The White House issued a series of executive actions late Friday.
Some initial actions and comments from the incoming Trump Administration have prompted questions and concerns from faculty, researchers, and the media, regarding federal research. Particularly, questions have pertained to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants.
Here is what we know:
The UW’s Office of Sponsored Programs has information about these issues, including recommendations of what to do with grants in various stages of the process, on its web page under “Announcements.” This page is being vetted through a set of strict criteria.
The Federal Relations team will continue to gather and share information as it becomes available.
Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy. The proposal takes directly from the Heritage Foundation’s FY 2017 budget blueprint and the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) FY 2017 Budget Proposal.
While the annual President’s Budget Request is important to set the Administration’s policies and agenda. Congress is ultimately responsible for approving a federal budget and appropriating funds.
The Trump budget, which will not likely be officially unveiled until mid-April, would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years. The preliminary proposals from the White House budget office will be shared with federal departments and agencies soon after Trump takes the oath of office Friday. Also, Trump’s Cabinet picks have yet to be apprised of the reforms, which would reduce resources within their agencies.
The Commerce and Energy departments would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.
The Heritage FY 2017 blueprint, which is reportedly being used as a basis for Trump’s proposed cuts, calls for eliminating several “corporate welfare” programs including:
The total savings from cutting these four programs would amount to nearly $900 million in 2017.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.
At the Department of Justice, the blueprint calls for reducing funding for its Civil Rights and its Environment and Natural Resources divisions and eliminating:
At the Department of Energy, it would roll back funding for nuclear physics and advanced scientific computing research to 2008 levels, and would eliminate
At the State Department’s , funding for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are candidates for elimination.
Many of the specific cuts were included in the 2017 budget adopted by the conservative RSC, a caucus that represents a majority of House Republicans. It is notable, that the RSC budget plan would reduce federal spending by $8.6 trillion over the next decade.
Trump vowed during the campaign not to cut Medicare and Social Security, a pledge that Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers in testimony Wednesday has not changed.
That said, it could be very difficult to reduce U.S. debt without tackling the entitlement programs. Conservative House budgets have repeatedly included reforms to Medicare and Social Security, arguing they are necessary to save the programs.
This proposal is expected to be met with strong opposition by Democrats.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to update on this issue.
The House and Senate are back from the long weekend recognizing the late Civil Rights leader, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and already Congress is at work — though arguably the politics didn’t stop this weekend.
The Senate is gearing up for a second round of fights over President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees as Republicans race to clear his picks ahead of Friday’s Inauguration of the 45th President.
Eight nominees are heading to Capitol Hill this week to face what is expected to be an hours-long grilling from lawmakers. Democrats face an uphill battle to block any of Trump’s picks, which require only 50 votes to clear the Senate. While Democrats have not publicly said they would block nominees from getting confirmed quickly, they can use procedural levers to drag out a nomination for days and have stressed that a nominee’s paperwork must be complete — lawmakers need enough time to review it and ask follow-up questions.
Highlights include:
On Tuesday, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Betsy DeVos, Trump’s picks for Interior and Education, respectively, will both get hearings.
On Wednesday, hearings for Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Commerce secretary; Tom Price, his Health and Human Services pick; Scott Pruitt, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Nikki Haley, named to be U.N. ambassador.
On Thursday, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, tapped to lead the Department of Energy, and Steve Mnuchin, his pick for Treasury, will get hearings.
Trump’s Inauguration is three days away. The Washington Post has a good article on what to expect as well as a (growing) list of Members that won’t attend.
Trump has announced his Domestic Policy Team.
Andrew Bremberg, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council — Andrew Bremberg worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2009, including serving as the Chief of Staff for the Office of Public Health and Science. He later served as Policy Advisor and Counsel on Nominations for Senator Mitch McConnell. He worked as the Policy Director for the 2016 Republican Party Platform. He now works in a lead policy and administrative role on the Presidential Transition Team. Mr. Bremberg received a J.D. from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and a B.A. from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Paul Winfree, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council and Director of Budget Policy — Paul Winfree was Director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, the Center for Data Analysis and the Richard F. Aster Research Fellow, all at The Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage, Mr. Winfree was the Director of Income Security on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget. He has a Master of Science degree in economics and economic history from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from George Mason University.
Katy Talento, Healthcare Policy — Katy Talento, an infectious disease epidemiologist with nearly 20 years of experience in public health and health policy, as well as government oversight and investigations and program evaluation, served on the campaign since July 2016. Ms. Talento has spent 12 years in the U.S. Senate, working for five Senators and two committees. A graduate of Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Virginia, she has also worked in the field on disease control programs in the U.S. and in Africa.
Ja’Ron Smith, Urban Affairs and Revitalization — Ja’Ron K. Smith has served as a Congressional staff member for nearly a decade. Smith served the House Republican Conference legislative staff under then-Chairman Mike Pence prior to joining the Republican Study Committee to serve on the professional policy staff under Congressman Jim Jordan. He later served as Economic Advisor to Senator Tim Scott and currently works as the Director of External Affairs for Generation Opportunity. Mr. Smith was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a double graduate of Howard University with a BBA in Finance and a Masters in Divinity.
Rob Goad, Education Policy — Rob Goad currently serves on the Presidential Transition as the education lead for the implementation of the President-elect’s education policy agenda. Prior to developing education policy for the President-elect’s successful campaign, Mr. Goad served as a Senior Policy Advisor to House Policy Committee Chair Luke Messer focusing on education issues. He also played a pivotal role advancing school choice policies as Director of the Congressional School Choice Caucus. Mr. Goad received a bachelor’s degree in political science at Indiana University.
John Zadrozny, Justice and Homeland Security Policy — John Zadrozny has worked for the past six years on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Senator Ted Cruz. Prior to working on Capitol Hill, he served in the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Department of State. Mr. Zadrozny has a J.D. from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. and a B.A. in History from Fordham University in Bronx, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Zina Bash, Regulatory Reform, Legal and Immigration Policy — Zina Bash has held a variety of positions in business, law and government, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Operations and Business Development at Doctors’ Hospital at Renaissance. Her previous positions include Deputy Director of Policy and Communications for Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign and Senior Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee in Senator John Cornyn’s office. Ms. Bash also practiced law as an appellate attorney at international law firm Gibson Dunn, & Crutcher LLP. Fluent in Spanish as a native speaker, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Wharton Business School. Ms. Bash also served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Peter J. White, Senior Policy Analyst — Peter White received his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law and has worked at the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. Most recently, Mr. White served as Legislative Counsel for Congressman Mo Brooks. Licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Mr. White is an active member of the Federalist Society and performs pro bono legal work for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
Additionally, the following team members are joining the Office of the Senior Advisor to the President for Policy, and will help to develop all policy and administer all functions underneath the umbrella of the Office, such as the formulation of a pro-worker agenda — including support for affordable childcare and family initiatives.
Office of the Senior Advisor to the President for Policy, Staff Announcements:
Carlos Diaz-Rosillo, Director of Policy and Interagency Coordination — Carlos Diaz-Rosillo brings a wealth of experience on presidential power, administrative action, executive leadership and the policymaking and executive action process to this key role. Mr. Diaz-Rosillo has been serving on the President-elect’s Transition Team as Policy Implementation Executive Authority Advisor and White House Lead. He is fluent in Spanish, and graduated summa cum laude with degrees in International Relations (B.A.) and Civil Engineering (B.S.C.E) from Tufts University and Public Policy (M.P.P) and Government (A.M., PhD) from Harvard University, where he has been a member of the faculty of government for more than eight years.
Vince Haley, Advisor for Policy, Strategy and Speechwriting — Vince Haley is a longtime associate of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He served as policy director and later campaign manager of Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign. Mr. Haley holds an undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary, a law and Master’s degree from the University of Virginia, and a Master’s of law from the College of Europe. During the President-elect’s successful campaign, Mr. Haley developed ethics reform policies.
Ross Worthington, Advisor for Policy, Strategy and Speechwriting — Ross Worthington was a longtime aide to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He served as research director for Gingrich, deputy communications director for Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign and later as Gingrich’s primary writer. He is a graduate of Brown University, where he concentrated in Political Theory. During the campaign, Mr. Worthington, together with Mr. Vince Haley, worked to formulate and communicate policies that advanced the Trump agenda.
Ryan Jarmula, Advisor for Policy Development and Speechwriting — Ryan Jarmula served as a member of Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s staff for a number of years. As a member of then-Congressman Pence’s Capitol Hill office, he handled a variety of issues including foreign affairs, and later served Pence in his capacity as Governor of the State of Indiana as Policy Director for Veterans Affairs and most recently as Speechwriter. During the campaign, Mr. Jarmula worked on Stephen Miller’s staff and had an active role in policy development. Mr. Jarmula is a graduate of Indiana University and completed his B.A. while majoring in political science in 2007.
Robert Gabriel, Special Assistant to the Senior Advisor — Robert Gabriel served as policy advisor on the President-elect’s campaign and assisted the National Policy Director in policy development, speechwriting functions, and staff management. He received a B.A. in Economics with a concentration in Policy from New York University.