Meanwhile Trump's executive branch scrambles to solidify long-lasting change (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Executive orders and agency policy are easy for a new administration to change - just write a new one and replace the one you don't like. Regulations are substantially more difficult to revise - taking months or even years. Contracts and other awards (like mineral leases) vest interests in third parties and cannot be canceled without penalty (often significant). Some of these appear to reflect a Republican point of view, others appear intended only to hamper the Biden administration. But it is clear that the Trump executive branch is not going quietly into that good night. Another note of history: they have confirmed more judges and executed more inmates in the last 90 days than any administration in modern history (perhaps ever, I'm just too lazy to pull the research).

At EPA, a new regulation finalized last week challenges the use of science in federal environmental management:

Trump EPA Erects New Barriers To Crucial Science

Studies based on private health data are crucial to understanding dangers posed by pollution. A new rule makes it harder for the EPA to consider many studies when setting safeguards.

www.npr.org

At HHS, a new regulation would limit how long health scientists (like Fauci) could stay in the federal government (this rule has obvious genesis in Trump's anger that he couldn't fire Fauci, so this rule does the next best thing: prevents them from gaining a long-term presence):

Trump admin races to enact term limits for top health scientists

The regulation, which the Department of Health and Human Services could issue as a direct final rule within days, would mandate job reviews every five years for career federal scientists.

www.politico.com

At State, Pompeo has been nothing short of reckless:




At Interior, on January 6, while Trump supporters were storming the Capitol building, the Trump administration achieved a long-time Republican goal of selling oil leases in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump administration officials auctioned off oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, capping Republicans’ decades-long quest to drill in one of the nation’s most vast unspoiled wild places. The move marks one of the most significant environmental rollbacks the president has accomplished in his term.

.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/06/trump-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-polar-bears/

 

[superchuck500]

They're literally executing people as they're packing their shirt.




(There have been no 'lame duck' federal executions in more than a century).

U.S. To Continue Executions Through Transition In Break With Precedent

The Justice Department typically does not put people to death while a new administration is waiting to take power, but Attorney General William Barr plans more executions before Inauguration Day.

www.npr.org

 

[JRad]

I really wish there were something preventing certain long term activities in a lame duck period.

 

[efil4]

There are no more words for this man and his tenure.

None.

 

[zztop]

I've been posting some of these in the trump tracker. What I'm not sure of is how permanent are these positions? (I asked when I originally posted these: So does this mean that after trump is gone, this person is going to keep his job and is "immune" to being fired/replaced?)

The article also says " Beattie’s three-year term on the commission gives him, like other Trump appointees, a foothold in the federal bureaucracy long after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. "

Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with white nationalists to commission that preserves Holocaust memorials

Darren Beattie, a former speechwriter fired from the White House in 2018 for attending a conference at which white supremacists were also present, has been appointed to a commission tasked with preserving Holocaust-related sites across Europe.

www.yahoo.com

and
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/08/trump-appoints-kellyanne-conway-chao-443674
The president also announced the nominations of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Lynn Friess, the wife of Republican megadonor Foster Friess, as members of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, would be named to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board, Trump said.

 

[superchuck500]

I've been posting some of these in the trump tracker. What I'm not sure of is how permanent are these positions? (I asked when I originally posted these: So does this mean that after trump is gone, this person is going to keep his job and is "immune" to being fired/replaced?)

The article also says " Beattie’s three-year term on the commission gives him, like other Trump appointees, a foothold in the federal bureaucracy long after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. "

Trump appoints speechwriter fired for attending conference with white nationalists to commission that preserves Holocaust memorials

Darren Beattie, a former speechwriter fired from the White House in 2018 for attending a conference at which white supremacists were also present, has been appointed to a commission tasked with preserving Holocaust-related sites across Europe.

www.yahoo.com

and
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/08/trump-appoints-kellyanne-conway-chao-443674
The president also announced the nominations of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Lynn Friess, the wife of Republican megadonor Foster Friess, as members of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, would be named to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board, Trump said.

Yes, a sitting president has appointment power to many positions that have terms that stand apart from the president's term. Compared to the breadth of political appointees in the executive branch, it is a tiny fraction of posts, and none has any kind of exclusive power. Along with the boards and commissions you noted, there are also appointments to the Federal Reserve (e.g. Board members serve a 14-year term).

But this has always been the case.

 

[zztop]

Yes, a sitting president has appointment power to many positions that have terms that stand apart from the president's term. Compared to the breadth of political appointees in the executive branch, it is a tiny fraction of posts, and none has any kind of exclusive power. Along with the boards and commissions you noted, there are also appointments to the Federal Reserve (e.g. Board members serve a 14-year term).

But this has always been the case.

Thats unfortunate, I was hoping he would be able to wipe the slate clean so to speak

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

There are no more words for this man and his tenure.

None.

This is why i have very little tolerance for anyone who didnt see this coming 5 years ago, ALL of this ****ing shirt, and voted for him in 2016... Even if they now miraculously “see the light” or some such nonsense, it didnt take freaking Nostradamus to see exactly the type of cruelty and incompetence that Trump and enablers were capable of... Frick every last one of ‘em.

 

[coldseat]

I think there is a silver lining in here with the regulations that ironically is due to Republican passed legislation. If I'm not mistaken, the Senate can reverse any federal agency regulation within a certain period of time with a simple majority vote. Since the Democrats will have control of the Senate, they may be able to reverse these last minute regulation.

Contracts are a different matter entirely.

 

[DaveXA]

I think there is a silver lining in here with the regulations that ironically is due to Republican passed legislation. If I'm not mistaken, the Senate can reverse any federal agency regulation within a certain period of time with a simple majority vote. Since the Democrats will have control of the Senate, they may be able to reverse these last minute regulation.

Contracts are a different matter entirely.

Yep, although even the contracts can be reversed, but the penalties for breaking the contracts are often ridiculously expensive and almost always not worth breaking.

As for reversing legislation, it won't exactly be easy. While the Senate is a 50:50 split, Joe Manchin is a conservative Democrat, so you still have to get him on board, and avoid a filibuster. So those reversals won't be a cinch.

 

[superchuck500]

I think there is a silver lining in here with the regulations that ironically is due to Republican passed legislation. If I'm not mistaken, the Senate can reverse any federal agency regulation within a certain period of time with a simple majority vote. Since the Democrats will have control of the Senate, they may be able to reverse these last minute regulation.

Contracts are a different matter entirely.

Indeed. It's a joint resolution, but simple majority, no filibuster.

Until recently, the CRA look-back procedures had been used rarely since their enactment in 1996. Prior to 2017, Congress used the CRA’s regulatory recall procedures only once (to overturn the Clinton Administration’s workplace ergonomics rule in 2001). In the first months of 2017, however, a Republican-led Congress and Trump Administration used the CRA to nullify sixteen “midnight rules” issued at the end of the Obama Administration. These included several key environmental rules including the Interior Department’s Stream Protection Rule (which concerned mountaintop removal coal mining operations), the Bureau of Land Management’s Planning 2.0 rule for managing hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands, and a Fish and Wildlife Service rule regarding non-subsistence takes of wildlife on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

Taking a page from the Trump Administration playbook, a Biden Administration and Democratic Congress could potentially use the CRA to rescind scores of Trump Administration rules. And the CRA could have significant reach—a “rule” can include qualifying guidance, interim final rules, and certain interpretive rules.

Recent and Forthcoming Environmental Rules and Guidance Could Be Reversed Under Congressional Review Act: Three Steps for Stakeholders to Consider

If Joe Biden is elected President, and the Democrats win control of both the House and Senate, the new Administration could potentially use the Congressional Review Act (“CRA” or “Act”) to reverse recent and still-to-come Trump Administration rules.

www.natlawreview.com

 

[DaveXA]

Indeed. It's a joint resolution, but simple majority, no filibuster.

Recent and Forthcoming Environmental Rules and Guidance Could Be Reversed Under Congressional Review Act: Three Steps for Stakeholders to Consider

If Joe Biden is elected President, and the Democrats win control of both the House and Senate, the new Administration could potentially use the Congressional Review Act (“CRA” or “Act”) to reverse recent and still-to-come Trump Administration rules.

www.natlawreview.com

That's good to know.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[MT15]

So, there’s no way Trump is thinking of these things. He is basically letting white supremacists (Miller and/or Bannon) have their way, imo. Bannon should be in jail right now. So frustrating.

 

[DaveXA]

So, there’s no way Trump is thinking of these things. He is basically letting white supremacists (Miller and/or Bannon) have their way, imo. Bannon should be in jail right now. So frustrating.

I thought Bannon left the Administration a while back? I don't know what he's doing now, but I thought he was no longer talking with Trump. They were at odds when he left iirc.

 

[superchuck500]

I thought Bannon left the Administration a while back? I don't know what he's doing now, but I thought he was no longer talking with Trump. They were at odds when he left iirc.

They started talking again a few weeks ago per reports.

Trump is back in contact with Steve Bannon and ‘asking him how to overturn election’

Steve Bannon was considered one of the main architects of Trump’s 2016 campaign

www.independent.co.uk

What is he doing now? Facing federal fraud charges:

Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign (Published 2020)

Mr. Bannon and three others are accused in a scheme to use funds raised for construction to pay for personal expenses.

www.nytimes.com

So hmm, I wonder why he's now showing up to assist his former friend and associate? Reports are now that Trump is weighing a pardon for Bannon. (Btw, this isn't what pardons were supposed to be for - they weren't intended to be a president's personal power to get his criminal friends off the hook).

Trump weighing a pardon for Steve Bannon

The potential pardon would follow a wave of reprieves the president has recently granted to political allies who have been convicted, charged or reportedly under federal investigation.

www.politico.com

 

[DaveXA]

They started talking again a few weeks ago per reports.

Trump is back in contact with Steve Bannon and ‘asking him how to overturn election’

Steve Bannon was considered one of the main architects of Trump’s 2016 campaign

www.independent.co.uk

What is he doing now? Facing federal fraud charges:

Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign (Published 2020)

Mr. Bannon and three others are accused in a scheme to use funds raised for construction to pay for personal expenses.

www.nytimes.com

So hmm, I wonder why he's now showing up to assist his former friend and associate? Reports are now that Trump is weighing a pardon for Bannon. (Btw, this isn't what pardons were supposed to be for - they weren't intended to be a president's personal power to get his criminal friends off the hook).

Trump weighing a pardon for Steve Bannon

The potential pardon would follow a wave of reprieves the president has recently granted to political allies who have been convicted, charged or reportedly under federal investigation.

www.politico.com

Thanks, I wasn't aware of all that.

 

[superchuck500]