November 15, 2016

Trump Transition Team Tripping Up?

With the euphoria of winning the election dying down, Trump’s transition team begins the arduous task of preparing a candidate that has never held public office for a smooth beginning for his Presidency. Well, that’s the plan on paper at least. After elevating Pence and sidelining Christie last Friday, the transition team seems to have run into a few snags. From delays in signing a standard Memorandum of Understanding with the Obama White House for the transition process, to not releasing a code of ethics, to not beginning the long vetting process for cabinet picks, things are not looking up for them 66 days before inauguration. Bloomberg reports that the purge of Christie was orchestrated by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Chris Christie had prosecuted Kushner’s father as US attorney in 2004. Things seemed so chaotic not even Ben Carson wanted a job in the cabinet, citing his lack of experience. Somehow this didn’t preclude him from running for the Presidency. One thing that went right on Tuesday? House Republicans voted unanimously to keep Paul Ryan on as Speaker.

Since their bruising loss to Trump sparked some deep soul searching, Democrats decided to postpone their vote for House Minority Leader to after Thanksgiving. The post is currently filled by Nancy Pelosi, an establishment Democrat seen as having been close to Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that she didn’t endorse Clinton until after she had secured enough delegates. No one has thrown their name in the ring to challenge Pelosi which can either be read a a sign of some stability among Democrats or a sign of just how few potential leaders they had in waiting.

PNUT READ: Can Anything Good Come From Trump’s Presidency?

Yes, I want to sound marginally more intelligent: