The First Cracks Show
- Charlie Biscotto
- Jan 10, 2017
- 2 min read
In a one-two punch last night, Republicans saw support for an immediate "repeal and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" of Obamacare falter and the confirmation hearings on Betsy DeVos were delayed by a week. Since good news comes in threes, I've been waiting for the announcement that national treasure Meryl Streep (one of Donald Trump's favorite actresses and a "fine person too") would replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, but so far, no dice.
In a major plot twist, the savior of Obamacare may turn out to be staunch libertarian Rand Paul after a study by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget determined that a full repeal could cost up to $350 billion. Other Senators may also be feeling the heat from their constituents, who are now either rushing to sign up for Obamacare or realizing that they've been on it this whole time and actually like it. Whatever the case may be, President Obama's signature healthcare legislation is living to fight another day.
DeVos's delay shouldn't come as a shock. On Sunday, we noted (based on Ed O'Keefe's reporting for the Washington Post) that Betsy Devos hadn't even submitted her paperwork for the Office of Government Ethics:
It is curious that Betsy DeVos, selected for her post on November 23rd, has not yet even submitted her paperwork to the OGE, as someone who is valued at over $5 billion will likely have more than a few conflicts to resolve.
Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), has insisted that the delay was due to scheduling, but that insistence is hard to reconcile with the facts. Out of all of the nominees slated for consideration this week, surely it can't be a coincidence that the only one to be delayed is also the only one who hadn't submitted her ethics review. Alexander also insists that the confirmation process will wrap, as originally promised, on January 24th. If scheduling is such a problem this week, it's curious that he does not see the schedule becoming more cramped as we approach Donald Trump's inauguration. Either way, this is one to keep an eye on, as a shorter confirmation process could mean fewer eyes on DeVos's real ethical conflicts.
Attention has also turned starkly towards Mitch McConnell's 2009 demand that Barack Obama's nominees complete their ethics reviews prior to committee hearings, and in Emma Brown's above-linked report on the delayed confirmation, she noted that "McConnell aides have emphasized that the letter was sent after the majority of President Obama’s Cabinet was confirmed." Considering the fact that these standards were met by Obama's nominees by early January, it raises the question of why he bothered to send it in the first place, especially if he didn't believe that his "requirements" should be required of future Republican administrations. As of this moment, hearings are still scheduled to go ahead on Rex Tillerson (State), Ben Carson (Housing and Urban Development), and Wilbur Ross (Commerce) despite their reviews by the Office of Government Ethics being incomplete.
These are small victories, and neither fight is over, but there is now solid evidence that keeping a vigilant eye on this administration and their allies will make a difference.