| | | | Trump's messy, confusing transition into power | | President-elect Donald Trump promised to shake up Washington. But for now, the drama consuming his transition effort is leaving the capital confused, reports CNN's Tal Kopan.
What's the holdup? The effort to plan and staff the President-elect's administration has been held up by infighting and the transfer of power from former transition chairman Chris Christie to Vice President-elect Mike Pence. In the process, staffers are being fired and information trickling out to the firms that closely track and influence policy in Washington has slowed to a near stop. One side effect of Christie being marginalized was that it nullified the formal agreement between the transition team and federal government he had signed, further slowing the process with agencies. Pence signed the document Tuesday, and he was in Washington on Wednesday to meet with transition staff.
One bad sign: The transition's agency-specific "landing teams," which President Barack Obama installed at federal agencies within days of the election for his own transition, had been expected by agencies on Monday. But a White House spokeswoman said the transition office was still waiting on names from the Trump transition as of Wednesday, a necessary first step before teams could deploy to agencies. Agencies including the State Department and Pentagon told CNN they had yet to hear from any transition officials.
Nightcap notes: Pence's own track record is spotty here. We covered Pence's 2012-13 transition into the Indiana governor's office -- one that left outgoing Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' aides furious and stewing for years afterward. It took Pence time to learn the legislative process to advance his agenda, how state agencies were run and the difference between being a legislator and an executive.
But this isn't all that unusual. Trump is hardly the first president-elect to go through a rocky transition, reports The New York Times' Julie Hirschfeld Davis.
A player to watch: Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is emerging with a bigger role, per The Washington Post's Jerry Markon, Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller.
What's all this say about Trump? CNN's Stephen Collinson writes: He hires people, he fires people, he sets them against one another, he says things and takes them back, with the chaos often unfolding in real time on cable TV. It happened in the campaign and there's no reason to think his presidency won't be the same. | | "He's in Trump Tower, I promise." -- Donald Trump press secretary Hope Hicks, to NBC's Katy Tur, on her boss's whereabouts amid rumors Trump had once again slipped the press and traveled to DC. | | | Senate leaders: Dems tap Schumer; GOP keeps McConnell | | Republicans re-elected Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader today while Democrats tapped Chuck Schumer as their leader as both sides prepare for critical battles with the incoming Trump administration. CNN's Ted Barrett, Tom LoBianco and Jeff Zeleny set things up.
A post-election move left: Schumer formally added top liberal lawmakers -- Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- to the ranks of leadership. But he also added Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative West Virginia Democrat who is one of many Democrats facing perilous re-election bids in just two years. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, said expanding the ranks of Democratic leadership to span the ideology of the party from Sanders to the more conservative Manchin was important to rebuilding the party and its message. "We need a much more bolder discussion of the economy, not just Donald Trump," said Klobuchar, a member of the Democratic leadership.
Yet somehow ... Sanders still isn't officially a Democrat, reports Politico's Elana Schor. | | Return of the pork? Ryan slows GOP on earmarks | | From CNN's Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett: House Speaker Paul Ryan successfully lobbied his Republican colleagues Wednesday to postpone a vote on a proposal to bring back earmarks, billions of dollars for pet projects tucked into spending bills. "We just had a 'drain the swamp' election," Ryan told members, according to a GOP source in the room. "Let's not just turn around and bring back earmarks two weeks later."
So when will they vote? House GOP members applauded and agreed to put off the issue until the first quarter of 2017, when they have more time to have a detailed plan to oversee spending bill talks. Multiple House Republicans told CNN the proposal to reverse the ban was on track to pass in a closed door meeting before Ryan argued to slow down the process. | | The new normal: Donald Trump went on a morning tweetstorm railing against this New York Times report on the drama and disarray in his transition effort.
It's important to note that Trump sets up a straw man here. The Times reported that Trump's calls with foreign leaders were haphazard and took place without the usual State Department briefings -- not that they didn't happen at all, which is how Trump characterizes the newspaper's reporting. | | 1-on-1 with Florida Gov. Rick Scott at the RGA | | I chatted with Florida Gov. Rick Scott -- a major Donald Trump supporter and potentially a Republican recruiting target for the state's Senate race in 2018 -- at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Orlando. Here's what he said:
On whether he'll run for the Senate: "I have 783 days to go in this job. I've got Supreme Court picks coming up. I've got two more legislative sessions. That's what I'm going to focus on. Right now, we are the No. 1 state for job creation. Job growth rates are the highest in the country. That's what I ran on. I want to make sure we keep that up. I still want to make sure we can improve education and I want to keep everyone safe in my state."
On whom he's pushing for Trump administration posts: "A lot of people are calling. There's lots of people who are interested in doing different things. This is an exciting time for people because they believe the president is going to be a change agent. I'll keep all my personal conversations confidential."
On whether Trump erred in hiring Steve Bannon: "I've never met him. I know Reince Priebus, of course, and Donald Trump and Reince and Mike Pence are all friends, but I don't know him." | | | The latest in the shuffling for Democratic National Committee chair: Martin O'Malley dropped out, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison. ... Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, still smarting over Republicans' refusal to confirm Merrick Garland, says Democrats will "pay very close attention" to Donald Trump's judicial appointments. ... Twitter suspended "alt-right" accounts -- partially cleaning up the hateful tweets that fill up reporters' mentions. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media brought to you by Brian Stelter. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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