Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
“Kellyanne Conway is considering taking the helm of the external political operation that will support Donald Trump during his tenure as president,” The Hill reports.
“Just as President Obama’s outside organization became a powerful force in progressive politics, Trump’s infrastructure could become a dominant force on the right. What becomes of this group — and who runs it — is one of the hottest topics of conversation circulating the D.C. Republican scene.”
Washington Post: “On Thursday, the top Democrats on Senate committees that will hold confirmation hearings for Trump’s Cabinet nominees will announce plans to require the picks to release three years of tax information before being referred to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.”
“It’s unclear whether such a rule could pass in Republican-controlled committees that will hold confirmation hearings, but it’s the opening salvo of Democratic attempts to put GOP colleagues on the record of either siding with or bucking Trump, especially on the unpopular aspects of his personal background and policy positions.”
Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) is under consideration to be director of national intelligence, Politico reports.
“Coats, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, met with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday at Trump Tower. Speaking to reporters afterward, he was coy about his intentions.”
“Only one member of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is dealing with the CIA and the 16 other offices and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community,” Reuters reports.
“Geoffrey Kahn, a former House intelligence committee staffer, is the only person named so far to Trump’s intelligence community ‘landing team,’ they said. As a result, said one senior career intelligence officer, briefing books prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Agency, the National Counterterrorism Center, and 13 other agencies and organizations are ‘waiting for someone to read them.'”
Donald Trump is considering tapping Sarah Palin as his secretary of Veterans Affairs, Politico reports.
“Palin was an early endorser of Trump, throwing her support to him before the Iowa caucuses, making her one of his highest profile backers at the time… Palin, who, like Trump, has been a lightning rod for liberal criticism, campaigned for Trump through the campaign’s final days, including in Michigan.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s drama-ridden selection process for secretary of state has narrowed to four finalists, including Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, the Washington Post reports.
“It was the first time that Trump’s transition team has publicly confirmed that Romney and Giuliani are competing for the highest ranking Cabinet position… Transition team officials would not name the other two finalists, but other leading candidates include retired Army Gen. David Petraeus — a former commanding general of the U.S. Central Command and CIA director — and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
“Russia has been in contact over Syria with the team of President-elect Donald Trump, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday, suggesting that Moscow is already looking past the current administration when it comes to the crisis in Syria,” the Washington Post reports.
Chris Cillizza: “The terrific answer is that Romney still feels a call to public service. That the same motivation that drove him to run for governor or take over the failing Salt Lake City Winter Olympics or even run for president — a desire to make things better and a belief he can do so — is what compels him to make nice with someone that, from a personal perspective, he clearly holds in utter contempt. Under this theory, Romney believes the best way to preserve his vision for the country and its role in the world — and protect those things from potentially harmful decisions by Trump — is to insert himself between the president-elect and the world. That only by going into the Trump administration can he keep really bad things from happening.”
“The terrible answer for Romney is that this willingness to subjugate his personal views about Trump is all in service of an overarching ambition for power that has defined his life. Romney critics — and those are the people pushing this theory — point to his past flip-flops on such issues as abortion and gay marriage as evidence that when a deeply held belief comes up against Romney’s ambition, ambition always wins. So, Romney wants to be secretary of state more than he hates Trump. It’s that simple a calculation.”
President-elect Donald Trump is considering Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn for a senior administration job, possibly as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Politico reports.
“People familiar with the matter say Cohn’s meeting with Trump on Tuesday included talks about a potential job in the new administration, possibly to run OMB, a sprawling office that will handle much of Trump’s budget policy after he takes office in January.”
“Donald Trump’s education secretary nominee is a huge critic of public schools and has pushed to steer taxpayer dollars to charter schools and voucher programs. His Health and Human Services pick wants to dismantle Obamacare and privatize Medicare,” Politico reports.
“His attorney general nominee would crack down on ‘sanctuary cities’ and increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. And his choice to run the CIA believes shutting down ‘black site’ prisons was a mistake, while his national security adviser contends Islam is a threat to Western civilization.”
“Add them all up, and the president-elect is well on his way to building a conservative dream team that has Republicans cheering and liberals in despair.”
President-elect Donald Trump says he intends to set aside his business interests to focus on “running the country,” Bloomberg reports.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the President-elect wrote: “I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to make America great again!”
“President-elect Donald Trump is turning to a reliable stable of Republican and business world power brokers to fill out his administration, signaling he’s looking to push his agenda using the political apparatus he famously pledged to dismantle,” CNN reports.
“Trump is expected to name his top fundraiser and former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin to the Treasury Department, pulling from a Wall Street world he once criticized as having ‘total control’ over his campaign opponents. Wilbur Ross, a billionaire businessman, will be his Commerce secretary. Tuesday’s announcements of Georgia Rep. Tom Price to run the Department of Health and Human Services and Elaine Chao to lead the Department of Transportation added two more Washington movers and shakers to the Trump Cabinet.”
“Trump pledged in his campaign to ‘drain the swamp’ in Washington, but has also repeatedly said that he will look to people who understand the capital to help him govern. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a former congressman, as vice president and chairman of his transition and choosing long-time political powerbrokers like GOP fundraiser Betsy DeVos as secretary of Education is part of that pattern.”
President-elect Donald Trump had dinner with Mitt Romney in New York City tonight.
Said Romney: “These discussions I’ve had with him have been enlightening, and interesting, and engaging. I’ve enjoyed them very, very much.”
Feel free to leave a caption for the photo in the comments.
Donald Trump will name Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“For some, the 79-year-old New Jersey native was nothing short of a savior of the steel industry–someone willing to risk his money to save thousands of jobs. For others, he was a vulture who cut jobs and pensions, and forced pain on a once-proud industry.”
Steven Mnuchin, “a financier with deep roots on Wall Street and in Hollywood but no government experience, is expected to be named Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary as soon as Wednesday,” the New York Times reports.
“As Treasury secretary, Mr. Mnuchin would play an important role in shaping the administration’s economic policies, including a package of promised tax cuts, increased spending on infrastructure and changes in the terms of foreign trade. He could also help lead any effort to roll back President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and opening to Cuba by reimposing sanctions on Tehran and Havana.”
“Donald Trump’s inaugural committee is offering huge perks — prime tickets, luxurious lodging, access to the president-elect himself — in exchange for six- and seven-figure contributions from individual and corporate contributors,” according to the Center for Public Integrity.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports Trump’s transition team “is offering supporters a rare opportunity: breakfast in New York with the next president for $5,000 — pocket change for many of the team’s wealthy fundraisers. Wall Street investors and lobbyists top the list of fundraisers for next week’s event, which is expected to raise $4 million.”
“Democrats are looking to create big headaches for Donald Trump over his unprecedented ethical conflicts,” Politico reports.
“In the 11 days since the Republican’s upset victory, the president-elect’s political opponents have hammered him for giving no sign that he will follow historic norms and really separate himself from his vast financial holdings. They’re baffled that Trump and his family are still promoting their businesses, especially on an official transition website, and they’re questioning how Trump’s son-in-law can legally land a job in the White House.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) broke with President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that flag burners go to jail or lose their citizenship, The Hill reports.
Said McConnell: “The Supreme Court has held that that activity is a protected First Amendment right. In this country, we have a long history of protecting unpleasant speech.”
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.
More about Taegan Goddard →