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Trump Appointments Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 19, 2017 18 Comments
The Department of Education and its sub-agencies appear here to stay (alas), but there is good news.   The "reforms" the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has inflicted—particularly on higher education—over the past eight years may well be in danger. The Office of Civil Rights is a sub-agency within the Department of Education that oversees a range of issues, some invented, that affect K-12 and higher education (and some that don't like ensuring "equal access" to the Boy Scouts and other youth groups.).

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 16, 2017 11 Comments
President Donald Trump has picked former National Labor Relations Board member Alexander Acosta for his Secretary of Labor. Trump had to choose another nominee after fast food executive Andrew Puzder withdrew on Wednesday following controversies that surrounded him, which included hiring an illegal immigrant for a housekeeper and accusations of spousal abuse.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 15, 2017 21 Comments
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has told Maine Public Radio that she will vote against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. She acknowledged his accomplishments, but the two of them have too many different views when it comes to the EPA:
“Specifically, I have significant concerns that Mr. Pruitt has actively opposed and sued the EPA on numerous issues that are of great importance to the state of Maine, including mercury controls for coal-fired power plants and efforts to reduce cross-state air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” she says. “His actions leave me with considerable doubts about whether his vision for the EPA is consistent with the agency’s critical mission to protect human health and the environment.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 15, 2017 25 Comments
The Associated Press has reported that Andrew Puzder has withdrawn as Labor Secretary nominee. He has released this statement: "After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor," he said in the statement. "I am honored to have been considered by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Labor and put America's workers and businesses back on a path to sustainable prosperity. I want to thank President Trump for his nomination. I also thank my family and my many supporters - employees, businesses, friends and people who have voiced their praise and hopeful optimism for the policies and new thinking I would have brought to America as Secretary of Labor."

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 14, 2017 7 Comments
I came across this CNN article that Labor Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder faced many hurdles before his Thursday confirmation hearing because four GOP senators decided to withhold their support. The fast food executive will face the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Thursday. These anonymous sources pointed their fingers at Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sem Johnny Isakson (GA), and Sen. Tim Scott (SC). Reading through the article, I saw that CNN only cited Sen. Collins. So I decided to actually do some journalism and reach out to the offices for confirmation on the material provided by the sources.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 13, 2017 43 Comments
President Donald Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn has resigned after he came under fire over his contacts with Russian officials. The resignation comes after the Justice Department announced that officials had "warned the Trump administration last month that Flynn misled administration officials regarding his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians."

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 13, 2017 3 Comments
The Senate has confirmed Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary for President Donald Trump's Cabinet. As expected, all Republicans voted for Mnuchin. It was expected to go down party lines, but West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin voted yes as well. The vote ended 53-47.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 10, 2017 8 Comments
Voting along party lines, the Senate has confirmed Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Democrats once again held the Senate to a 30 hour debate to change minds of the Republicans, but failed once again. This is a huge first step for Republicans in Congress who want to repeal and replace Obamacare, which Price "has been prominent in pushing alternatives" to the law.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 08, 2017 47 Comments
There was a fair bit of drama in the Senate last night. Senate Democrats are hosting yet another sleepover to protest the upcoming confirmation vote on Senator Sessions' appointment as Attorney General, knowing full well they don't have the votes to stop his confirmation. They pulled the same stunt prior to the confirmation vote for Betsy DeVos, the new Education Secretary. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) began reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The letter was written in protest of Sen. Sessions nomination as a federal judge in 1986, and according to Senate Republicans, spoke ill of the soon-to-be AG.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 07, 2017 35 Comments
The Senate has confirmed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education after Vice President Mike Pence cast his tie-breaking vote for her. DeVos became the most contested nominee for a Cabinet position for President Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/cspan/status/829021954489384960

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 04, 2017 17 Comments
The political sailing has not been smooth for many of President Trump's nominees, and the process of approving Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency is no exception. After being a target of one of the many Democratic Senate committee boycotts, Pruit cleared the log-jam:
Senate Republicans pressed forward on Thursday with the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, suspending the Environment and Public Works Committee’s rules to approve the cabinet pick despite a Democratic boycott.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 03, 2017 25 Comments
The Senate woke up bright and early Friday morning to vote on President Donald Trump's education secretary Betsy DeVos to advance her to a final vote on Monday. She advanced with a 52-48 vote, but her confirmation vote will not come easy.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 01, 2017 36 Comments
Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump's pick for Education Secretary, may have escaped her Senate committee hearing, but she just lost two Republicans on the Senate floor. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine told the Senate that neither one can vote to confirm DeVos:
"I come to the floor to announce a very difficult decision that I have made, and that is to vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to be our nation's next secretary of Education," Collins said from the Senate floor. Collins specifically pointed to DeVos's "lack of familiarly" with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, saying she was "troubled and surprised."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 01, 2017 9 Comments
After intense blowback and promises of confirmation obstruction for Trump's SCOTUS nominee, Neil Gorsuch, Trump suggested the Senate employ the "Nuclear Option" to move Judge Gorsuch to Justice Gorsuch. The Nuclear Option would allow the Senate to confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority as opposed to 60 votes. "Mitch, go nuclear," Trump said in a press conference Wednesday:
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