News and updates

Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.

New Options – Unhappy with the leading options for Secretary of State, Trump asked former SECDEF Robert Gates what he thought. Gates suggested Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson. Read more in The Washington Post.

Office of “Buy American” – President-elect Donald Trump will create a new office within the White House to oversee trade and industrial policy, a move that will put an emphasis on “Buy America” policies and promote domestic manufacturing. Read more in Politico.

HB2 Failed – North Carolina failed to repeal HB 2, known as the “Bathroom Bill”. The law has caused massive impacts to the state as national organizations with drew support by moving massive sporting events or deciding not to relocate in the state. It was a major reason the Governor was not reelected. The North Carolina Legislature, in a closed session, was supposed to repeal the law this week…and failed to do so. Read more in The Atlantic. 

NSEERS No More – The Department of Homeland Security will take apart the vestiges of a controversial and unused since 2011 program that was used to register and track visitors from Muslim-majority countries. The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) had two parts, and applied only to people from 25 countries named by DHS. Twenty-four of them were Muslim-majority countries. The program required registration by men ages 16 and up living in the U.S. to report regularly to immigration officials. The other half was an entry and exit tracking system, which limited the airports, seaports, and land borders that registrants could use to travel, and required them to register before leaving and after arriving. Read more in The Atlantic. 

Two for One – President-elect Trump has promised a 2 for 1 repeal on regulations, meaning for everyone regulation or order issued two will be repealed. Read more in The Hill.

Push and Pull – State support of climate and environment policy has surged as the incoming Trump Administration signals an about-face from eight years of policies designed to reduce climate-altering emissions and address the effects of a warming planet. Read more in The New York Times. 

Good for Business – Donald Trump’s November victory has been a boom for liberal news outlets, which are getting big business from voters shocked by the billionaire’s surprise win over Hillary Clinton. Read more in The Hill. 

Drilled Out – President Obama announced a ban on the outer continental shelf in the Arctic and the Atlantic, which likely can’t be undone. Read more in Vox.

Tax Reform – President-elect Trump and congressional Republicans next year hope to undertake the first overhaul of the tax code in more than 30 years. The Hill has a series of questions on how that will happen. 

First War on Christmas – In the 1920s and 1930s, committed Nazi propagandists worked to “Nazify” Christmas. Redefining familiar traditions and designing new symbols and rituals, they hoped to channel the main tenets of National Socialism through the popular holiday. Read more in Smithsonian.

Art & Science – High-tech techniques are being used to restore the Ghent Altarpiece. Read more in the New York Times. 

Here’s a selection of articles Federal Relations is reading this week.

Unusuals – In the wake of the election, speculation had focused on whether President-elect Trump’s personnel choices would be drawn from the GOP establishment or from people antagonistic toward it. While his picks are not anti-establishment in any real sense, it’s also hard to imagine many of them being nominated for similar positions by Mitt Romney or John McCain, had they won the White House. Read more in The Hill. 

Increased Scrutiny –  Cabinet picks may face extra-tough vetting from the Senate. People involved with the transition process have said that Cabinet picks have been named without an extensive review of their background and in many cases, Trump has announced candidates without requiring a review of extensive paperwork about their background and financial records, including tax returns. Read more in The Wall Street Journal. 

Overtime On Schedule – Despite court challenges and delays, most colleges and universities have gone ahead with the Department of Labor’s Overtime regulations. Read more in The Chronicle. 

Hacked – Russian-sponsored cyber operatives DNC computers during the election. One of the most eyebrow-raising disclosures is that a Hillary Clinton campaign information technology staffer said an email he sent to John Podesta warning him about a phishing message called it “legitimate” because of a typo; he said he meant to call it “illegitimate.” Read more in The New York Times. 

High Debt – A persistent racial wealth gap, waning investment in higher education and limited institutional resources are driving up the rate of borrowing at historically black colleges and universities, with 4 out of 5 undergraduates relying on student loans to finance their education, according to a new study from the United Negro College Fund. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Defense on Defense – President-elect Trump’s criticism of projects from Lockheed Martin and Boeing has put contractors on notice, suggesting that the incoming administration intends to put a new emphasis on cost cutting at the Pentagon. Read more in The Hill. 

21st Century Cures a View from NIH from The New England Journal of Medicine.

Footprints – Around 3.6 million years ago, a pair of Australopithecus afarensis — a species of ancient ancestor made famous by the fossil Lucy — were walking through wet mud in Laetoli, Tanzania. This was likely just an ordinary day, but then something extraordinary happened: A nearby volcano erupted, covering their freshly made footprints in ash, preserving their shape, and locking this moment in time. The footprints, recently discovered by archaeologists, not only give us a glimpse into how these creatures walked but also, amazingly, give us some clues about how they behaved. Read more in Vox.