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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - November 28, 2016
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This is the November 28, 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.
Thanksgiving Weekend Roundup
Trump’s transition team made major announcements on Friday with the additions of Donald McGahn and K.T. McFarland to the presidential administration as White House Counsel and deputy national security advisor, respectively.
McGahn, a partner at the Washington, D.C., based law firm Jones Day, has held a number of counsel roles in Washington, including 10 years as general counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee. In 2008, he was appointed as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission. In his time on the FEC, he helped to usher in new interpretations of campaign finance laws that had fewer regulations. In 2011, he told the Center for Responsive Politics about his vision for campaign finance reform, saying, “There’s got to be a better way. And it’s not by passing more regulation; it’s by simplifying what we have.” McGahn served as Trump’s campaign counsel and has advised the president-elect since Trump considered a presidential run in January 2014.
Former Obama White House Counsel Robert Bauer told The Washington Post that McGahn “would not likely be a ‘yes man’” to Trump, an important note because the White House Counsel is expected to weigh in on ethical issues involving executive action.
McFarland is a former official in the U.S. Department of Defense, having served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs from 1982 to 1985. While there, she served as a speechwriter for Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. In 2006, McFarland challenged Hillary Clinton for her seat in the U.S. Senate, running her campaign with a focus on her “association with Mr. Reagan and work on military issues -- including helping to write the "Star Wars" speech -- would make her a strong challenger to Mrs. Clinton,” according to The New York Times. She has also spent time as a contributor to Fox News as a national security analyst and as host of the online show “DefCon3.”
Secretary of State meetings
President-elect Trump was scheduled to meet with retired General David Petraeus today. Petraeus, the former director of the CIA, is considered a top candidate for the position of secretary of state. Petraeus, who oversaw military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, is on probation until April 2017 for sharing classified information with Paula Broadwell. In January 2016, Trump expressed support for Petraeus. Columnist and political commentator Charles Krauthammer called Petraeus “a spectacular choice,” saying the former general “to the world represents America at its strongest and most decisive.” Petraeus would be the second retired general appointed to a high-level position in Trump’s administration.
Trump is also expected to meet for a second time with former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, who is being considered for secretary of state, on Tuesday. Romney met with Trump on November 19 to discuss the same position. The second meeting with Romney comes amid criticism from some of Trump’s closest political advisors.
- Trump presidential campaign manager Kellyanne Conway: “I’m all for party unity, but I’m not sure that we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position. We don’t even know if Mitt Romney voted for Donald Trump.”
- Former Speaker of the House and Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich: “I think there’s nothing that Mitt Romney can say that doesn’t sound phony and, frankly, pathetic. Speaking for most of the Trump supporters, while we will support President-elect Trump and whatever he does, I think we would be enormously disappointed if he brought Mitt Romney into any position of authority.”
- U.S. Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.): “What do I know about Mitt Romney? I know that he's a self-serving egomaniac who puts himself first, who has a chip on his shoulder, and thinks that he should be president of the United States.”
Romney has received bipartisan support as a potential secretary of state.
- Newly-appointed chief of staff Reince Priebus: “[Trump]’s going to be making the best decision for the American people. It isn’t a matter of warfare. I mean, there’s a lot of opinions about this and, yes, it is sort of a ’team of rivals’ concept if you were to go towards the Governor Romney concept. But I think that should tell all Americans about the president-elect's head at, which is a place that will put the best possible people together for all Americans, no matter who you are.”
- U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): “In this new world, I would love Mitt Romney at the State Department. I think he would be a consummate diplomat.”
- Current Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker (R): “I've known Gov. Romney for a long time. He's an enormously talented guy, and he is certainly a very worthwhile and worthy candidate, but obviously that's a decision the new administration needs to make.”
To see more candidates in consideration for high-level appointments in Trump’s administration, go here.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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