27 Feb
2017
An Address to Congress, a Hopeful Stock Market, and Budget Gains and Losses: TenCount for February 27, 2017
- President Trump’s recent speeches have been free-wheeling – not to say rambling – affairs. On Tuesday, he will give his first address to a joint session of Congress, where legislators are hoping to be shown a roadmap for progress on tax reform and infrastructure investment. If Mr. Trump instead spends considerable time talking about his election results and the “dishonest media,” it will bode ill for hopes that Congress is able to get anything done quickly.
- The stock market certainly is hoping that President Trump scores some big victories soon, having risen some 13 percent since Election Day, a run that as of Friday includes 11 straight days of new record closes. That leaves little room for disappointment if the president isn’t able to soon get Congress to move on some of his initiatives – particularly his pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare.
- “I like big budgets and I cannot lie…” – at least for the military, that is. President Trump is expected this week to order cabinet departments to prepare budgets with big increases in military spending and drastic cuts in domestic programs to help pay for them. Among the agencies slated for big cuts are the EPA and the State Department. Initial budget requests usually get little attention, but President Trump is intending an announcement that makes a big splash, the New York Times reports.
- For the third week in a row, President Trump has promised this week to deliver a new immigration policy “to protect our people and to keep America safe.” The new order will be designed to address legal concerns that caused implementation of the previous policy to be halted by a federal appeals court. It would not be subject to that court ruling, although court challenges are certain. On Tuesday, the Institute of World Politics discusses “Walls or Bridges? A Debate on U.S. Immigration Policy Under Trump.”
- Ever so slowly, the remainder of the president’s cabinet is coming together. On Monday evening the Senate will vote on whether to confirm Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce. Ross, a businessman and investor who was for free trade before he joined the Trump Administration, is expected to be easily confirmed. The Senate also will vote on whether to end debate on the nomination of Ryan Zinke to be Interior Secretary, setting the stage for confirmation later in the week. On Tuesday, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee will discuss the nomination of former Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana to be director of national intelligence.
- After 15 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, who would have guessed that the top foreign policy issue dogging the new administration would be – Russia? Reports on Friday that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the FBI to dispute media reports that Trump campaign advisers were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election threw another wrench into the White House’s effort to deflect attention from the Russia issue.
- And how big of an issue is it? California Congressman Darrell Issa, who knows something about investigations, told Bill Maher on HBO that a special prosecutor is needed to oversee a Trump-Russia probe. “You cannot have somebody, a friend of mine Jeff Sessions, who was on the campaign and who is an appointee,” Issa told Maher. “You’re going to need to use the special prosecutor’s statute and office to take – not just to recuse. You can’t just give it to your deputy. That’s another political appointee.”
- That Russia obsession has produced a fleet of Russia-themed sessions at think tanks around town. On Monday, the Council on Foreign Relations tries to answer the question, “What To Do About Russia?” On Tuesday, the American Security Project discusses “U.S.-Russia Nuclear Policy in the Trump Era,” and the George Washington University School of International Affairs convenes a talk on “Russian Disinformation: What is it and Why Does it Matter?” And on Friday, GWU’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication hosts “Explaining Our New Cold War with Russia: Can Trump End It?”
- Republicans in Congress are champing at the bit to start pulling apart the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulation bill passed in the wake of the financial crisis. Although President Trump signed an executive order calling for review of Dodd-Frank regulations, many proposed changes would require Congress to act. The topic will get a look on Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation, which hosts “Prosperity Unleashed: Smarter Financial Regulation.”
- Will Republican Members of Congress chant “Build That Wall!” during the president’s address Tuesday? The Trump Administration on Friday took a first step toward constructing the border wall, issuing a preliminary request for proposals to contractors on how to go about construction. A formal request is planned for March 6 “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico,” with contract awards by mid-April.