The promise to build a wall and secure the southern border of the United States was perhaps President Donald Trump’s most well-known campaign pledge. On January 25, 2017, he signed two executive orders related to immigration. Executive Order No. 3 called for the “immediate construction of a physical wall,” the “expedited determinations of apprehended individuals’ claims of eligibility to remain in the United States,” and the prompt removal of individuals “whose legal claims to remain in the United States have been lawfully rejected.” Executive Order No, 4 called for the prioritization for deportation of undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions or who have been charged with a crime and the hiring of 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, along with other provisions. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly signed a memorandum on February 20, 2017, to implement the two executive orders.
Earmark Effort Demonstrates Tone-Deafness About Swamp Drainage
On November 16, 2016, eight days after the momentous election of Donald J. Trump as president (with his promise to “drain the swamp”), House Republicans inexplicably contemplated the restoration of earmarks. Fortunately, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) forestalled a vote during a meeting of the Republican Conference, promising instead a thoughtful and transparent discussion about the pros and cons of earmarks during the first quarter of 2017. That date appears to have been moved to the third quarter, following the announcement by House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) that he will hold public hearings and issue recommendations by July 4, 2017.
GAO’s High Risk List: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back
The latest iteration of the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) biennial High-Risk Series, released on February 15, 2017, added three programs and removed one. The new areas included programs serving Indian tribes, environmental liabilities, and the 2020 census, while terrorism-related information sharing disappeared from the list.
Trump to Resistant Bureaucrats: You’re Fired
Disturbing news was reported in the January 31, 2017 Washington Post about a growing resistance from federal workers in implementing President Trump’s policies. According to the Post, “[l]ess than two weeks into the Trump’s administration, federal workers are in regular consultation with recently departed Obama-era political appointees about what they can do to push back […]
115th Congress: A New Sheriff (with a Powerful Posse) Has Arrived
For the first time since Democrats turned the Speaker’s gavel over to the Republicans in January 2011, the Pennsylvania Avenue axis of power (the White House at one end of the famous street, and both chambers of Congress at the other) will be under the control of a single party. And for the first time since the 2004 elections, that party will be the Republicans’ “Grand Old Party,” not the Democrats. Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential race completed the trifecta that began in 2010, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, followed by the 2014 elections that returned control of the Senate to the GOP.
Statement by CAGW President Tom Schatz on the Beginning of the 115th Congress
CAGW President Tom Schatz released the following statement on the start of the 115th Congress: Taxpayers have good reason to be optimistic for the New Year. For the first time, the nation will have a president and cabinet with substantial experience managing large, complex organizations; and there’s nothing bigger and more complicated than the federal […]
Beware of Midnight Regulations
As President Barack Obama’s term comes to an end, many federal agencies and departments are attempting to beat the clock by jamming a flurry of new regulations onto the books before January 20, 2017.
Anachronistic Earmark Offering from Culberson, Rogers, and Rooney
Americans might fondly remember 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the top grossing movie, Sexyback by Justin Timberlake was at the top of the charts, and Bob Barker announced his retirement from The Price is Right.
The Trump Trifecta: Three Branches, New Faces
The chattering political class, with scant exception, prognosticated that Donald J. Trump had only the narrowest of opportunities to win the White House in the 2016 general election. Indeed, many such solons suggested that his bombastic style, in addition to losing his own race, might also cost the Republicans control of the Senate (all but a foregone conclusion, given that the GOP was in a much more vulnerable position, defending 24 of the 34 seats up for election).
Lame-Duck Session, 114th Congress: The Victors, the Vanquished, and the Un-Inaugurated
For anyone unfamiliar with the patois of politics, the term “lame duck” may seem like a bit of an odd duck, rhetorically speaking. As defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the more common understanding of this phrase is “an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the […]