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Pence Now Arguing for Email Secrecy

November 15, 2016 at 11:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Indianapolis Star: “Now that the presidential campaign and most of the furor over Hillary Clinton’s email scandal are behind us, the Pence administration is going to court to argue for its own brand of email secrecy. The administration is fighting to conceal the contents of an email sent to Gov. Mike Pence by a political ally. That email is being sought by a prominent Democratic labor lawyer who says he wants to expose waste in the Republican administration.”

“But legal experts fear the stakes may be much higher than mere politics because the decision could remove a judicial branch check on executive power and limit a citizen’s right to know what the government is doing and how it spends taxpayer dollars.

Staff Shake-Up Slows Transition to Near Halt

November 15, 2016 at 10:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition operation “plunged into disarray on Tuesday with the abrupt resignation of Mike Rogers, who had handled national security matters, the second shake-up in a week on a team that has not yet begun to execute the daunting task of taking over the government,” the New York Times reports.

“Gov. Mike Pence took the helm of the effort on Friday after Mr. Trump unceremoniously removed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who had been preparing with Obama administration officials for months to put the complex transition process into motion. Now the effort is frozen, senior White House officials say, because Mr. Pence has yet to sign legally required paperwork to allow his team to begin collaborating with President Obama’s aides on the handover.”

Ryan Is Set to Remain House Speaker

November 15, 2016 at 8:54 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Ryan “is poised to win the nomination of his House Republican colleagues Tuesday to continue as speaker and serve as the chief legislative partner to President-elect Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“But several GOP members made clear Monday that although Trump’s victory may have eased the internal party tensions that threatened Ryan’s speakership before the election, it has not eliminated them entirely.”

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Will the Democrats Clean House?

November 15, 2016 at 8:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “After their shocking defeat a week ago, Democrats will have a new roster of leaders in the coming months, especially with President Obama gone from office. A new DNC chair. A new Senate leader (Chuck Schumer). The one remaining question, however, is whether Nancy Pelosi will continue to hold her job as House leader.”

“As NBC’s Kasie Hunt reported, House Democrats have circulated a letter asking to postpone Thursday’s leadership elections — to better reflect on the election’s results.”

Politico: “House Democrats returned to Washington Monday searching for answers after their Election Day drubbing — and their longtime leader, Nancy Pelosi, confronted the first real stirring of discontent within the ranks since the last Democratic wipeout six years ago. While Pelosi has years or even decades of accumulated loyalty to fall back on, anger within the Democratic Caucus over what happened last week is palpable. The California Democrat faces a possible long-shot challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who hails from the kind of working-class Rust Belt district in which Democrats got trounced.”

Rogers Said to Leave Trump Transition Team

November 15, 2016 at 8:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) abruptly left President-elect Donald Trump’s transition planning committee at the request of team officials, Bloomberg reports.

Rogers had been tapped to help guide new administration on national security matters.

Ex-Goldman Partner Seen as Trump’s Treasury Secretary

November 15, 2016 at 7:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin “has been recommended by Donald Trump’s transition team to serve as Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with the process, and the choice is awaiting the president-elect’s final decision,” Bloomberg reports.

“Mnuchin, the campaign’s national finance chairman, has been considered the leading candidate for the job. Trump has displayed a pattern of loyalty to his closest campaign allies in early administration selections, and Mnuchin, 53, had signed on at a time when many from Wall Street stayed away.”

Bannon Makes the Rounds

November 15, 2016 at 7:32 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s controversial senior adviser, has been making calls to senior Republicans on Capitol Hill in an attempt to build relationships with aides and lawmakers. The message taken away from the calls — which have come over the last few days — is that Bannon’s days as chief provocateur toward Republicans are over, and he and Trump expect an extremely close relationship with Capitol Hill Republicans, according to those who have received the calls or have been briefed on them. The calls have been not only to figures in and around the leadership, but to the rank and file as well.”

Social Media Does Sway Elections

November 15, 2016 at 7:08 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A report from the Pew Research found that 20% of social-media users modified their stance on a political or social issue because of something they saw posted to social media.

Additionally, 17% reported that social media helped alter their perspective on a specific candidate. Democrats were found to be more likely than Republicans to say that they changed their views because of social media.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Facebook and Google announced they would take stands against fake news.

GOP Spending Spree Is Coming

November 15, 2016 at 7:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “For eight years, Republicans hammered President Barack Obama for exploding the national debt. But now a GOP-led spending spree is coming, with Donald Trump riding to the White House on trillion-dollar promises and a Republican Congress that looks likely to do his bidding. It’s a potential echo of the last time Republicans ran Washington, when then-Vice President Dick Cheney memorably remarked, ‘Deficits don’t matter.'”

“Trump campaigned heartily on a spending splurge and nothing he’s said since his shocking election suggests he will reverse course. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are papering over divisions with the man who frequently tossed party orthodoxy aside on the trail.”

Obama Insists Election Wasn’t About Him

November 15, 2016 at 6:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “If Obama has done any second-guessing since President-elect Donald Trump’s shocking victory last week, he didn’t betray any of it during his most extensive set of comments since the election.”

“In a press conference and in two separate conference calls with supporters, Obama rejected the idea of a bigger meaning in the election results. His policies? Helped millions and maybe even billions. His personal popularity? Still sky-high. His party? Well, he was busy with Syria and the economy – you can’t expect him to do everything.”

With Resignation Trump Can Now Reshape Wall Street

November 15, 2016 at 6:51 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Mary Jo White, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, on Monday announced that she would step down two years before the end of her term, clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump to reshape the way Wall Street is regulated,” the Washington Post reports.

“The resignation creates a massive opportunity for Trump early in his term to make changes to investor protections and other Wall Street regulations, part of what is widely expected to be a broad effort by the new administration to scale back what Republicans consider cumbersome federal rules that slow economic growth.”

Giuliani Says Defeating ISIS Is Trump’s Focus

November 15, 2016 at 6:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rudy Giuliani said Monday that President-elect Donald Trump would likely focus much of his initial foreign-policy strategy on destroying Islamic State, setting aside more vexing problems in the Middle East and elsewhere,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Giuliani: “ISIS, short-term I believe, is the greatest danger and not because ISIS is in Iraq and in Syria, but because ISIS did something al Qaeda never did—ISIS was able to spread itself around the world.”

Sessions Seen As Likely Secretary of Defense

November 14, 2016 at 9:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) “is the leading contender for Donald Trump’s secretary of defense, sources close to the transition say — a choice that would reward the president-elect’s most outspoken congressional loyalist but offer few olive branches to a Trump-wary Republican national security establishment,” Politico reports.

“The two men haven’t seen eye to eye on everything: Session is a budget hawk who favors caps on defense spending, while Trump has called for an arms and troops buildup that could cost $55 billion or more per year. But sources say the three-term Alabama Republican senator has still emerged as the top candidate for Pentagon leader, perhaps the most important post in the upcoming Trump Cabinet.”

Trump and Putin Agree to Improve Relations

November 14, 2016 at 9:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone conversation Monday that relations between their countries were ‘unsatisfactory’ and vowed to work together to improve them, the Kremlin said in a statement,” the Washington Post reports.

“The statement said the two leaders discussed combining efforts in the fight against terrorism, talked about ‘a settlement for the crisis in Syria’ and agreed their aides would begin working toward a face-to-face meeting between them.”

From the Fringe to the White House

November 14, 2016 at 9:04 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In naming Stephen K. Bannon to a senior White House post, President-elect Donald J. Trump has elevated the hard-right nationalist movement that Mr. Bannon has nurtured for years from the fringes of American politics to its very heart, a remarkable shift that has further intensified concern about the new administration’s direction,” the New York Times reports.

Short List Develops for New RNC Chief

November 14, 2016 at 9:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “People close to Priebus say he would not have left the RNC – which he helmed for a record six years – if it risked falling into the hands of someone he opposed, such as former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.”

“Among the names most under discussion for party chairman are David Bossie, who served as Trump’s deputy campaign manager and is an RNC member; Priebus ally Matt Pinnell, the RNC’s liaison to state parties; and Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party and niece of 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.”

Trump Focuses on Giuliani or Bolton for State Department

November 14, 2016 at 6:48 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Aides to President-elect Donald Trump are focusing on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton as the leading candidates to be the next secretary of state,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The choice between the two would force Mr. Trump to choose between Mr. Giuliani, a longtime friend and ally in New York, and Mr. Bolton, a hawkish conservative diplomat who called last year for the U.S. to bomb Iran.”

“A final decision could be several weeks away.”

Trump Surprised to Learn What President Actually Did

November 14, 2016 at 7:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr. Trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. Trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the West Wing had to be replaced at the end of Mr. Obama’s term.”

“After meeting with Mr. Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr. Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.”