Senate confirms dozens of stalled Trump nominees hours before the 115th Congress ends

The Senate confirmed dozens of stalled Trump administration nominees Wednesday night, just hours before the close of the 115th Congress. The list excluded federal judges despite an effort by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to secure a deal for those nominees with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

In total, the Senate cleared 77 nominees by voice vote, among them 23 ambassadors to countries including Australia, Armenia, Yemen, Guyana, Kenya, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Senate confirmed eight U.S. attorneys and eight U.S. marshals, a member of the Federal Maritime Commission, and two members of the Federal Communications Commission.

The Senate confirmed James Carroll Jr. to be director of National Drug Control Policy. It also confirmed Ellen McCarthy to serve as assistant secretary of state. And it confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier to serve as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “The Senate has confirmed a highly respected scientist and academic to help further our nation’s economic competitiveness and national security,” said incoming Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D.

McConnell had hoped to confirm more than a dozen federal judges at the end of the year, but Schumer, under pressure from his party’s progressive base, blocked a bipartisan deal. Those judges will now move through the Judiciary Committee and onto the Senate floor where they will likely pass with a GOP majority vote.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/senate-confirms-dozens-of-stalled-trump-nominees-hours-before-the-115th-congress-ends

Republican staffer key to Trump tax cut to depart

A Republican congressional staffer key who helped write the legislation that became the 2017 tax overhaul will depart the House Ways and Means Committee. Barbara Angus, chief Republican tax counsel for the committee, which holds power over writing tax law, will leave that post. Angus played an integral role in drafting the original House bill of what eventually became the signature policy achievement of unified Republican government during the past two years. “Few in Washington match Barbara’s intelligence, leadership, and work ethic,” Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a statement announcing her departure. “Her efforts changed history, helping us create a tax code that works for families and Main Street businesses. I am so thankful for her guidance and friendship these past three years and wish her all the best in this next chapter — she will be missed dearly by our Committee.” The announcement of Angus’s departure did not include information about what she will do next. Randy Gartin, another tax counsel for the committee, will replace Angus as the panel’s top tax lawyer. Gartin worked in the Houston office of the consulting and accounting firm KPMG prior to joining the committee last year.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/republican-staffer-key-to-trump-tax-cut-to-depart

House Democrats slip abortion language into bill to end partial shutdown

House Democrats have inserted language to expand abortion access into a bill to end the partial government shutdown set for a vote Thursday. The spending bill would repeal a provision instituted by President Trump that requires foreign nongovernmental organizations to certify that they will not “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.” The provision, formally known as the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, was once called the Mexico City Policy, known by critics as the "global gag rule."

The bill also would increase funding by $5 million for the United Nations Population Fund, to $37.5 million. Anti-abortion organizations oppose the program because they say it participates in coercive abortions and involuntary sterilizations. The anti-abortion organization March for Life said it would score against the final package if the provisions are included in the version that receives a vote Thursday. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement Democrats were "already trying to foist a radical pro-abortion agenda on the nation." “A strong majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion," she said, adding that repealing Trump's policy on nongovernmental organizations would make "taxpayers complicit in the exportation of abortion and destruction of countless unborn children around the world. This is unconscionable and we oppose the bill in the strongest terms.”

Democrats plan to vote on two separate bills Thursday to fund the federal government, one of which will focus on homeland security as they refuse to meet Trump's demands for $5 billion to fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The bills face dim prospects in the GOP-controlled Senate. The federal government has faced a partial government shutdown for 12 days, and Democratic leaders announced Wednesday that they still had not been able to reach an agreement with Trump.

The spending bill that Democrats introduced Wednesday includes language specifying that foreign non-governmental organizations that perform abortions consistent with the laws in their country are not ineligible for U.S. family planning funds. Trump, like all his Republican predecessors since former President Ronald Reagan, cut off family planning funds to organizations that promote abortions for family planning. He went further than his predecessors by extending the restrictions to types of government aid besides funding for family planing, including programs that cover HIV/AIDS and maternal health.

The other part of the spending bill that anti-abortion groups object to involves the increase to the United Nations Populations Fund, which provides contraception and works to reduce childhood deaths. The Trump administration’s State Department ended contributions to to the organization because anti-abortion groups oppose its relationship with China, where citizens are not permitted to have more than two children. The organization has disputed that it worked to coerce women into abortions, and the Democratic spending bill includes language specifically barring China from receiving funding.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/house-democrats-slip-abortion-language-into-spending-bill

Apple Makes Rare Cut to Sales Guidance

CEO Tim Cook cites slowing sales in China in letter to investors

Apple Inc. AAPL 0.11% slashed its quarterly revenue forecast for the first time in more than 15 years, an unprecedented move in the Tim Cook era that was prompted by a downturn in sales of iPhones in China. The surprise cut, issued Wednesday in a letter from the chief executive to investors, renews concerns about waning demand for Apple’s marquee product, the iPhone, which makes up the vast share of its revenue and has vaulted the company’s value and profits. It also raises fresh questions about Apple’s prospects in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, which represents nearly 20% of Apple’s sales. And it was the latest sign of broader economic malaise in China, fueled by trade tensions with the U.S. “Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall,” Mr. Cook said in his letter. The move also was an inauspicious signal for markets on the first trading day of the year, with Apple shares after hours declining more than 7% and the broader market showing stress as well.

The company has lost more than $300 billion in market value since peaking above $1 trillion in early October. Last year was Apple’s worst yearly performance since the financial crisis. While Mr. Cook pointed to China’s economic turmoil for the revenue shortfall in the quarter ended Dec. 29, Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market has been shrinking, crowded out by tech giants such as China’s Huawei Technologies Co. that market increasingly sophisticated phones at a lower price tag.

Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market contracted to 7.8% in the first three quarters of 2018 from a peak in 2015 of 12.5%, according to Canalys, a market research firm. Apple was the country’s No. 3 handset maker, measured by unit sales, in 2015, according to International Data Corp. For the first three quarters of 2018, Apple ranked as the fifth-largest seller in China. Analysts have also been closely watching China’s economy for signs that increasing Chinese nationalism, combined with higher-quality China-made products, is moving consumers to purchase local brands. Signs have begun to emerge: For the first time, last year four of five of the top-watched films in China were Chinese, according to Box Office Mojo. Local brands continue to outgrow multinational corporations in the food and beverage sector, according to Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Cook said Apple anticipated challenges in key emerging markets, but didn’t expect the magnitude of the economic deceleration, especially in greater China. A contraction in the smartphone market in the region was particularly sharp, he said. “As the climate of mounting uncertainty weighed on financial markets, the effects appeared to reach consumers as well, with traffic to our retail stores and our channel partners in China declining as the quarter progressed,” he wrote in the letter. Mr. Cook sought to assuage investors with the company’s services business, which he said delivered a 27% jump in overall revenue to $10.8 billion in the December quarter, and in China a record level. He cited 50% growth in sales of its smartwatch and AirPods. He said the Mac business increased sales behind the recent updates to its MacBook Air and Mac mini. And the iPad Pro delivered double-digit growth in iPad revenue. However, that all wasn’t enough to offset a slowdown in the iPhone sales.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-revises-guidance-sees-lower-revenue-in-fiscal-1st-quarter-11546465050

>>4574329

Agreed, and it's about time!