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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194

What Just Happened?

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 194: What Just Happened?

Republicans Divided Over Replacing Obamacare

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“After meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday to hash out plans to repeal Obamacare, top Senate Republicans are no closer to resolving an issue that’s splintering the GOP heading into the start of Donald Trump’s presidency: how long to give themselves to replace the law,” Politico reports.

“Pence communicated that the incoming administration is prepared to work closely with Congress on the issue, senators said, but did not dictate how long the transition period should last. That decision will affect millions of Americans’ health care and send insurance companies scrambling to adjust.”

Trump Transition Team Had to Sign NDA

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“Trump transition team members had to sign a code of ethics with a pretty significant lobbying ban, but they’ve also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to make certain they keep all of their work confidential,” Politico reports.

“The agreement legally bars transition staffers from disclosing info about major portions of the transition work, like policy briefings, personnel material, donor info, fundraising goals, budgets, contracts, or any draft research papers. It also demands that if anyone on the team suspects a colleague of leaking material, he or she must tell transition team leadership.”

One In Nine Trump Tweets Is an Insult

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The New York Times found that about one in every nine tweets by Donald Trump over the last 18 months was an insult of some kind.

“First, Mr. Trump likes to identify a couple of chief enemies and attack them until they are no longer threatening enough to interest him. He hurls insults at these foils relentlessly, for sustained periods – weeks or months… Second, there’s a nearly constant stream of insults in the background directed at a wider range of subjects.”

Trump Sold All His Stocks In June

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President-elect Donald Trump sold all of his stockholdings in June, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The revelation came on Tuesday from a spokesman for Mr. Trump during a phone call with reporters. He was asked about Mr. Trump’s past holdings in Boeing, a company the president-elect had criticized earlier in the day for what he alleged were high costs for the next Air Force One. Mr. Trump held roughly 150 separate corporate stock and bond investments, according to a filing he submitted in May.”

Flynn Regularly Spreads Fake News

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Incoming Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn “has used social media to promote a series of outrageous conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and their inner circles in recent months — pushing dubious factoids at least 16 times since Aug. 9,” Politico reports.

“Flynn, who has 106,000 Twitter followers, has used the platform to retweet accusations that Clinton is involved with child sex trafficking and has ‘secretly waged war’ on the Catholic Church, as well as charges that Obama is a ‘jihadi’ who ‘laundered’ money for Muslim terrorists.”

“Now some say Flynn’s fondness for spreading fake news casts doubt on his fitness to serve as the White House’s national security adviser, suggesting that he either can’t spot a blatant falsehood or is just ideologically bent to believe the worst of his perceived enemies.”

Is Growing List of Candidates Helping Giuliani?

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First Read: “Every day, it seems that Donald Trump’s secretary of state list keeps expanding — yesterday was Jon Huntsman’s turn in the spotlight. But here is something to chew on: Is this expanding list all about helping Rudy Giuliani, the original frontrunner for the job? Every time that someone new is examined (whether Huntsman or Mitt Romney or David Petraeus or that Exxon-Mobil CEO), does that help Giuliani’s case?”

Conway Still Mulling Which Job to Take

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Senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told the Washington Post that she is considering leading a group being formed that will provide “a surround-sound super structure” to bolster the new administration’s political and policy goals.

Conway said that she “is still deciding whether to join Trump at the White House or run the organization, which will seek to harness his most fervent supporters in political and policy fights… Conway said she and her family are considering relocating to Washington from New York and have been house-hunting.”

Why Kushner Got Payback Against Christie

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Vanity Fair looks at why Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is believed to have sunk Gov. Chris Christie’s chances at a job in the new administration:

Much has been made of Kushner’s familial loyalty even within the Trump campaign, as reports swirled that he convinced his father-in-law to pass over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, first as the vice-presidential pick, and again, when he got ousted last month as head of the White House transition team. Christie, as U.S. Attorney, was responsible for putting Charlie Kushner behind bars. A source close to the campaign told me recently that there was a major sticking point in the Christie relationship that Jared could not let go of, and that’s what led him to convince Trump to bypass him.

According to the source, Charlie Kushner was going to be released 28 days early from his sentence. The family was ready, eager, anticipating his arrival home. But he ended up finishing out the time. This source claims that Jared Kushner believes that Christie made sure that Charlie Kushner stayed behind bars for the full sentence, even though the family had already started preparing for his early release. “That really sort of twisted the knife in and he just couldn’t let go of that part of it,” the source said. A source close to Kushner confirmed that this is true.

Democrats Pressure Heitkamp and Manchin to Stay Put

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“Senior Senate Democrats are putting pressure on their red-state colleagues to turn down any offer from Donald Trump to serve in his administration, warning that their party could suffer if they join forces with the incoming president,” CNN reports.

“Democrats are worried that if Trump adds two Democrats to his Cabinet — potentially North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — the balance of power in the chamber could tilt further to the GOP. So they are making the case to their colleagues to stay put.”

Trump Adviser Defends Taiwan Call

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“Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Donald Trump, defended the President-elect’s recent call with the president of Taiwan, saying in a local radio interview that he didn’t care if it upset China,” CNN reports.

Said Moore: “Taiwan is our ally. That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn’t like it, screw ’em.”

The Stunt Presidency

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Julia Turner: “The Carrier deal is a triumph for Donald Trump, and it’s one that should terrify those concerned about what his presidency might bring (and how long it may last). The incident shows how keenly Trump understands the power of a concrete example. The Carrier deal will be good for the workers whose jobs will stay in Indiana, yes, but it functions primarily as a stunt that expertly reinforces Trump’s brand. As a candidate, he promised to use his deal-making skills to improve the lot of the American worker. Now, nearly two months before he even takes the oath of office, he has delivered. No matter what happens on Trump’s watch—to Carrier, to the manufacturing sector, to employment numbers overall—there will be some set of voters, and not just Trump fans, who vividly remember this moment, thanks to its clarity, to its tangibility.”

“Each critique of the Carrier deal requires the listener to hold in his or her head several levels of abstraction: ideas about how systems and incentives work, ideas about cause and effect, ideas about how corruption can unfurl or how policy can affect millions of people. And so each critique has less impact than the sturdy story: Last week in Indiana, Donald Trump saved a thousand jobs.”

Why Carson Is the Perfect HUD Secretary for Trump

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Jonathan Chait: “HUD is traditionally a magnet for scandal under Republican administrations, for two reasons. First, its mission of providing affordable housing for the urban poor is marginal, at best, to the core Republican agenda… Second, the agency’s program structure lends itself naturally to profiteering. HUD works closely with private developers to build affordable housing. Without careful oversight, the agency can easily become a slush fund to distribute sweetheart contracts to the administration’s buddies.”

“There is an additional risk factor in Trump’s administration. The president is planning to continue to run his business empire in office, without disclosing his income. And so Carson, a man with no experience in government but extensive experience in the field of bilking, and a proven loyalist of Donald Trump, will apparently oversee an agency whose mission lends itself to corruption. If Trump’s priority was to ensure the most effective and efficient use of every housing dollar, Carson would make a very strange choice. But that may not be Trump’s priority at all.”

Ivanka Trump Will Move to Washington, DC

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Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are house hunting in Washington as they look to move from New York City to D.C., CNN has learned.

“The couple’s planned move with their three children reflects the expectation that Kushner will serve as an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump in some capacity, though the precise role — potentially complicated by nepotism laws — remains to be seen.”

Democrats Plan Tough Confirmation Process

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“Senate Democrats are preparing to put Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks through a grinding confirmation process, weighing delay tactics that could eat up weeks of the Senate calendar and hamper his first 100 days in office,” Politico reports.

“Senate Democrats can’t block Trump’s appointments, which in all but one case need only 51 votes for confirmation. But they can turn the confirmation process into a slog.”

Taegan Goddard

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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