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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - December 19, 2016
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This is the December 19, 2016, edition of a daily email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition team, potential 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.
Nominations and Appointments
On late Friday, President-elect Trump announced that he would nominate U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB is an executive office responsible for helping the president prepare and manage the federal budget across federal agencies. The big picture priorities of a Trump budget director would include Trump’s promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut taxes, and invest almost $1 trillion in infrastructure. OMB director is a position with Cabinet-rank, though it is not an official Cabinet position along the lines of secretary of state. Mulvaney’s appointment depends upon confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
After serving in both chambers of the South Carolina Legislature, Mulvaney was elected to the U.S. House in 2010, representing South Carolina's 5th Congressional District. Since coming to Congress, he has described himself as “disenchanted with the establishment wing of the party.” In January 2015, he was one of the founding members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of Republican legislators who lobby for legislation promoting limited government. This group has opposed what it considers to be high levels of government spending, and some of its members were part of the push to oust John Boehner as House speaker in 2015. During the election, Mulvaney initially endorsed Rand Paul in September 2015; he endorsed Trump at a candidate forum in June 2016.
How would OMB look in a Trump administration?
The OMB is tasked with getting executive priorities in the budget and approved by Congress. In the case of a Trump administration, this would primarily involve getting space in the budget for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, tax cuts, and investment in infrastructure. But where does Mulvaney stand on these issues?
- Repeal of the Affordable Care Act:
- OMB: The OMB would be responsible for crafting the budget in accordance with Trump’s desire to repeal and replace Obamacare. The budget would need to fund Trump’s alternative to the plan, which he has said would involve instituting some form of health savings accounts. Even without congressional repeal of the Affordable Care Act, OMB could end the law by crafting a budget that simply refuses to fund it.
- Mulvaney: He has been a consistent critic of the Affordable Care Act; one of his first votes in 2011 was to repeal the legislation. In May 2016, the told the Greenville Herald that repealing the law was one issue on which he would not budge, saying, “Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced with something that makes healthcare affordable. It isn’t working. We knew it wouldn’t work. Sadly, I don’t think it was ever intended to work.”
- Tax cuts:
- OMB: Any reduction in revenue from tax cuts would have to be accounted for in the federal budget as drawn up by OMB. Trump claims his proposed tax cuts will be “revenue neutral” because of the cuts in government spending and the economic growth he expects. OMB would be responsible for ensuring the “disciplined budget management and elimination of waste, fraud and abuse” that Trump said would keep his tax plan from adding to the national debt.
- Mulvaney: When he ran for Congress in 2010, Mulvaney supported permanently extending the tax cuts enacted under George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003. He did vote against the Fiscal Cliff compromise in 2013, which extended those tax cuts, because it increased spending overall. At the time, he said that “‘trading’ increased spending and deficits for lower taxes is not a plan for compromise, it is a formula for economic collapse.” In the past, Mulvaney has been against raising taxes and for eliminating the capital gains tax on businesses.
- Infrastructure investment:
- OMB: Increased spending in infrastructure investment is one of the key spending items Trump has mentioned specifically. He has proposed investing nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure, even mentioning the investment in his victory speech by citing the need to “fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals.” This increase in spending is likely to be OMB’s biggest challenge in 2017, as the office would need to work with Congress to pass spending increases that Republicans opposed during the Obama administration.
- Mulvaney: Mulvaney is a critic of increased spending, especially if he considers it to contribute to the national debt. When first elected to the U.S. House, he co-sponsored the Balanced Budget Amendment, and he has advocated for spending cuts in the belief that “you can’t spend money you don’t have.” It's unclear how Trump's infrastructure proposal would fit Mulvaney's previously discussed thoughts about balanced budgets, but as director of the OMB, it would be Mulvaney's job to do so.
Some reactions from South Carolina to Mulvaney’s nomination
- Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who came into the U.S. House in 2010 with Mulvaney: “Mick is a great choice to lead the O.M.B. We entered Congress together in 2010, and I am certain he will tackle his new position with the same passion he has represented the Fifth District with over the past six years. Facing a $20 trillion debt, we need someone committed to restoring fiscal sanity in Washington, and I am confident Mick will work to do so.”
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who sits on the Senate Budget Committee, where Mulvaney’s confirmation process begins: “Mick is a great choice for OMB Director. I’ve often described as a ‘young’ Paul Ryan when it comes to all things budget-related. He’s done his homework when it comes to the federal budget and will hit the ground running in this very important job.”
- U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who was also elected to the U.S. House in 2010: “Rep. Mulvaney is the perfect person to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Mick is incredibly bright and capable, and I have no doubt his conservative principles will help restore our nation’s fiscal health.”
Vincent Viola
Trump made another announcement today, officially nominating Vincent Viola as his choice for secretary of the Army. The position does require Senate confirmation, but it is not considered to be in the Cabinet or to have Cabinet-rank. The secretary of the Army heads the Department of the Army, which is part of the Department of Defense. The secretary is in charge of Army operations and activities and follows the secretary of defense’s direction.
A few notes about Viola’s career:
- He served in the Army beginning in 1977.
- He joined the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1982, served as its chairman from 2001 to 2004; his trading firm Virtu Financial, which trades stocks at high volume and high speeds, had a market value of $2.4 billion in August 2016.
- He is worth an estimated $1.2 billion, most of which was made when Virtu Financial went public in 2015.
Since joining NYMEX, Viola has supported the U.S. Army through the establishment of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, which houses the academy’s Terrorism Studies Program. In 2011, he told attendees at an Army conference, “I'm not a businessman and I'm not a technologist, but what I really am in my heart and soul is a Soldier and that is the approach I've taken in my business career.”
Side note: Viola, owner of the Florida Panthers NHL franchise, is the third owner of a major professional sports franchise to be nominated for a high-ranking position in Trump’s administration. Todd Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, was nominated as deputy secretary of commerce on November 30. And Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, is part-owner of the Orlando Magic, that city’s NBA franchise.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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