Trump’s Cabinet selections signal a bold shift after Obama
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson speaks in Washington. Propelled by populist energy, President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy broke long-standing conventions and his incoming Cabinet embodies a sharp turn from the outgoing Obama administration.
WASHINGTON >> Propelled by populist energy, President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy broke long-standing conventions and his incoming Cabinet embodies a sharp turn from the outgoing Obama administration.
Trump, a Republican who pledged major changes after eight years of a Democratic White House, has assembled nominees for a Cabinet that includes many business executives who have never served in government, and military leaders are in line to oversee defense and homeland security. In one case, Trump has named someone who once called for dismantling the agency he’d lead.
A change of political parties at the White House almost always brings policy adjustments. But Trump’s Cabinet expects to carry the outsider flair of his campaign, a role reversal compared with more conventional teams under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama that were heavy on former lawmakers, governors and veterans of past administrations.
A look at the expected shift in the federal government:
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STATE DEPARTMENT
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Trump’s decision to nominate Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state means the department could be run by a lifelong oil executive with deep ties to Russia and no government experience. Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry, a former senator who was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spent much of his tenure seeking agreements to fight climate change, restrain Iran’s nuclear program and pressure foreign adversaries through financial penalties. But if Tillerson wins Senate confirmation, he would have a big say over whether the Trump administration withdraws from the Paris climate treaty and the Iran nuclear pact, along with the future of U.S. relations with Russia.
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DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
James Mattis retired from the Marine Corps as a four-star general in 2013 and had been a battlefield commander most of that time. Compare that with current Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who worked for years at the Pentagon and in academia but never served in uniform. To take the defense secretary job, Mattis needs Congress to pass a law allowing him to serve. Current law requires a Pentagon chief to be out of the military for at least seven years to uphold the commitment to civilian control of the military. The law was last waived for George Marshall in 1950. Trump has praised Mattis’ effectiveness at “thank you” rallies around the country and has promised a massive buildup of the country’s defense capabilities.
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TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Obama’s Treasury Department was in crisis mode from the moment he took office, dealing with massive job losses and the meltdown of the housing market. Eight years later, Trump has nominated Steven Mnuchin to lead the department, turning to a former Goldman Sachs executive who invested in a bank that foreclosed on thousands of homeowners after the housing crisis. Democrats are expected to press Mnuchin on his role in IndyMac, which was rebranded OneWest, and the deal that left the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation responsible for taking as much as 80 percent of the losses on former IndyMac assets. Mnuchin has promised “the most significant middle-income tax cut” since President Ronald Reagan.
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ENERGY DEPARTMENT
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry once famously struggled to name three federal departments he would eliminate if elected president, muttering “oops” during a 2011 presidential debate. In one of ironies of the Trump transition, Perry is now preparing to run one of those agencies, the Energy Department, after more than 14 years as governor. Perry presided over his state’s vast oil and gas industries and leading wind energy sector. He is currently on the boards of two petroleum companies seeking approval for the Dakota Access Pipeline project. He would be a break from predecessors such as Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, has supported tough immigration enforcement policies and said the Justice Department’s civil rights division should not be used as “a sword to assert inappropriate claims that have the effect of promoting political agendas.” Before he entered the Senate, his nomination to become a federal judge was scuttled in 1986 amid accusations that he made racially charged remarks as a U.S. attorney. He would succeed Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has dealt with a spate of police-involved shootings and pushed a lawsuit against North Carolina over a bathroom bill that officials said discriminated against transgender individuals.
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LABOR DEPARTMENT
Outgoing Labor Secretary Tom Perez was an outspoken advocate for raising the federal minimum wage and helped push a federal rule to make more workers eligible for overtime pay. Trump’s choice to run the department is fast-food executive Andy Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and other chains. Puzder has said that large increases in the minimum wage would lead to job losses, and he wrote in a May 2016 op-ed that the overtime rule would be “another barrier to the middle class rather than a springboard” for workers. Fast-food workers led the “Fight for $15” campaign during Obama’s second term.
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OTHER DEPARTMENTs
Trump’s choice for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is an education activist and billionaire from Michigan who has championed vouchers and charter schools, which detractors say hurt public education. The pick at the Department of Health and Human Services is Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., an orthopedic surgeon who has been a leading critic of Obama’s health care overhaul. Set to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development is one of Trump’s presidential rivals, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, even though he lacks a background in housing issues. Trump pointed to Carson’s “brilliant mind” and passion for “strengthening communities and families.” At the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump settled on Oklahoma’s attorney general, Scott Pruitt. He has questioned the science of global warming and sued the EPA over plans to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and regulations involving the Clean Water Act.
31 responses to “Trump’s Cabinet selections signal a bold shift after Obama”
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Taking back America…FINALLY!
PE Trump & VPE Pence & their selected qualified true American administration will show how it’s done.
No more PC, UNQUALIFIED donors, personal friends this time around.
January 20, 2017 #MAGA
Yes, if a foreign government wants a favor from the US, all they have to do is to stay at a Trump tower and say something nice about the Donald. Now its just money money money that makes the world go around. Hell with the constitution and conflicts of interest. The Donald is King.
Placing America in the hands of Big Oil is not bold.
Another laughable not to mention baseless assertion by boots. “Money money money”…isn’t that the lyrics to the “For the Love of Money” by the Ojay’s which could easily be the theme song of the Clinton Foundation pay to play racket.
It is clear that whining losers are guilty of doing everything they accused Republicans of doing 8 years ago. Boots – you are a racist so all of your bigoted remarks are just noise. No one is paying any attention. Just put yourself in a plastic bag and dispose of it appropriately.
Yep, “..selected qualified true American administration will show it’s done”. Messing up the country, that is, that will require the next administration to bail them out.
These guys don’t need no donors because they own the bank lock, stock and barrel. All you Chumpsters just sold your ass-s to the devil and hell is sure to come your way.
Are these really the people who will give us what Trump promised? They seem to be opposed to everything Trump stands for. Will they back Trump’s promise of massive spending in the rust belt left behind by industry, and massive spending to rebuild the inner cities, medical care better than Obama care, what about increasing the minimum wage, how about changing the APA and NAFTA trade agreements and bringing companies back to the USA– his cabinet and his Secretary of State oppose this– the SEcretary of STate supports the APA treaty and NAFTA and supports USA companies investing overseas and everywhere including Russia!
Meet the new swamp, ten times as deep and wide as the old swamp. Enjoy your Voodoo republicans. Soon it will crash the economy.
I hope you shorted the market.
I haven’t done that but I have liquidated some stocks to build up my Cash for when the market does crash.
You seem more worried about your money than Trump is. Good luck timing the market.
Good for Trump, he is doing things right.
Can you be specific on what he has done right?
He is putting in people who sign checks on the front. Doers not takers!!
Signing checks using your money and not ever theirs. Suckers to the max!
He kicked Hillary’s okole.
keaukaha the Obama family vacation to Africa cost taxpayers $100,000,000? Why didn’t the feds disclose the cost of Michelle’s trip to China?
I’ll bet the Obama’s have spent $2,000,000,000 to $3,000,000,000 on “vacations,” maybe 4 billion………..Don’t you think the money could have been spent more wisely?
Overdose of FAKE NEWS+MSM+O+hiLIARy+SHOCKING SHELLACKING LANDSLIDE LOSS=boots
January 20, 2017 #MAGA
IRT KeoniGohan, fully agree with your post. Want to add the un-doing of the Hawaii born President Obama’s eight years in the first 100 days of the President elect Trump term in office. We now have the opportunity to “Make America Safe and Great Again”.
Yes we have seen the stock market rise from below 7000 to now close to 20000. We shall see where it is in 4 years under the Donald. If it is around 30,000, I will say the Donald has done a good job. If it is below 10.000, he would have been worse than GW. Time will tell.
Bold shift from Obama. That’s what about half of our voting population wants. So kudos for Trump although it’s going to be difficult to please the other half. But you could say Trump was handed a divided country; he didn’t create that problem.
Country has been divided ever since the Vietnam war. Fact that will always need to be remembered is that less than half wanted a “bold shift”. Whether they get it and even more whether they will approve of it remains to be seen. While the Donald could signal some improvement in certain areas, I think it is more likely to be pay if you want anything and to be sure to stay at a Trump Hotel.
“Country has been divided ever since the Vietnam war”……..yeah,you along with “Hanoi Jane” that were causing the “Divide’. You were safely back home…..protesting,instead of protecting! You havn’t a clue what Combat was like or know ,you could be dead at any moment,during the Vietnam War!So don’t even go there.it’s disrespectful.
bootie once said he thought anyone that served in the military was “stupid”. Not the kind of individual that commands any serious attention..
Not surprised hawaiikona that you would take it out of context. But the fact is the people who have served in our military have generally been screwed. You might have remembered Agent Orange during Vietnam and how ill effects from it were initially dismissed or made light of? Then this was repeated in later wars with DU. Yes it so easy to say support the troops isn’t it and to criticize anyone who say they don’t. But when it comes to real support people like you are generally not to be found.
What has boots done to serve his country?
bootie, do I remember agent orange? Yes. I helped off load it at Anderson. Did I misinterpret anything when you said that you’d never join the military and anyone that did was s t u p i d? I don’t think so.
As usual, you’ve got your foot where it shouldn’t be once again..
Wrong. Hilliary won the popular vote by more than two and a half million votes which is why the Chump needs to talk about his victory because it’s killing him to know who really got their as- kicked.
So? The electoral college was created to let all States have a say in our vote. Would you prefer that the 3 States with the largest population determine who becomes President? If that were the case no, voter turnout would dall even lower.
The conversation/posts sounds like small kid time on the playground. When will we ever grow up.