Trump’s Top Team Sets Stage for White House Power Grab
Story by Aaron Zitner, Siobhan Hughes • 20h
OMG, This is do fucking funny. 1/2
WASHINGTON—In naming a set of unconventional nominees to run federal departments, Donald Trump this week also took steps to push for a broader goal:realigning the balance of power among Washington’s major institutions so that more authority flows from the White House.
Trump has threatened to take steps that would undermine the Senate’s confirmation powers and Congress’s role in budgeting—the most essential powers of the two chambers. He has insisted that senators allow him to place some nominees directly in their jobs, bypassing the Senate’s public hearings and confirmation process. He has said he would move to impound—or decline to spend—money appropriated by Congress for programs he dislikes, a step likely requiring him to overturn current law in court.
Trump’s transition team is considering a plan to bypass the Pentagon’s regular promotion system, with a draft executive order that would create a panel to evaluate three- and four-star officers for potential removal.If signed by the new president, the order would allow Trump to fire what he has called “woke generals,” those seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.
Federal Reserve leaders have braced for a potential effort to fire Chairman Jerome Powell, while officials elsewhere are waiting to see whether Trump follows through on acampaign promise to rein in other independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission, and subject them to greater presidential authority. “These agencies do not get to become a fourth branch of government,” he said as a candidate.
Trump also has suggested he would take steps to disempower legacy media companies, calling for the government to revoke some broadcasters’ licenses. He has filed suits against the Washington Post for alleged libel, against ABC for alleged defamation and against CBS over its editing of an interview with his presidential rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
For an American public that just voted for change in Washington, Trump and his team have shown they are pushing not just for adjustments but for a substantial reshaping of the government and its power structures.
“Clearly, he wants power for the purpose of overthrowing the established practices of government,” said former Sen. John Danforth, a Republican who represented Missouri in the Senate for nearly two decades. Circumventing the Senate on appointments, he said, likely “would be a violation of the Constitution—the glue that keeps us together as a country.”
Adam Jentleson, a Democrat and former senior Senate aide, said, “It’s impossible to look at the big picture here and not see a president who is intent on seizing an unprecedented level of control.”
Some Republicans were delighted by Trump’s assertive posture toward trimming the federal government. “Our government’s way too big, and our government needs to be a lot smaller,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.).
A Trump transition spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
There were mixed signs last week on whether Trump’s sweeping victory in the presidential election and dominating control of his party would push lawmakers to agree to his demands and acquiesce to promises he made as a candidate to try to shift more authority to the Oval Office.
Senate Republicans signaled that Matt Gaetz, the president-elect’s pick to lead the Justice Department—one of the most sensitive jobs in Washington—would likely fail to win confirmation because of sexual-misconduct allegations and his antagonistic tactics that alienated colleagues. But there were few signals on whether GOP senators would block other controversial nominees who alarmed many in Washington but were cheered by some for their potential to disrupt federal bureaucracies and policies. Those include Trump’s choices of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.for health and human services secretary, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has questioned important U.S. intelligence assessments, as director of the nation’s spy agencies.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the incoming Senate Republican leader, provided little clarity on whether GOP senators would object to an end run by Trumparound the confirmation process, should his choices fail to muster enough support in the chamber. Trump could do this by appointing people to vacant jobs while the Senate stands in recess, though they could serve only for a maximum of two years. Thune said Thursday that he wanted to use the “regular process” for confirmations, but also told Fox News that “all options are on the table.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-top-team-sets-stage-for-white-house-power-grab/ar-AA1ubfwk