Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
“Katrina Pierson, a spokesperson for Donald Trump and fixture on cable news, is seeking a role in his administration,” CNN reports.
“Pierson visited Trump Tower on Tuesday for meetings with members of Trump’s transition team. One source said she was there to make her pitch for the role of White House press secretary, while another said she was ‘looking at a lot of opportunities.'”
Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus told Hugh Hewitt that major changes could be in store for White House press briefings under the Trump administration.
Said Priebus: “Look, I think that many things have to change, and I think that it’s important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly, as you know, don’t really make news. And you know, even looking at things like the daily White House briefing from the press secretary, I mean, there’s a lot of different ways that things can be done, and I can assure you we’re looking at that.”
He added: “The point of all of this conversation is that the traditions, while some of them are great, I think it’s time to revisit a lot of these things that have been done in the White House and I can assure you that change is going to happen, even on things that might seem boring like this topic, but also change as far as how we’re going to approach tax reform, the American worker, how we protect them and business all at the same time why skyrocketing our economy.”
“The agency that manages federal government real estate has determined that President-elect Donald Trump will be in violation of the lease on the Washington, D.C., hotel bearing his name the moment he is sworn into office on Jan. 20,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Democrats said a senior official with the General Services Administration had informed members of Congress that the agency had determined Mr. Trump ‘will be in breach of the lease agreement the moment he takes office’ unless he divests his interests in the property, the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
First Read: “First time since ’89 that white men will fill Top 4 cabinet posts: As NBC’s Peter Alexander pointed on Today this morning, this will be the first time since 1989 when the top four cabinet posts — for secretary of state, attorney general, Treasury secretary, and Defense secretary — all went to white wen. And as Rachel Maddow noted last night, if Trump’s eventual Agriculture secretary pick is a white man, then the line of succession to the presidency will be 12 white men. That’s not a lot of diversity.”
“Donald Trump’s selection of Rex Tillerson for secretary of state on Tuesday amounted to a dare to Senate Republicans to reject the ExxonMobil chief over his close ties to Russia. Early signs suggest the GOP won’t defy the president-elect,” Politico reports.
“Barring new revelations about Tillerson’s past and connections with Russia, there are early indications that he will be confirmed… Still, Trump and Tillerson will have little margin for error. GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have all reacted critically to Tillerson’s business ties to Russia. It would take only three Republicans to sink him, if all Democrats vote no.”
President-elect Donald Trump “is stocking the upper echelons of his administration with more than the usual share of business titans like himself, betting the success of his presidency on the idea that a clash of cultures is needed to fix the mess in Washington and bring order to international affairs,” the Washington Post reports.
“The question is whether those who promise to bring a corporate mind-set to governance will change the system or be run over by it.”
Required reading: Chapter four of You Won, Now What? which is titled, “It’s Not a Business.”
“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,” Politico reports.
“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.”
“Some have begun to chafe at the power being exhibited by Priebus — who, along with a team of lieutenants, is exerting broad influence over hiring decisions.”
“President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who has represented Montana’s at-large congressional seat for one term, to serve as secretary of the Department of the Interior,” the Washington Post reports.
Playbook: “Donald Trump Jr., the president elect’s eldest son, was involved with the interview process for Interior secretary, according to sources familiar with the discussions. He sat in on interviews, and made calls to candidates, according to sources familiar with the process. Don Jr. is known as an avid outdoorsman, which is why he might have an interest in the next Interior secretary.”
“Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference,” the Washington Post reports.
James Hohmann notes that Donald Trump said that he’s a fan of Ayn Rand and identifies with Howard Roark, the main character in The Fountainhead.
The same is true for many of his prospective cabinet members: “Rex Tillerson prefers Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s novel about John Galt secretly organizing a strike of the creative class to hasten the collapse of the bureaucratic society… Andy Puzder, tapped by Trump last week to be secretary of labor, is an avid and outspoken fan of Rand’s books… Mike Pompeo, who will have the now-very-difficult job of directing the Central Intelligence Agency for Trump, has often said that Rand’s works inspired him… Trump has been huddling with and consulting several other Rand followers for advice as he fills out his cabinet.”
“The fact that all of these men, so late in life, are such fans of works that celebrate individuals who consistently put themselves before others is therefore deeply revealing. They will now run our government.”
First Read: “This morning, Donald Trump officially announced ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state pick. And that move has triggered a fight that could define Trump’s first few months in office — between Team Trump and Senate Republican hawks (John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio) over the issue of Russia.”
“Indeed, by tapping Tillerson (who was awarded Russia’s “Order of the Friendship” honor in 2013, and who opposed the U.S.-led sanctions against Russia for its intervention in Crimea), Trump has made this confirmation fight a referendum on this very issue. Tillerson’s confirmation probably wouldn’t be a problem under any other incoming president, or if Russia’s intervention in the 2016 election (and Trump’s denial of it) wasn’t the story it has become.”
“But here we are, and the result is Trump picking a fight with a key part of his own party — something that we never saw Barack Obama do at this same point in time. And when you pick a high-profile fight like this, you better win.”
President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry — who famously once forgot that he wanted to abolish the Energy Department — to be secretary of energy, two sources familiar with the transition process told NBC News.
“For the billionaires, the multimillionaires and the plain well-off people whom President-elect Donald Trump is choosing for his cabinet, the first step to office will be the sort of grilling he didn’t face — on potential business conflicts of interest and, for some, tax returns — courtesy of the Senate sleuths who have taken their toll in the past,” Politico reports.
President-elect Donald Trump “officially selected Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be his secretary of state. In saying he will nominate Mr. Tillerson, the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant has a too-cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia,” the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “GOP advisers have warned that a growing number of Republican senators may be unwilling to vote to confirm Tillerson because of his ties to Russia. While Senate Democrats cannot filibuster Trump’s Cabinet picks, Republicans have only 52 votes in the Senate, leaving them in potential jeopardy if Democrats unite in opposition to Tillerson. It will take at least 50 votes to confirm a nominee, plus Vice President-elect Mile Pence casting a tiebreaking vote.”
Politico: Five roadblocks that may trip up Tillerson
Politico: “Some jobs are now seen as near-locks. Stephen Miller, Trump’s chief speechwriter and policy adviser on the campaign, is expected to be named a senior policy adviser. Rick Dearborn, the current executive director of the presidential transition team and a former chief of staff to Sen. Jeff Sessions, is widely expected to head the White House Office of Legislative Affairs… And George Gigicos, one of Trump’s earliest staffers and a veteran of the George W. Bush White House, is in line to serve as director of White House advance.”
“Some people close to Trump said that Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s final campaign manager, who has publicly flirted with running a pro-Trump group outside the government and has said she already declined the post of press secretary, is now considered more likely to enter the administration than she was a week ago. Among the titles under discussion would be serving as a senior adviser or assistant to the president or possibly as a deputy chief of staff for communications, they said.”
Though he canceled a news conference meant to address ethical concerns around his business empire, President-elect Donald Trump said late Monday night that “no new deals will be done” by his real estate business while he is in the Oval Office, the New York Times reports.
“But the move is unlikely to satisfy critics, including the government’s official ethics office, who have said the only way for Mr. Trump to avoid such conflicts is to entirely divest his stake in the Trump Organization.”
Politico: Voters doubt Trump will keep his business interests separate
President-elect Donald Trump “is postponing until next month a previously announced news conference to outline how he’ll handle his far-flung business operations while in the White House,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump had planned to make the announcement Dec. 15 but wants more time because he’s been occupied with filling out his cabinet and top administration posts.”
Donald Trump’s “long-time but informal adviser” Roger Stone says the Secretary of State job was dangled in front of Mitt Romney in order to “torture” him for previously opposing the president-elect, the Daily Beast reports.
Said Stone: “To toy with him. And given the history, that’s completely understandable. Mitt Romney crossed a line. He didn’t just oppose Trump, which is his democratic right, he called him a phony and a fraud. And a con man. And that’s not the kind of man you want as Secretary of State.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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