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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - March 27, 2017
Trump Administration (first term)  Vice President Mike Pence Cabinet • White House staff • Transition team • Trump's second term |
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| Polling indexes: Opinion polling during the Trump administration |
This is the March 27, 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.
What’s next for the Trump administration
On Friday, Republicans pulled the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA), a reconciliation bill that sought to modify the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The withdrawal came after a week of delayed votes and unsuccessful efforts to whip some of the 30-plus Republican representatives who expressed opposition to the bill.
Read more about the 115th Congress on the American Health Care Act of 2017.
In remarks on Friday afternoon, Trump said, “We were very close, and it was a very, very tight margin. We had no Democrat support. We had no votes from the Democrats. They weren’t going to give us a single vote, so it's a very difficult thing to do. I've been saying for the last year and a half that the best thing we can do politically speaking is let Obamacare explode.” He predicted that a better healthcare bill would be produced in the aftermath of the ACA collapsing.
Today, we will look at the impact the AHCA has had on the relationship between the White House and Congress, and the two arenas where the Trump administration will play out its next battles: the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and tax policy.
White House and Congress
House Speaker Paul Ryan
During a press conference on Friday afternoon, Trump said that he had in confidence in House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “I like Speaker Ryan. He worked very, very hard. A lot of different groups, he's got a lot of factions. And there's been a long history of liking and disliking, even within the Republican Party, long before I got here,” Trump said.
On Saturday, it appeared that Trump was signaling his frustration with Ryan when he used his personal Twitter account to tell supporters to watch Fox News host Jeanine Pirro hours before Pirro called on Ryan to resign during her program. “He failed to deliver the votes on his health care bill. The one trumpeted to repeal and replace Obamacare. The one that he had seven years to work on. The one he hid under lock and key in the basement of Congress. The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass,” Pirro said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the following day that the tweet and content of Pirro’s show were “more coincidental.” He continued, “I did not talk to the president about the tweet. I’m just telling the truth. There is no preplanning here.” Spicer then reaffirmed that Trump did not blame Ryan for the bill’s failure.
House Freedom Caucus
The primary Republican opposition to the AHCA came from House Freedom Caucus, a coalition of approximately 35 to 40 members that aims to promote what it considers limited government, the rule of law, liberty, safety, and prosperity.
Asked if he felt betrayed by the Freedom Caucus, Trump said, “They're friends of mine. I'm disappointed because we could have had it. So I'm disappointed. I'm a little surprised, to be honest with you. We really had it. It was pretty much there within grasp.”
Trump tweeted on Sunday, however, that the Freedom Caucus was one of the groups responsible for the bill’s failure. “Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare,” he wrote.
Shortly after, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), who was leaning in support of the bill, resigned from the caucus. He said in a statement, “In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward. Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective Member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead.”
Democratic unity
Trump initially blamed what happened to the AHCA on the Democrats, saying, “With no Democrat support, we couldn't quite get there. We were just a very small number of votes short in terms of getting our bill passed.” He then predicted that Democrats would seek to compromise following a significant rise in premiums under the ACA. “I honestly believe the Democrats will come to us and say, look, let's get together and get a great healthcare bill or plan that's really great for the people of our country. And I think that's going to happen,” he said.
On Friday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the bill’s withdrawal a “victory for the American people.” She emphasized the unity of the Democratic Party, saying, “It's about our country and the vision of our founders. It's about our faith, and it's about the unity of the Democrats, united by our values.”
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch
Following hearings last week for Neil Gorsuch, at least 15 members of Congress have said that they will oppose his confirmation.
Read more about Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings.
Democrats against Gorsuch
- Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) said that they would vote against Gorsuch’s nomination because of how he has ruled on employment and corporate issues. Harris wrote in an op-ed for The San Francisco Chronicle that Gorsuch’s record “shows he’s willing to favor corporations over the American people. He believes companies can impose their religious views on employees and deny women birth-control coverage. And he has been hostile toward federal agencies that protect American workers and consumers.”
- Sen. Tom Udall (N.M.) expressed concern with the independence of the judiciary in a statement. He said, “He not only failed to answer questions that are critical for me—his position on the rights of working mothers, whether women can choose their own health care decisions, LGBTQ rights, and dark money in our elections, to name a few—but he failed to convince me that he would be an independent voice on the Court.” Udall added that he hoped former President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, could be seated.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) indicated on Thursday that he would seek to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination. “To my Republican friends who think that if Judge Gorsuch fails to reach 60 votes, we ought to change the rules, I say if this nominee cannot earn 60 votes—a bar met by each of President Obama’s nominees and George Bush’s last two nominees—the answer isn’t to change the rules. It’s to change the nominee,” he said from the floor of the Senate.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) similarly said, "If he does not get 60 votes, the Republicans owe the American people the obligation of bringing forward somebody who is more moderate.”
- Other Democratic senators opposing Gorsuch’s nomination include Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Tom Carper (Del.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.).
What comes next
With the hearings completed, Gorsuch's nomination now proceeds to a committee vote on whether to report the nomination to the full Senate for final confirmation. Section I, Rule 3 of the committee's rules for the 115th Congress states, "at the request of any member, or by action of the Chairman, a bill, matter, or nomination on the agenda of the Committee may be held over until the next meeting of the Committee or for one week, whichever occurs later."
The committee chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), has placed a vote on Gorsuch's nomination on the committee's agenda for today. It is expected that the ranking member of the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), will exercise the Senate rule allowing for a one-week delay. The committee would then vote to report Gorsuch's nomination to the full Senate next Monday.
If Democrats filibuster Gorsuch, Republicans could seek a change in Senate rules—often called the “nuclear option”—to reduce the number of votes necessary to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. The number is currently 60 but could be reduced to a simple majority of 51. Senate Democrats changed the rules in 2013 to approve a number of Obama judicial appointments but did not apply the rules change to U.S. Supreme Court nominations.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declined to comment on whether he would push for the nuclear option in case of a filibuster. The method of Gorsuch’s confirmation would be “up to our Democratic friends,” McConnell said.
Tax policy
On Friday afternoon, Trump identified tax policy as the next issue his administration would tackle. “I would say that we will probably start going very, very strong for the big tax cuts and tax reform. That will be next,” he said. Vice President Mike Pence reinforced this priority on Saturday when he said that the administration would seek to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent.
Here are some other features of Trump’s tax plan:
- Reducing the number of tax brackets: Currently, there are seven tax brackets that are organized based on income, with the lowest bracket at 10 percent for single filers earning less that $9,275 and married couples filing jointly who earn less than $18,550. The highest bracket is for individuals earning over $415,050 or joint filers making more than $466,950—these filers pay 40 percent. Trump’s plan would reduce the number of brackets to three, with top earners (individuals making $112,500 or more) paying 33 percent tax rates and the lowest earners (those making less than $37,500 individually) paying 12 percent.
- Eliminating the Head of Household filing category: This category is for those who are considered unmarried and have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home and who have also lived with one qualifying child or relative. According to TIME, this filing category is used by about 23 million single parents.
- Increasing the standard deduction: Trump would like to raise the standard deduction for individuals from $6,300 to $15,000. This is intended to offset a plan to eliminate personal exemptions. In addition, any individual making less than $250,000 (or married couples making less than $500,000) could deduct the average cost of child care in their state for kids under 13.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Friday that he was working on developing one bill to address both individual and corporate tax rates. “We are not cutting this up and doing little pieces at a time,” he said.
Mnuchin set August as the expected deadline for the bill to pass.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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