Skip to content

Administration Issues Executive Actions on Immigration and More

The White House issued a series of executive actions late Friday.

More Confirmation Hearings, Republican Retreat

It’s a busy short week for Congress. House and Senate Republicans head to Philadelphia this week to begin sorting out fiscal priorities for the coming year in the party’s annual retreat. 

The retreat should lay out the first 100 days game plan for the Administration and Congressional Republicans and could lay the groundwork for setting fiscal priorities in the first year of the Trump Administration.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned Congress in a report last week that the country is headed toward a fiscal train wreck. That’s even before any new spending programs or tax cuts are considered. Soaring costs for entitlement programs, from an aging population and rising health care costs, will combine with increasing interest payments to push the federal debt to record levels, the GAO said.

Federal debt as a share of the economy reached 77 percent last year, compared to the historical average since World War II of 44 percent. Without a change in policy, the ratio will exceed its historic high of 106 percent within 15 to 25 years.


Also, welcome to the first week of Congress with President Trump in the White House. Congressional leaders from both parties will meet with the new president at the White House today for a 5 p.m. reception. 

The House will have a light week of mostly suspension bills. The only non-suspension bill the House will vote on next week is HR 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017.  The measure, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), would prohibit federal funds, including those provided to the District of Columbia, from being used for abortions or for health benefits that cover abortions. The House has voted on a version of the bill in prior years as part of Republicans’ sustained targeting of Planned Parenthood.

The Senate continues to work on the confirmation process. Senate Democrats are demanding paperwork and additional time to question the remaining nominees, but truly all they can do is slow down the process. Up this week are Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS),who is up for CIA director, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who is up for Secretary of HHS and will appear before Senate Finance for another chance to defend ACA repeal, and Rep. Mick Mulvany (R-SC), who is Trump’s pick for White House budget director. Rep. Mulvaney gets a full day on Tuesday at two confirmation hearings: a morning hearing by the Senate Budget Committee and an afternoon examination by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

 

Mattis Confirmed as SECDEF

Just hours after President Trump was sworn into office, the Senate on Friday confirmed two of his national security cabinet nominees.

The Senate confirmed retired Gen. James Mattis to run the Pentagon as Defense Secretary.

A four-star general who retired in 2013, Mattis required a waiver to take the top Pentagon job since he hasn’t been out of uniform for at least seven years.

Congress approved legislation exempting him from the requirement last week, and Trump signed it into law as one of his first acts as president.

Domestic Policy Council, Staff Announcements

Trump has announced his Domestic Policy Team.

Andrew Bremberg, Director of the White House Domestic Policy CouncilAndrew 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 PolicyPaul 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 PolicyKaty 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 RevitalizationJa’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 PolicyRob 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 PolicyJohn 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 PolicyZina 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 AnalystPeter 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 agendaincluding 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 CoordinationCarlos 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 SpeechwritingVince 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 SpeechwritingRoss 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 SpeechwritingRyan 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 AdvisorRobert 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.

CR Released, Should Pass This Week

The continuing resolution (CR) was released late last night. The text of the legislation is here. The big news is that the CR will fund the federal government through April 28, 2017. The legislation maintains the current budget cap level of $1.07 trillion put into place under the Budget Control Act of 2011, which results in an across the board cut of .1901%.

The House is expected to vote on the measure on Thursday and the Senate is expected to follow suit on Friday. 

Big Items of Note: 

The Defense Overseas Contingency Fund, which is not subject to budget caps, was increased by $8 billion in response to the Administration’s request to combat ISIS. Of note, the Administration asked for $11.6 billion.  The CR increase does include RDT&E funding that is related to the Global War on Terrorism and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund received a $87M increase.  The funding will go to both defense-specific funding to combat ISIS as well as non-military spending — such as Humanitarian Assistance, State Department and USAID operations funding, Economic and Stabilization Assistance, and Embassy security funding — to combat ISIS. 

The CR does add funding in FY 2017 to accounts created and highlighted in the Cures bill for opioids, NIH and FDA initiatives, and Flint drinking water. The Cures funding is fully offset per the authorizing bill. Specifically, the totals for the year amount to: 

  • $500 million in grants to states to fight opioid abuse, 
  • $352 for the new NIH Innovations Fund (as created by Cures), 
  • $20 million directed to the FDA Innovation account (as created by cures), and  
  • $50 million is directed to HHS to address health issues relating to a lead-tainted drinking water system in Michigan. 

There is a provision to address President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee, Ret. USMC Gen. James. Mattis, who left service three years ago. Under a 1947 federal statute, Secretaries of Defense must be civilians or retired from service for at least 7 years to be eligible to serve; its an effort to assure civilian control of the military. This requirement has been waived once in 1950 for General George C. Marshall. 

Other Items of Note:

There is additional funding to allow continued operations and data collection for continuation of data for weather warnings, including forecasts of severe weather events from NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System.

There is a provision allowing additional funding, if needed, for the housing and care of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) after February 1, 2017. The number of UACs has been spiking as of late and was an issue for the FY2017 appropriations cycle. Of note, this funding comes from the Labor-H appropriations bill. 

Additional updates will be posted on our blog.