While activity and controversy have consumed the White House over the past few weeks—the rollout of the health-care bill, President Trump’s claims he was wire-tapped by President Obama, the travel ban’s legal troubles, and the unveiling of the Trump budget—Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has been quietly preparing for his confirmation hearings, which begin on Monday.
The Colorado native and federal judge has been in Washington for weeks, participating in “murder boards” or mock hearings every Friday, as well as studying his case law. “I think this preparation process is pretty typical of most Supreme Court nominees,” said former New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte, who has been working closely with Gorsuch (“8- to 10-hour days”) by facilitating meetings with senators and guiding him through the confirmation process. The White House counsel’s office has been coordinating his official preparation with others, including the Justice Department.
Ayotte says Gorsuch has remained calm and steady throughout the process. His wife Louise will join him in Washington this weekend ahead of Monday’s 11:00 a.m. hearing at the Senate Judiciary committee.
A Typical Republican Budget
One of the signs that President Trump’s first budget request, released on Thursday morning, looks a lot like a typical Republican budget proposal is that liberals and the media have seized on many of the domestic spending cuts as cruel and unusual. Almost immediately after the budget was made public, a storyline emerged that Trump proposed to make big cuts to Meals on Wheels—the well-regarded charity that delivers food to the elderly and infirm.
What the administration actually proposed is a $3 billion cut to the Department of Health and Human Services’s Community Development Block Grants. These are federal grants to states, who can spend the money on several different programs, including Meals on Wheels. According to the national organization’s 2015 annual report, just 3 percent of Meals on Wheels funding came from government grants, while 68 percent came from corporate and foundation grants.
Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Budget and Management, said at Thursday’s White House briefing that CDBG programs have received $150 billion in taxpayer funds since the 1970s but without showing positive results. This is the view of some conservative experts and even the George W. Bush administration. Over at Reason, Scott Shackford explains how abuse and misuse of CDBG money is long-running problem.
The administration appears to be leaning right into criticism of cuts like these with a straightforward defiance. “We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good,” Mulvaney said Thursday. “And Meals on Wheels sounds great—again, that’s a state decision to fund that particular portion…But to take the federal money and give it to the states and say, look, we want to give you money for programs that don’t work—I can’t defend that anymore. We cannot defend that anymore. We’re $20 trillion in debt.”
Spicer Gets Heated Over Wiretapping
The two chairmen of the Senate Intelligence committee announced Thursday that there were “no indications” of surveillance of Trump Tower by the Obama administration, echoing their counterparts in the House earlier this week. When questioned at Thursday’s briefing about President Trump’s claim that Obama had wiretapped him and Trump Tower, press secretary Sean Spicer launched into a 7-minute long monologue citing several news reports that he insinuated backed up the president’s claim.
You can watch the video of Spicer here. The full transcript of his monologue is too long to publish, but the final piece of evidence he cited is worth noting:
It was a dubious claim in the first place, and Spicer’s citation has elevated it. The GCHQ issued a statement responding to Napolitano’s claim: “Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct ‘wiretapping’ against the then president elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”
Visits From Europe
The Trump administration’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day started a day early on Thursday, when Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny met with the president at the White House and also attended several events around Washington with Vice President Pence and House speaker Ryan.
“We love Ireland and love the people of Ireland,” said Trump at the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at the Capitol. Trump said Kenny was his “new friend,” though they might not need to be friends for long—Kenny is likely to resign his post soon over a scandal.
Trump will meet with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington on Friday, rescheduled from Tuesday after the region was affected by a large snowstorm.
Song of the Day
“Hills of Connemara,” Gaelic Storm
