It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.
A stack of Kuwait Times newspapers with a picture from Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony. Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images
It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.
TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ACTIONS SO FAR
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
The second Trump administration began with a hefty Day 1, rolling out dozens of executive actions.
It is a blizzard of decrees, which we read through overnight.
A few are operation matters. Trump made his nominee list official, organized his National Security Council, and allowed his chief counsel to give temporary clearances to a list of people.
Most of these are aimed at direct changes in the policy and operations of the United States. One of the largest executive orders rescinds a whopping 78 Biden policies.
Several are expected to draw quick court challenges. And many do not provide details for how these will be administered. But Trump is quickly acting to set up his agenda.
As a reminder: There are different kinds of actions a president can take, including executive orders, proclamations and memorandums. Here’s a quick refresher before we get started.
A series of changes to secure the border: constructing more barriers, relaunching “Remain in Mexico,” ending use of the CBP One app for asylum seekers and others, ending parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezualans
Ordered Homeland Security to set up more detention facilities for migrants and establish “Homeland Security Task Forces” in every state to focus on gangs, cartels, and trafficking of drugs and migrants
Pardons and commutations granted for nearly every Jan.6 defendant, including most of those convicted of harming police officers. Directs the attorney general to dismiss all pending indictments
The U.S. Senate continues with its confirmation hearings this week.
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital
By Erica R. Hendry
Senior Managing Editor, Digital
Hours after President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural address, the Senate unanimously confirmed the first of his Cabinet nominees: Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
In his first remarks as the nation’s new top diplomat Tuesday, Rubio said Trump’s foreign policy goals are “centered on one thing, and that is the advancement of our national interest.”
While Trump makes his first moves, issuing a flurry of executive orders, the Republican-controlled Senate will continue to question the president’s Cabinet picks.
Here’s a look at some of the major hearings so far this week and what’s ahead.
Elise Stefanik, nominee for ambassador to the United Nations
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Stefanik, a loyal Trump ally and the chair of the House Republican Conference, has called for a “complete reassessment” of the U.S. funding for the U.N. She focused on that mission during her time with senators Tuesday.
“The purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations based on the shared respect for the principle of equal rights, solve international problems and harmonize the actions of nations in the attainment of common ends,” Stefanik said. “The U.N. has not lived up to this founding mission, and we must demand better.”
On fighting China’s influence. Stefanik said the U.S. should work to strengthen its relationships with partners and allies “to ensure that [China] is not able to make inroads at the most senior levels of these technical organizations, and of agencies across the U.N. writ large.”
On efforts to defund U.N. Palestinian relief agency, or UNRWA. Stefanik said that she “fully supports” the U.S. ending funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, the largest humanitarian aid organization in Gaza. Israel accused the organization of employing members of Hamas. A number of countries paused funding to the organization as a result. President Joe Biden signed a military funding bill last year that barred funding the agency for one year. UNRWA announced in August that it had fired nine employees who had potential involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Stefanik said the U.S. “should never tolerate any U.S. taxpayer funds going towards terrorism.”
On the question of Israeli and Palestinian rights. Stefanik said that while Palestinian people deserve human rights, Israel has a biblical right to the West Bank. She did not answer whether the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination.
Watch the clip in the player above.
"I think it's a disgrace that Hamas and Hezbollah have stripped human rights of the Palestinian people and we need to ensure that we are standing up for human rights and that Israel is standing up for human rights," Stefanik said.
Doug Collins, nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Collins, a one-time Congressman from Georgia and a colonel and chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, showed his dog tags in his opening remarks Tuesday. He said, if confirmed, “the VA will be my mission,” ensuring that his fellow veterans would get the care they need.
Access to care and benefits was a major concern for senators on both sides of the aisle, whether it was supporting members of the military in their transitions to civilian life or abortion access for women veterans. And when it came to veterans benefits, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, was more blunt. He warned Collins against using artificial intelligence to determine the benefits veterans have earned.
(Collins didn’t want to take AI completely “off the table.”)
A hiring freeze of federal workers. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was worried that this executive action from Trump could be interpreted to affect all kinds of workers — doctors, nurses, crisis line workers among them — who don’t disperse benefits to veterans but provide crucial care.
“No one on the veteran health care side is gonna miss their health care provider because of this new hiring freeze,” Collins assured the senator. “The president is doing a prudent step as he comes into office to make sure we have a good handle on what we got and going forward.”
Watch the clip in the player above.
Concerns about reducing staff bubbled up in the hearing because senators wanted to make sure veterans benefits weren’t greatly affected. Trump announced a new Department of Government Efficiency, which now has a government website.
The VA, “frankly, is a target-rich environment for cost-cutters,” Blumenthal said.
Hannah Grabenstein, general assignment reporter, digital, and Molly Finnegan, deputy managing editor, contributed reporting.
Read: What Americans think about Hegseth, Rubio, Musk and RFK Jr., some of Trump’s most controversial picks.
Mark Your Calendars: Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks continue. Here’s the full schedule.
THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION
By Erica R. Hendry
Senior Managing Editor, Digital
Cabinet nominees face a tough confirmation process. But the vast majority win approval from the Senate and go on to serve in their positions.
At least a dozen nominees have withdrawn from the process in the last 25 years, including one in this administration, but it’s relatively rare for a nominee to be outright rejected by the Senate. Only nine nominees have met this fate.
Our question: Under which president was a Cabinet nominee last rejected by the Senate?
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
Last week, we asked: How many Cabinet officials were approved by the Senate on Jan. 20, 2017, the first day of Trump’s first term?
The answer: Two. That would be John Kelly for homeland security secretary and Jim Mattis for defense secretary.
Congratulations to our winners: Dave Pasley and Bob Schmid!
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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