The weather Monday in Washington was windy, rainy, and messy—but those were hardly the conditions inside the West Wing on what the Trump administration was calling its first “working day.” President Trump had an early meeting with CEOs of some of the country’s largest manufacturers, a phone call with the president of Egypt, and signed a few executive orders—all before lunch with Vice President Pence. After a tumultuous post-inaugural weekend, something resembling a normal workday occurred at the White House.
(Normal, that is, until the president reportedly said at a meeting with congressional leaders Monday night that 3 to 5 million illegally cast votes cost him the popular vote—a fantastic charge that’s never been proven. Expect this to dominate the news cycle for the next day or so.)
Spicer Meets the Press
This normal workday began for the senior communications staff with a morning meeting in the office of press secretary Sean Spicer that included White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, director of strategic communications Hope Hicks, and assistant communications director Boris Epshteyn, among others. Conway showed up again for Spicer’s first official press briefing that afternoon, joined by a bevy of communications staff and Omarosa Manigault, who is running communications at the White House’s office of the Public Liaison.
Spicer’s first briefing for the media avoided the controversy of his Saturday evening statement. Dressed in a sharp suit, the 45-year-old press secretary smiled often and took question after question—at one point, making what he seemed to realize was a foolish promise: “I’m going to stay out here as long as you want.” The gathered press let out a collective laugh. (There were still plenty of hands in the air when Spicer left the podium after about an hour and a half.)
The small briefing room was packed full of reporters. One White House press corps veteran told me he had not seen it that full even at the height of the lead-up to the Iraq War in the early George W. Bush administration. Much was made of the fact that Spicer did not call on the Associated Press first, as is tradition, instead calling on the Trump-endorsing New York Post and its Washington bureau chief, my friend and former WEEKLY STANDARD colleague Daniel Halper. But the AP’s White House correspondent Julie Pace eventually got a question, as did many from around the room. If President Trump is going to be overturning Washington traditions and norms, this one’s as good a candidate as any. Here’s a suggestion for the next briefing, Sean: Call on TWS first!
Crowd Size Matters
In truth, I did get a question at the first briefing, a follow-up to one of the big stories of the weekend: Spicer’s claim, backed up by other White House staff, that Trump’s inauguration had the “largest audience.” Spicer and I had a back and forth over syntax after he insisted his claim was meant to include all those seeing the inauguration in person on the National Mall and those watching all over the world on TV and online. Here’s the rest from my report:
Song of the Day
“Shelter From the Storm,” by Bob Dylan
A Bit of Senate Drama
Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo was confirmed by the Senate Monday night as the next CIA director—a vote that Republicans on Capitol Hill and the White House say should have happened last Friday if not for Democratic treachery.
Our editor in chief Steve Hayes had a terrific behind-the-scenes report on what happened late last week. Republicans said Democratic leader Chuck Schumer had promised to allow an Inauguration-Day confirmation vote on Pompeo with a slate of other national-security nominees in exchange for a delay on Pompeo’s Intelligence committee hearing last week, which Schumer had requested. But on Friday, Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden indicated he would seek a delay on Pompeo’s confirmation. That got Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton mad:
The ever-present C-SPAN cameras even caught the confrontation on tape, where you can make out some audible choice words from Cotton. Meanwhile, our reporter Jenna Lifhits found Senate Republicans on Monday were even more willing to call out Schumer for what they saw as a breach of trust in an institution that loves to think of itself as the “world’s greatest deliberative body” and a bastion of comity and honor. “He lied,” Senate Intelligence chairman Richard Burr said of Schumer. “I don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Price Control
In other Trump cabinet news, Tom Price appears in his second confirmation hearing Tuesday. The nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services appeared last week before the Senate’s HELP committee as a courtesy, but the important hearing is before the Senate Finance committee, which will vote on whether to recommend Price to the full Senate for confirmation.
A congressman from Georgia and an orthopedic surgeon, Price is a wonky choice for HHS, but reports last week about his investments in health-care companies—and some votes on policy that could benefit those companies—seemed to offer Democrats a chance to make hay. Price’s defense has been that his investments, which include shares of a medical-device manufacturer and six other health-care companies, were made through mutual funds by his broker without his knowledge.
Democrats pressed Price last week about why the congressman didn’t proactively tell his broker to avoid investments that could have led to conflicts of interest. But our own Chris Deaton actually read the fine print of Price’s investment agreements and concludes things may not be that simple. Here’s a taste of Deaton’s new report:
Be sure to read the whole thing.
Give Me Those Star Wars
Disney’s promotional machine is back in action to boost one of its most valuable franchises. The next installment of Star Wars (yes, we’ll be getting one once a year until the end of time) is due out in theaters December 2017, and the movie now has a name: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. That should give the Weekly Substandard guys plenty of material for the next couple of shows.
