What’s New?

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 ...

President Trump intends to issue new measures to improve America’s security this week, perhaps including a new immigration order to replace the one whose suspension was upheld by a federal appeals court last week. “We will be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country,” Mr. Trump said last week, adding that his administration will also continue to fight the court decision that put his initial order on hold. Trump continues his program of entertaining foreign leaders this week, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visiting Washington on Monday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the schedule for Wednesday. Canadian officials said their talks with the new American president would focus on shared goals. But refugee policy and the Nor ...

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 Pen ...

Whew! And that was just week one. The new president launched a flotilla of executive orders, including a hotly debated immigration ban, played hardball with Mexico on trade, and talked with the leaders of Britain, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Japan, France and Australia. His “extreme vetting” order drew the Judicial Branch into the fray, while the Legislative Branch was all but mute about both the substance and the backlash from the order. More court battles are certain to play out this week over President Trump’s immigration order, but in reality the fight is likely to take years to decide. Four cases have already found their way to federal court, in Boston, Alexandria, Va., Seattle and Brooklyn. Particularly aggrieved were technology companies, who count large numbers of immigrants among the ...

President Trump’s first full week in office will feature a stream of executive orders from the Oval Office and a raft of confirmation votes and hearings by the Senate. Expect an announcement of an executive branch hiring freeze, a five-year ban on lobbying by transition and executive officials, and a reinstatement of the “Mexico City policy,” which bans foreign aid from going to nongovernmental organizations, like International Planned Parenthood, that offer abortions. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson is likely to be confirmed this week after Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said Sunday that they will vote yes on Tillerson’s nomination. Congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas is also expected to be confirmed on Monday as CIA director. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell predicted Sund ...