Congress is out for the Thanksgiving Recess. They return next week to address the CR, and what that should entail as well as the NDAA, 21st Century Cures, the Water Resources Development bill, and any other legislation they can possibly get passed.
White House Ceremony to Receive the 40th Thanksgiving Turkey, 1987
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday observed on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving began in 1621 as a harvest celebration between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, and has become a time for families and friends to gather to reflect, to express gratitude, to eat lots, and to watch college football rivalries. Presidents pardon turkeys.
In 1789, President George Washington declared November 26 a national day of Thanksgiving. Subsequent Presidents issued Thanksgiving proclamations, but the dates of the commemoration changed. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving In October 1941, Congress formally recognized the last Thursday or November as the legally observed holiday by passing H.J. Res. 41.
The Trump transition team has announced it’s first picks for the cabinet.
National Security Advisor: Michael Flynn, Retired General – Flynn served as one of the Trump’s top confidants during the campaign, joining him during some of his early intelligence briefings. Flynn gained a reputation as a skilled but combative intelligence officer during his 33-year career. However, he was forced out as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014. He’s expected to bring an aggressive posture to foreign policy matters, and is known for his hardline views on Islam.
Attorney General: Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) – Senator Sessions was one of Trump’s earliest supporters and served as an advisor on the campaign trail. He was first elected to the Senate in 1996, prior to which he was a U.S. Attorney in Mobile, Alabama, and Alabama Attorney General. He is known for his hardline views on immigration and his appointment has been criticized by some because his nomination to become a federal judge was rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee some thirty years ago due to racially charged comments and actions.
CIA Director: Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) – Pompeo serves on the House Intelligence and Benghazi committees. Prior to his election to Congress in 2010, he was an executive in the aerospace and oil industries. He served in the Army for five years and has degrees from Harvard Law and West Point.
Trump is headed out to his golf course in Bedminster, NJ, for the weekend. He is expected to meet with Mitt Romney, education reform leaders Michelle Rhee and Betsy DeVos, and a number of other individuals. Next week, we expect the transition team to announce picks for Treasury, Commerce, US Trade Representative, Small Business Administration, Federal Communications Commission, and Social Security Administration.
Today Inside Higher Ed published an exclusive Q&A with North Carolina’s Rep. Virginia Foxx, who is expected to chair the House Education & Workforce Committee in the 115th Congress. Foxx, who says she has already been in touch with the President-Elect’s transition team, is likely to be in favor of rolling back regulations put in place by the Obama Administration. Specific regulations that could be rolled back by the Republicans include those related to for-profit colleges, teacher prep programs, and a host of others related to labor, the environment, and other policy areas. Read the full Q&A here.
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.
Yeah, What He Said – Thus far in the Trump Transition, Trump has walked back the wall as well as a total repudiation of Obamacare, now for replacing it. Why the dialing back? Apparently Trump tends to agree with the last person he just talked to…which was sorta awkward for Republicans after his meeting with President Obama. Read more in Vox and in The Washington Post.
Russell Senate Building Detail
First 100 Days – NPR walks through Trump’s pledges and some of the challenges (and facts) behind making these a reality. Read about it at NPR.
Organized Chaos? – The recent turn over in the Trump Transition team has left a lot to be desired by foreign nations as well as some big liaising yet to happen. Some things the Donald Trump administration-in-waiting has not done yet: reached out to its Obama administration counterparts at the Department of Defense and Department of State (that might happen Friday?) — or the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Treasury… Read more in The New York Times and the Washington Post.
Skeletons in Closets – While no one has been officially named to a cabinet position, many of those names being floated around will likely have some significant challenges to winning the confirmation votes. Read more in The Hill.
All Sorts of Hurt – Democrats got walloped at the very top of the ticket, but what’s happening at the very bottom of the ballot could hurt them for years to come. Read more at The Atlantic.
Rough Road – The blow-up that caused the postponement of House Democratic leadership elections from this Thursday to Nov. 30 – a decision made at the end of a tumultuous, two-hour meeting – is really about young lawmakers who are frustrated by a seniority system that limits their influence, African Americans who don’t feel like they have enough sway over Pelosi’s strategy and members from the heartland who feel that the dominance of coastal elites in the caucus has made it harder for them to connect with their constituents. The top three Democrats in House Leadership are 76 (Pelosi), 77 (Steny Hoyer) and 76 (Jim Clyburn). The top three Republican leaders, in contrast, are 46 (Paul Ryan), 51 (Kevin McCarthy) and 51 (Steve Scalise).Pelosi and Hoyer have together led the House Democrats for 14 years now…And not many of them were the Dems in control of the House. While Pelosi is still heavily favored, a small group of frustrated House Democrats are trying to draft Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) to challenge Pelosi.Read more in The Washington Post and The Hill.
Presser – While we know who the senior White House leadership will be, we are still waiting to learn who the Press Secretary, and the official mouthpiece of the Trump Administration, will be. The choices are very interesting. Read more in The Washington Post.
Burning Repeal – Congressional Republicans face internal divisions over how far to go in repealing and replacing ObamaCare, one of their top political priorities of the past six years, without disrupting the lives of millions of Americans. Read more in The Hill.
Trump & Science – What will the Trump relationship with the scientific community be? It’s unknown but there’s some speculation. Read more at Vox.
Women Vote – Women generally trend Democratic, but white women—and there are still a lot of them in the U.S.—do not. They vote Republican, and did for Trump. Why? Well, it’s complicated. Read more in The Atlantic.
