The eruption over Trump’s immigration EO has the nation’s refugee policy, airports and cabinet picks in complete chaos. Connecticut senator and Warren mini-me Chris Murphy called on colleagues Sunday to “force a debate” on the president’s action by “slowing consideration of all of his remaining cabinet nominees.”
It has us wondering if outrage as opportunity was part of the plan all along. If so, it’s a pretty cynical use of people as political pawns, but certainly not unprecedented.
The fiduciary rule was a lock, but then it wasn’t, but then it was. It was so far down the road that stopping it was near-impossible without an act of Congress. Then it seemed more likely to be repealed, prompting Democratic senators to throw some weight and rally the troops, but then stories appeared about fiduciary proponents increasingly demoralized …and on and on.
Now? The president signed (yet another) executive order on Monday, this time to slash regulations. It requires agencies to cut two existing regulations for every new one introduced. We’re about to see how important the fiduciary rule really was to the DOL.
The delay of DOL pick Andy Puzder’s confirmation hearing, for the third time, throws another wrench, and has us thinking he’s the Trump Administration’s sacrificial lamb (although anonymous sources say he’s ready to bail). Every administration has them; Clinton and Zoe Baird, George W and Linda Chavez, Obama and Tom Daschle, among many others.
As The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel noted, Trump was on track for a perfect 8 – 0 run with a strong possibility of getting all his most controversial nominees through (including Betsy DeVos) due to a Democrat lack of discipline, and thus concentration, on one or two specific targets.
That was then, and Murphy’s statement (slip?) seems to have given away the game which, if true, is unfortunate, and would pretty much confirm every worst fear about politics we’ve ever possessed.