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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - January 10, 2017
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This is the January 10, 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.
Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, will serve as a senior adviser to the president-elect. Kushner, who was a key adviser to Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, is a New York-based real estate developer. He is also the owner and publisher of the newspaper New York Observer. He will reportedly not receive a salary for his position in the Trump administration. His attorneys have said that he will sell many of his assets in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, according to The New York Times.
There is a debate over whether or not federal law may prohibit Kushner from holding an official role in the Trump White House. A federal statute from 1967 states, “A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official.” Some legal scholars—including Kushner’s attorney—have argued that the law does not apply to the White House. Other scholars, however, have taken the opposite view, arguing that the statute does apply to the White House.
According to the nonpartisan National Constitution Center, numerous presidents prior to 1967 appointed relatives to hold positions in their administrations. One of the most famous instances was Robert Kennedy, who served as attorney general while his brother, John F. Kennedy, was president.
A similar debate about relatives holding official positions in presidential administrations took place in the 1990s, when President Bill Clinton appointed then-first lady Hillary Clinton to lead a task force focused on healthcare reform. In a case related to the official nature of that task force, a federal judge questioned whether the 1967 law applied to White House and non-paid government positions, saying, “we doubt that Congress intended to include the White House or the Executive Office of the President. So, for example, a President would be barred from appointing his brother as Attorney General, but perhaps not as a White House special assistant. … The anti-nepotism statute, moreover, may well bar appointment only to paid positions in government.”
Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing: Attorney General
The Senate today held is its first confirmation hearing for one of President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees: Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee has 20 members, with nine Democrats and 11 Republicans. A majority (11) is needed to move Sessions’ confirmation forward. The committee’s nine Democrats have stopped short of saying they intend to try to block Sessions from making it out of committee, while the 11 Republicans have generally voiced support for his confirmation. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for example, stated, “I take today as a moment of celebration. The reason I am so enthusiastically supporting your nomination is that I have every confidence you will follow the law faithfully.” The hearing has so far hit on a range of issues, including immigration, antitrust laws, torture, and civil rights issues. Below are some of the key moments from today’s session.
- On his failed nomination for a federal judgeship in the 1980s: In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions for U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Alabama. The Senate Judiciary Committee, at the time controlled by Republicans, voted 10-8 against his nomination over allegations that Sessions had made racist remarks throughout his professional career as a lawyer and as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions addressed this issue at the end of his opening statements, calling allegations of racism, “damnably false charges” and saying, “the caricature of me in 1986 was not correct. I do not harbor the kind of animosity and race-based discrimination ideas that I was accused of. I did not.”
- On a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the country: In the wake of a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in 2015, Trump suggested imposing a ban on Muslims from entering the country. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the highest ranking Democratic on the committee, asked Sessions, “Do you agree with the president elect that the United States can or should deny entry to all members of a particular religion?” Sessions responded by saying that Trump has since clarified his stance to be that “the focus should be on individuals coming from countries that have a history of terrorism.” Sessions added, “I do not support the idea that Muslims as a religious group should be denied admission to the United States.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) followed up by asking, “Would you support a law that says you can't come to America because you're a Muslim.” Sessions responded, “No.”
- On the Voting Rights Act: In response to a question from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) about a statement he made in the past about the Voting Rights Act, in which he called the law intrusive, Sessions responded, “It is intrusive. The Supreme Court on more than one occasion has described it legally as an intrusive act, because you’re only focused on a certain number of states. Normally when Congress passes law it applies to the whole country. So it’s a very unusual thing for a law to be passed that targets only a few states, but they had a factual basis.” Sessions added that the Voting Rights Act was “one of the most important acts to deal with racial difficulties that we faced. It changed the whole course of history — particularly in the South.” He noted that he voted to extend the Voting Rights Act in 2005.
John Kelly’s confirmation hearing: Homeland Security Secretary
A confirmation hearing for retired general John Kelly, Trump’s pick for homeland security chief, began shortly before we sent out this email. That hearing is taking place before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The Wall Street Journal reports that the hearing is likely to include discussion of how the Trump administration intends to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. We took a look at some of Kelly’s policy stances back in December. In one statement that we highlighted, Kelly commented on Trump’s proposal to build a border wall. He said, “I think you have to have — we have a right to protect our borders, whether they’re seaward, coastlines, or land borders. We have a right to do that. Every country has a right to do that. Obviously, some form of control whether it's a wall or a fence. But if the countries where these migrants come from have reasonable levels of violence and reasonable levels of economic opportunity, then the people won’t leave to come here.”
Rescheduled hearings: DeVos and Pompeo
Two confirmation hearings for Trump cabinet nominees have been rescheduled. Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, originally scheduled for tomorrow, will now appear before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on January 17. Trump’s pick for CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), also originally scheduled for tomorrow, will appear before the Intelligence Committee on Thursday of this week.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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