06 Feb
2017
Financial Un-Regulation, Empty Posts and Telecom Reversals: Sphere Consulting’s Tencount for February 6, 2017
- The executive orders keep coming fast and furiously, with the latest directive instructing the Treasury and Labor Departments to undo a number of provisions for heightened regulatory scrutiny on the financial sector. Those came, of course, in the Dodd-Frank Act, the post-crisis response to the meltdown of the mortgage and financial markets in 2008. But consumer groups and Democrats have already manned the barricades and it is not clear that banks themselves, which have spent millions to put in place new systems to accommodate the regulations, are ready to roll back all of Dodd-Frank. Which is sure to lead to some epic battles on Capitol Hill and in the regulatory agencies.
- Cabinet nominations will continue to receive consideration this week, with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee set to hear on Tuesday from Andy Puzder, the fast-food magnate who is in line for the Labor Secretary post. Puzder’s hearing has been thrice delayed as he completed financial disclosure forms, which are certain to get a close going-over by committee Democrats. Also Tuesday, the Veterans Affairs Committee will vote on David J. Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the full Senate is expected to vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary. If the vote is 50-50, which is currently forecast, Vice President Mike Pence would cast the tie-breaking vote – something that has never happened on a Cabinet nomination.
- While approvals of agency heads is slowly advancing, the Trump Administration has yet to nominate officials to fill the second tier at most federal agencies, leaving vacant most of the posts that handle day-to-day operating responsibilities for the federal bureaucracy, Politico reports. Only three deputies have been appointed so far, at Commerce, Justice and Homeland Security. According to the Partnership for Public Service, just 35 of the 690 most important posts requiring Senate confirmation have nominees.
Ajit Pai, the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has moved quickly to reverse the policies of his predecessor, targeting net neutrality rules for overhaul, halting proposals to offer discounted high-speed Internet service to the poor, scrapping an effort to keep prison phone rates down and withdrawing an effort to open the cable set-top box market to competition. The New York Times reports that many of the efforts were buried in the agency’s web site and not publicly announced. - During the campaign, Donald Trump decried the state of the United States military as “a disaster” and “in shambles.” Following President Trump’s executive order a week ago to “rebuild” the military, both houses of Congress will perform their own assessment of the military’s readiness, beginning with the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday and continuing with the Senate Armed Services’ Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee on Wednesday.
- The White House strongly denied on Friday that it had eased sanctions on Russia, despite the Treasury Department’s move to allow some cybersecurity transactions that had been disallowed by the Obama Administration. The affected Russian bureau is the Federal Security Service, which was accused of meddling in the U.S. elections. The topic is likely to come up on Thursday when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convenes on “The United States, the Russian Federation and the Challenges Ahead.”
- Donald Trump campaigned on reducing the trade deficit by making more goods in the United States and limiting imports from other countries. But what would the effect of those restrictions be? The International Trade Commission will conduct a public hearing on Thursday examining the economic effects of significant import restraints on U.S. consumers and firms, the income and employment of U.S. workers and the net economic welfare of the United States.
- Modernizing the nation’s infrastructure is an issue that has been pushed by President Trump and has gained bipartisan support, because it would increase American jobs, although Republicans are wary of how to pay for it. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will discuss the issue Wednesday at an oversight hearing.
- The relationship of conservatives with the Environmental Protection Agency is fraught with contradictions, as many EPA opponents deny that climate change is a real thing. Nonetheless the House Science, Space and Technology Committee has set a hearing for Tuesday on “Making the EPA Great Again.” Missing from the hearing’s witness list is anyone from the EPA. Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General who is nominated as the EPA head, was approved by a Senate committee last week but has yet to come before the full Senate for a vote.
- House Democrats will retreat to Baltimore from Wednesday through Friday for their 2017 Issues Conference, where they are expected to discuss priorities for the 115th Congress. Given their 47-seat deficit, Democrats could have trouble ginning up much interest in their legislative strategies. Perhaps they can hire the same intruder who infiltrated the House Republicans’ meeting in Philadelphia, recorded several sessions and emailed the contents to reporters.