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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - April 26, 2017
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This is the April 26, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
This week in You’re Hired, we’ve been looking back to President Trump’s “Contract with the American Voter,” a document he released in October. At the top of the document, Trump states: “What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter — and begins with restoring honesty and accountability, and bringing change to Washington.”
On Monday, we looked at the first section, Trump’s pledged pursuits for his first day in office. Today, we will look to the broader legislative measures the contract outlines for the first 100 days. Friday, we will address the legislation Trump has signed into law since taking office.
And be sure to stay tuned for our exit exam later this week, where you can test your knowledge of the ins and outs of the Trump administration’s transition and first 100 days.
A note on the formatting: Below, we reproduce the exact words from Trump’s contract to give a sense of what he pledged as a candidate for office. We focus on policy outcomes, not political ones, so we won’t weigh in on any partisan rhetoric from the contract. You’ll find Trump’s words first, in quotation marks, followed by our breakdown of the specific pledge.
What follows is the second page of the contract, which specifies ten legislative priorities for the first 100 days of his administration. The document states, “I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration.”
“Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act”
“An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with two children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from seven to three, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35% to 15%, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10% rate.”
- No tax legislation of this kind has been introduced, although negotiations and plans have been a major focus of Trump’s administration to this point. Although Republicans in Congress basically agree with Trump that taxes should be lowered and simplified, there are differences between how such tax cuts should be implemented. Trump has stressed his belief that lowering taxes will pay for itself in economic growth. House Speaker Paul Ryan has called for a border adjustment tax to pay for a corporate tax cut to 20 percent.
- Today, April 26, the Trump administration released a tax plan that outlined broad principles for changes to the tax code but did not specify a legislative agenda. According to Reuters, Republicans in Congress saw the plan as “a starting point for a tax bill.”
- The plan included changing the highest corporate tax rate to 15 percent and a one-time 10 percent tax on foreign profits kept overseas by American companies. The 10 percent repatriation tax aims to encourage companies to bring profits back to the United States.
- The tax plan did not include a border adjustment tax, a tax on all imports.
- The plan also called for increasing the standard deduction for individuals.
“End the Offshoring Act”
“Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.”
- We have not seen any legislation concerning trade and tariffs introduced to date.
- Trump wouldn’t need legislation to enact tariffs on another country. Under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, he could likely raise tariffs to strengthen national security. According to The New York Times, new trade agreements need congressional approval, but Congress has delegated the power to undo existing agreements to the president. If Trump decides to leave NAFTA, which he has suggested, tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico would then be permitted.
- Bloomberg also reports that the president can also restrict trade through powers granted in some more obscure trade legislation, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 and the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917.
“American Energy and Infrastructure Act”
“Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over ten years. It is revenue neutral.”
- No infrastructure bill has yet been proposed.
- Last week, Trump and his budget director both spoke about the future of infrastructure development. Trump told a crowd in Wisconsin, ““[I]nfrastructure is coming and it’s coming fast.” Speaking with the Institute of International Finance, Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, said that infrastructure plans were still in early discussions and were likely to be solidified in the fall, according to Bloomberg.
- The basic funding model is that the government would give tax credits to private investment firms that partner with the federal government in infrastructure projects. White House economic advisor Gary Cohn has also indicated that tax revenue generated by corporate money coming back to the U.S. from overseas could fund infrastructure plans.
“School Choice and Education Opportunity Act”
“Redirects education dollars to give parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends Common Core and brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and makes two- and four-year college more affordable.”
- We have not seen any activity concerning education in terms of new proposed legislation from the Trump administration.
- Trump did sign two bills rolling back Obama-era education regulations. One regulation required that teacher training programs be evaluated based on student performance in the classroom. The other provided guidance for states to identify failing schools and fix them. The two regulations were revoked using the Congressional Review Act.
- His proposed federal budget also calls for an additional $1.4 billion for school choice programs, including $168 million more for charter schools and $250 million for a new private school choice program.
- A bill similar to the one Trump proposes in this contract was introduced in the House by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). That bill, the “Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act,” called for allowing states “to let Federal funds for the education of disadvantaged children follow low-income children to the public school, charter school, accredited private school, or supplemental educational service program they attend, and for other purposes.”
“Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act”
“Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.”
- The American Health Care Act (AHCA), the proposed Republican modification to the Affordable Care Act, has gone through two phases to this point:
- The March 2017 version of the bill, which was endorsed by Trump and largely developed by Republican House leaders, proposed an expansion of Health Savings Accounts and provided for block grants of Medicaid funds to the states after 2020. But the proposed bill did not include provisions for purchasing insurance across state lines or for expedited drug approval procedures. The AHCA lost traction with both conservative and moderate members of the House and was pulled from the House floor on March 24.
- In April 2017, talks on the bill began again, with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus supporting changes contained in the MacArthur amendment, which would provide for a “limited waiver option” for states. Under this option, states could seek waivers from some federal standards (like the Essential Health Benefits and some community rating rules) if the waiver is in the interest of reducing premium costs, increasing the number of insured people, or advancing another public benefit.
“Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act”
“Allows Americans to deduct childcare and eldercare from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services and creates tax-free dependent care savings accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.”
- We cannot find any discussions of childcare or eldercare legislation to this point in Trump’s presidency.
- Today, April 26, the Trump administration released its proposal for a tax plan, which included a system of tax breaks to help pay for the cost of childcare for some Americans. According to The Washington Post, the administration was pursuing an approach that would increase the deduction for childcare under the Child and Dependent Care Credit in the existing tax code.
“End Illegal Immigration Act”
“Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a two-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a five-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.”
- This legislation, or any concerning Trump’s immigration policies, has not been introduced thus far.
- Trump initially insisted that funding for a border wall with Mexico be part of a spending bill currently under negotiation. However, on Tuesday, he told a group of conservative journalists that spending for the wall would not be a requirement in the short-term spending bill that would keep the government from a shutdown.
- Trump’s budget proposal for 2018 called for an initial $2 billion in funding for the wall as well as 100 new government lawyers, 1,500 law enforcement officials, and an additional $1 billion for detention and deportation of individuals residing in the U.S. without legal permission.
“Restoring Community Safety Act”
“Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a task force on violent crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.”
- Some of these items have been addressed in executive orders—such as the development of a violent crime task force—but no legislation concerning violent crime or criminal drug offenses has been negotiated at this point.
“Restoring National Security Act”
“Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values.”
- A comprehensive national security bill addressing these issues has not been introduced or negotiated as far as we can see.
- On April 19, Trump did sign the Veterans Choice Program Extension and Improvement Act, which extended a program allowing veterans to see non-VA doctors if they face length wait times at a VA facility or live 40 or more miles from the nearest VA facility. The act also changed a provision of the program to cover private co-pays and deductibles directly rather than through reimbursements to the patient.
- His budget proposal addresses the White House’s desire for some of these items, including a request for a $4.6 billion increase in funding for VA healthcare.
“Clean Up Corruption in Washington Act”
“Enacts new ethics reforms to drain the swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.”
- We have not seen any legislative activity from the White House aimed at changes to ethics laws for Congress, the president, or lobbyists.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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