President Trump has succeeded in picking the most conservative Cabinet of the modern era, and possibly ever, even besting the team put together by former President Reagan, according to a scorecard from the American Conservative Union, host of the annual CPAC convention.
ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp told Secrets that Trump’s team, made up in part with House and Senate lawmakers graded by the group over the years, has a 91.52 percent conservative rating, significantly surpassing Reagan’s by 28 points.
Only the Cabinet of former President George H.W. Bush, who was Reagan’s vice president and followed the Gipper into the Oval Office, came close with a 78.15 conservative rating.
“By our ranking of the members of Congress in the Cabinet, this is the most conservative Cabinet of any Republican including Reagan,” Schlapp said.
“The set up is nice,” added Schlapp, currently preparing for the Feb. 22-25 annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which could be the biggest ever.
Proud to welcome our friend the @vp back to @cpac. 99% ACU lifetime rating. Register here: https://t.co/8JxZVPUuim. pic.twitter.com/kZjjUoyoAL
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 7, 2017
Liberals have mocked the rightward tilt of Trump’s team, but conservatives are cheering it and expect it to keep the president on the course to limited government, reduced regulations, smaller taxes and a stronger military.
The ACU ratings, 0-100, are based on the average of the grades given to lawmakers in the Cabinet. Some Cabinets, like both of the Bushes, had many lawmakers. The total numbers are higher for some because longer presidencies saw Cabinet secretaries resign and be replaced. Those details are below:
— Trump, five of 21 picks were in Congress, average lifetime ACU rating of 91.52 percent.
— George H.W. Bush, 10 of 30, rating of 78.15 percent.
— George W. Bush, 10 of 48, rating of 76.40 percent.
— Gerald Ford, 2 of 32, 70.5 percent.
— Reagan, 7 of 46, 63.43 percent.
— Richard Nixon, 2 of 43, 58.5 percent.
— Barack Obama, 9 of 47, 23.96 percent.
— Bill Clinton, 9 of 44, 18.62 percent.
— Jimmy Carter, 4 of 30, 5.31 percent.
— Lyndon Johnson, 1 of 26, 4.12 percent.
Trump has named five lawmakers to his Cabinet. Vice President Mike Pence has a ACU lifetime rating is 99.43 for his years in the House. The others:
— Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, confirmed to be Attorney General, 94.21 percent lifetime rating.
— Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, for Interior, 71 lifetime rating.
— Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, for HHS, 96 lifetime rating.
— Former Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, director National Intelligence, 89.5 lifetime rating.
— Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, confirmed for CIA, 96.8 lifetime rating.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
