of Democratic attacks, aides said.”

Gingrich Worried Trump Team Will ‘Lose Their Nerve’

Buck Banks

Look, they’re going to arrive in Washington, and for them to be successful they have to stake out positions that DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile will not like and the left will hate. I’m worried that when they realize how big the problem is, that they decide that they’re just going to do the best they can and give in.

— Newt Gingrich, telling ABC News that his greatest worry is that President-elect Donald Trump and his team will “lose their nerve” once in office.

Trump’s Inner Circle Dividing Into Factions

Buck Banks

Donald Trump’s White House-in-waiting is already being roiled by divisions, with the conservative outsiders who helped power his historic victory colliding with a Republican Party establishment muscling its way in. … Insiders paint a picture of constant score-keeping and simmering suspicion within Trump world — one even called it ‘vitriolic.’ And they foresee incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, the party stalwart, and chief strategist Steve Bannon, the populist firebrand, headed for an inevitable clash.

— Politico