The Republican establishment is almost gone from the White House but there are some Democrats who aren’t going anywhere. The agenda moving forward won’t be a strictly Republican one necessarily. Tell us what you think the reshaping of the party will look like.
Obamacare is likely dead. Republicans don’t seem able to get the job done in any way, shape or form. Perhaps more Republicans are needed in the Senate but will Americans vote for them again? The Republicans do have a card to play – the Democrat Party is continuing to move closer to the hard-left.
What has always been of concern is some of Trump’s support for universal healthcare. He tweeted to let Obamacare die after the “Skinny Bill” went down, but will we end up with single-payer as a result?
The White House staff is undergoing dramatic changes and that means policy changes.
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If Reince Priebus was a leaker, he deserves to be gone, but no evidence has been presented to prove he is. Also gone are Deputy Chief Katie Walsh and press secretary Michael Short. They were both accused of leaking. Got News claims an anti-Trump consultant said Walsh and Priebus exchanged emails on how to get rid of Trump. We haven’t seen any evidence however. Walsh, Short and Priebus are establishment Republicans.
There are many unfilled positions, which means Obama’s embeds remain in place.
Out of about 500 positions to be filled, there have been 146 nominations and 50 appointed. While Democrats are relentlessly dragging out the process of appointments, that’s not the biggest problem. The bigger issue is there are no nominees for the rest of the positions. Some complain that Trump wants people who will be loyal to him and there aren’t enough people to fill his requirements.
Who’s left and what will policy look like?
President Trump has threatened to fire lifelong Republican Jeff Sessions, primarily over his recusal on the Russian matter. Trump sees it as disloyalty but agency heads should remain independent.
One must wonder why John Koskinen remains at the IRS while Sessions is threatened. Not everyone likes what Sessions is doing but why is Koskinen not the first to be tossed.
Nikki Haley, a Republican, is doing a good job in the U.N.
Stephen Miller, a national policy adviser, is still in the White House writing speeches. He is a conservative and is a close associate of Steve Bannon’s. The left hates him, hates both of them actually.
Deputy National Security Advisor KT McFarland is gone as is the last General Flynn appointee, a man of great renown, Lt.Col. Derek Harvey. He called radical Islam what it is and supported Israel. Communications Director Mike Dubke was pushed out in May and was said to be ineffective. They were all Republicans.
H.R. McMaster is an establishment Republican. Rex Tillerson is liberal-leaning on a number of issues from healthcare to borders to Israel. The rumors were coming out fast and furiously that Tillerson was thinking of leaving but he’s back from vacation. He says he’s not going anywhere. Their policies are similar to the Bush’s on a number of fronts. They are determining foreign policy.
Dina Powell is at the National Security Council with H.R. McMaster. She is an establishment Republican who says she is conservative. Some believe she is a leaker though there is no evidence unless one judges her by some of her friendships, like the one she is alleged to have with Valerie Jarrett. Powell is nice to everyone, however. Both right and left like her.
We have John Kelly who was great in DHS but he has no experience for his new job replacing Reince Priebus. However, he’s talented and brilliant. Most importantly, the President trusts him.
There are the Democrat family members Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump who switched parties to vote for Donald Trump. Ivanka is pushing for a Federal taxpayer-supported child care program and tax-supported maternity leave. Trump has a lovely family but they were all Democrats until the 2016 election.
Gary Cohn is a Democrat as is Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin appears to be doing a good job, not sure about Cohn.
Steve Bannon, a Republican outsider who is opposed to illegal immigration and massive influxes of refugees has some non-Republican beliefs. He is promoting a 44% increase in taxes on the rich, a Progressive cause. The rich already pay 39% and have to also pay state, local, and real estate taxes.
Bannon wants an infrastructure project paid for by Federal taxpayers. The nation needs an infrastructure project but a trillion dollars has already been wasted by the Federal government and we have little to show for it. It’s not hopeful. For example, Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo in New York waste billions on welfare and payoffs to their constituents but don’t want to fix the infrastructure with NY dollars. Now they are begging the Federal government for billions and will probably get it. We are deeply in debt here in leftist New York.
Anthony Scaramucci and his wife were mostly Democratic donors. His wife of three years and the mother of his two children is divorcing him because of his “blind ambition” and she hates Trump.
Scaramucci aka Mooch says he likes to use colorful language. He falsely accused people of leaking his financial disclosures this past week, doesn’t like Reince Priebus and accused him of leaking. Mooch doesn’t like Bannon either. Mooch said his cursing and attacks on Priebus and Bannon in a NY Mag article were off the record but that is in question. At one point during the interview with NY Mag writer Ryan Lizza, he told him that he wanted something off the record and it was kept out of the article. On the other hand, the article wasn’t intended to make Mooch look good.
Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders are not establishment but they are Republicans. They stand loyally at the President’s side.
President Trump was a Democrat himself until about 2012 and it wouldn’t be hard to envision him adopting a more Democratic agenda.
Whatever people may think of Reince Priebus, he was keeping the establishment together and somewhat on point. Maybe not in the case of John McCain but he’s uncontrollable.
The President might be going it alone at this point.
Before you read these tweets by John Harwood, keep in mind that he was giving tips to Hillary’s campaign and gloated over egging Trump on during the debates. That doesn’t mean these tweets are wrong, but he is an anti-Trumper. Anti-Trumpers and Never-Trumpers have only themselves to blame for not being believed – they lied and connived, unfortunately.
Ryan-Priebus ally tells me Trump is moving toward “an independent WH” untethered from the Republican Party
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 28, 2017
it’s already starting. if you’re counting on tax reform or infrastructure plan, you might want to rethink https://t.co/P2ps2ctQNN
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 29, 2017
As far as this next one is concerned, Trump’s right, they look like fools, but it doesn’t appear to be the way to win them over.
considering that Trump now is now saying GOP senators “look like fools” and issuing orders to McConnell, this didn’t take long https://t.co/P2ps2ctQNN
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 29, 2017
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