White House Watch: The ‘Cut Cut Cut Act of 2017’?

“I’m also here to pay a debt of gratitude, and to say those two words that the CIA simply doesn’t hear enough: Thank you,” Pence said. “Thank you for the pivotal role each and every one of you plays in keeping our nation safe. You, and the thousands of men and women you direct and work with on a daily basis, are essential to America’s security. You have stood up and stepped forward to serve your country—not as soldiers, but in the shadows—and for that, you have the appreciation of your entire nation.”

The speech can be seen as an olive branch from the White House—or, at the very least, from Pence himself—to the intelligence community, which has had a rocky relationship with President Donald Trump. The president made an early appearance at the CIA during his administration in an attempt to make nice after having publicly criticized the intelligence community during and after the election. Trump has continued to publicly cast doubt on the various intelligence agencies, particularly as most agencies have confirmed some level of meddling by Russia in last year’s presidential election.

But for the past two months, I’m told, Pence has been trying to smooth things over with a series of briefings like Wednesday’s at the CIA. He’s made similar visits to the National Counterterrorism Center (August 24), National Security Agency (September 6), the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (September 13), and the National Reconnaissance Office (September 29). And last week, Pence took a trip to Minot Air Force base in North Dakota to survey the nuclear arsenal there.

The vice president’s interest in intelligence and national security issues is a bit of an expansion of Pence’s role in the Trump administration, which has been publicly defined by his status as a liaison between the White House and Capitol Hill, as well as between Trump and the traditional conservatives of the Republican party.

In Other Intelligence News—Pence’s visit to the Company comes on the same day the CIA has finally released a new tranche of documents recovered from the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound. Be sure to read the analysis of this new trove, which has been kept under lock and key, from WEEKLY STANDARD contributors Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio. Joscelyn and Roggio have also been some of the most important advocates in the release of these documents.

Tax reform day is finally (probably?) here for the GOP, with House tax writers set to release their overhaul bill Thursday morning. That’s a day late, after Republicans delayed the unveiling to hammer out details at the last minute.

Even after months of closed-door deliberations, however, Republicans still seem to be scrambling to figure out just how to pay for their promised tax cuts. President Trump suggested a new strategy Wednesday morning on Twitter: repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back on Trump’s suggestion Wednesday afternoon, saying that while “we’ve never made it a secret that we’d like to repeal and replace Obamacare,” it’s “probably more likely to do something like that in the spring.”

Another thing Republicans apparently can’t agree on: what to name their big tax bill. House speaker Paul Ryan reportedly asked the White House for a suggestion, given Trump’s gift for branding. But Ryan apparently balked at the name Trump sent back: the “Cut Cut Cut Act.”

“If it’s called ‘Cut Cut Cut’ and it includes massive tax cuts like this president is proposing, I think we’d be perfectly fine with that name,” Sanders said.

Ready or not, the bill is coming. The White House wants the House to send it to the Senate by Thanksgiving. But Trump, who is leaving for a 12-day trip to Asia on Friday, won’t be around to see the opening stages.

“Key administration officials, including Secretary Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, will be staying back from the trip to Asia to remain vigilant in making sure the tax cuts pass,” Trump said Wednesday. “So if I have any problems, I will be blaming Mnuchin and Cohn.”

Op-Ed of the Day—Bret Stephens, in the New York Times, on how his Manhattan neighborhood responded to Tuesday’s terrorist attack.

Six days after President Trump declared America’s opioid crisis a “public health emergency,” the White House’s opioids commission on Wednesday released a report calling for broad federal changes to America’s justice and treatment systems.

The commission, which is chaired by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, called for Congress to block-grant federal opioids programs to the states. To access funding for opioids, states must currently navigate a confusing network of grant programs across multiple state agencies.

“There are multiple federal agencies and multiple grants within those agencies that cause states a significant administrative burden from an application and reporting perspective,” the report reads. “Creating uniform block grants would allow more resources to be spent on administering life-saving programs.”

The report also recommends expanding drug courts (which are designed to place drug offenders in treatment facilities rather than prison) nationwide, placing stronger checks on prescriptions to prevent abuse, and easing access to opioid alternatives for people seeking pain medication.

Here’s more from the Washington Post:

Democrat Watch—There’s trouble in Democratic paradise. Mega-donor and environmentalist Tom Steyer is funding a $10 million TV ad campaign calling for the impeachment of President Trump. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, who like Steyer hails from San Francisco, isn’t too happy about it, with Politico reporting she’s “privately peeved” and is urging House members to avoid impeachment talk.

Steyer, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, says “she and the whole political establishment in Washington, D.C., are dead wrong about this.”

Song of the Day—“Expecting” by the White Stripes