Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.
Ignored – House Democrats are in the midst of a post-election leadership expansion designed largely to amplify the voices of lawmakers in the heartland, where voters flocked to Donald Trump and propped up vulnerable Republicans down the ballot. But after a series of votes and appointments during the past few days, the party’s leadership structure remains tilted strongly in favor of the coasts, sparking criticism from Midwestern Democrats who feel their voices are too often ignored. Read more in The Hill.
Valley Goes to the Tower – During the election, Silicon Valley largely shunned the President-elect Trump and all he stood for. Now, the president-elect is summoning leaders of the biggest tech companies to New York for a round-table discussion. Read more in The New York Times.
Not Double Secret Probation – A regional accreditor has placed Baylor University on warning and the University of Louisville on probation for 12 months. Both sanctions typically require the institutions to correct their deficiencies and report back to the accrediting agency on their actions. Read more in The Chronicle.
Dreamer Pressure – President-elect Donald Trump will face bipartisan pressure not to revoke deportation relief for so-called “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them to U.S. as children. To date, more than 740,000 undocumented young people have been approved for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created by the Obama administration in 2012. Trump has vowed to “immediately terminate the program,” but Democrats and some Republicans voiced concern about what might happen to the DACA recipients. Read more in The Wall Street Journal.
Pruitt – Trump’s pick for the EPA is staunchly against almost everything the EPA has done in the last eight years, and dismantling all that work is likely going to be harder than he thought. Read more in Vox.
Messy – There are a host of complicated business entanglements Trump’s family will face when he takes office. For example, Ivanka Trump was in the process of finalizing a deal with Japanese apparel giant Sanei when she sat in on her father’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Read more in The New York Times.
Dead Zone – Thousands of poor Americans are currently excluded from Obamacare because of politics, and it is tough physically and mentally being uninsured. Read more in The New York Times.
Yes, Eliza? – Researchers have recently found that more prisoners had changed their linguistic habits by the time they were released, the more likely they’d stay out of trouble. Read more in the Science of Us.
Capitol Christmas Tree – Ted Bechtol has been the Capitol’s official Christmas tree selector for 12 years, but he’s not in charge of picking one for his own house. Read more in WaPo.