— Compiled by Jesús Espinoza, Deputy Press Secretary, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
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TNI – The Independent Poll: Sandoval popular, voters mixed on Heller, Laxalt – Nevada voters applaud Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s performance, but a new poll taken for The Nevada Independent shows other major state political figures like U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Attorney General Adam Laxalt getting less sterling reviews. Newly elected U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is also receiving relatively partisan reactions to her performance in office thus far, with 30 percent viewing her performance as positive and 34 percent negative. Thirty-six percent said they didn’t know or weren’t sure of the Democratic senator’s performance thus far. Support for Cortez Masto’s performance broke down largely along party lines — 53 percent of Democrats viewed her performance as positive compared with 16 percent negative, while only 11 percent of Republicans had a positive opinion of her performance and 51 percent held a negative view. She fared much better among women than men, with 37 percent of women holding a positive view of her compared with 23 percent of men who said the same. She also fared well among younger voters as well as Hispanic and non-white voters. LINK TNI – Latino community members crave public policy news in Spanish – Cristi Del Cid owns a candy store in Las Vegas and has lived in the city for 21 years. Karime Canales, an independent esthetician, has been in Southern Nevada for 16 years. Alvaro Gomez, a banquet server, has been in the state for 30 years. They all have something in common: In all their time in the state, none has ever interacted with an elected official and none know much about the legislative process. The Nevada Independent (TNI) aims to change that for them and for all of the Latino community, especially those not proficient in English. We will produce Spanish-language content and make the often-inaccessible capital happenings more understandable for those far removed from the proceedings. “It is symbolically very important, the presence of the first Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, of the state of Nevada,” said Miguel Tinker Salas, a political analyst and professor of Latin American History and Chicano and Latino Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. “Breaking that barrier that had existed, of not having any Latino person in the Senate. Also, the presence of so many Latinos in the Congress, in the Assembly, increases the voice and projection of the community.” LINK RJ – Heller named chairman of a Senate Banking subcommittee – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller was named chairman of the Senate Banking subcommittee on securities Tuesday, which will also include U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, both of Nevada. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee announced assignments for the 115th Congress. Heller, a Republican, said he would use the chairmanship to “promote economic policies that will spur economic growth and job creation in Nevada.” Meanwhile, Democrats said Cortez Masto would serve on subcommittees that oversee securities, as well as the panel for consumer protection. Cortez Masto said the assignments would allow her to “be more intimately involved on issues that will make a difference for Nevada’s working families.” LINK RGJ – Our view: Lessons learned from Harry Reid – Harry Reid’s long, colorful career in politics offers lessons for the person stepping into his shoes: Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada’s first female senator and America’s first Latina senator. 1) Find your passion: In Cortez Masto’s first media interview after getting elected, the Democrat told RGJ political reporter Seth Richardson in November she was still deciding what policies and bills to pursue. Now is a perfect time to figure out what to focus on. 2) Words have power: When in the public eye, every utterance is potential grist for negative campaign ads or opponents’ fundraising mailers. Reid supplied his critics with numerous awkward, regretful or painfully honest utterances over his approximately 50 years in public service. 3) Be yourself: Reid did not care for the glitz of Washington life so he did not attend many parties, preferring to stay home with family or have dinner with a few friends. 4) Keep Nevada top of mind: Being a Senate leader put Reid in the middle of many national and international controversies. But he never kept fighting for Nevada. 5) Be careful about being partisan: Partisanship was Reid’s Achilles heel — or one of his best assets, depending on one’s view. When the RGJ Editorial Board asked him about his part in Washington partisanship, he claimed to play no role — then, after a pause, added “Except when I had to.” Cortez Masto is in the minority party in the Senate and has no seniority. Being a pitbull like Reid tends to work only when you have the power to back it up. Now is the time for her to work well with others, find her passions and fight for Nevada. LINK RJ – Trump’s pick to head Interior vows to review Gold Butte designation – Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Interior Department, told a Senate hearing Tuesday he would review a recent controversial presidential declaration to create national monuments in Nevada and Utah. But Zinke pledged to visit Nevada and speak with officials in the Silver State before making a recommendation on whether the incoming administration should try to rescind President Barack Obama’s declaration to designate the Gold Butte region, and Bears Ears in Utah, as monuments. “Before I make a recommendation to the president, I’m going to talk to you,” Zinke said under questioning by U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. Obama used the Antiquities Act of 1906 on Dec. 28 to create the Gold Butte National Monument on 300,000 acres southeast of Las Vegas. In 2015, Obama created the Basin and Range National Monument on 704,000 acres in remote Lincoln and Nye counties. “The vast majority of Nevadans support these designations,” Cortez Masto told Zinke during a confirmation hearing by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Republicans on the committee, however, pressed Zinke to push for a rollback of Obama executive orders and presidential actions on federal lands. In Nevada, Cortez Masto said the federal government oversees 85 percent of the land. LINK KOH – Congressman Mark Amodei on His New Senate Colleagues – Congressman Mark Amodei says he is in a similar situation to “the last of the Mohicans” since his former GOP Nevada delegation colleagues were replaced by Democrats and the election of Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in the upper chamber. LINK KOH – Caller Stating the Consequences of Joe Heck’s Disavow of Donald Trump – A caller angrily states that Joe Heck’s disavowing of Donald Trump led to his defeat and the victory of Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. LINK El Sol de Nevada – We Are Here to Stay Univisión Las Vegas – The Negative Effects of ACA Repeal on Local Community, with Commentary from Rey Benítez Mental_Floss – 9 Things You Might Not Know About Catherine Cortez Masto – When Catherine Cortez Masto was sworn in to Congress on January 3, she became the first Latina senator. A Democrat, the two-term former Nevada Attorney General assumed the seat previously held by outgoing minority leader Harry Reid. Read on for nine facts about this dedicated freshman senator. Reflecting on her family’s journey from an immigrant grandfather with a grade-school education to a father who became an important figure in Nevada’s political and business community, Cortez Masto told Mother Jones, “That, to me, is the American Dream.” She and her sister became the first in their family to graduate from college. In an interview with Fusion, Cortez Masto said, “Can you imagine my grandfather if he were alive today and saw his granddaughter who was the attorney general for eight years in the state now running to be the first Latina ever elected to the United States Senate? That’s incredible.” Cortez Masto grew up in Las Vegas, watching her parents and grandparents work hard. “Wow, my grandmother was tough,” she told Latina Magazine of her father’s mother, Mary. “You couldn’t put anything past her. She was a sales clerk and went home to work just as hard. I realized the work ethic, and I knew I had to work hard because of her.” Cortez Masto’s own mother was a bookkeeper, while her father, as previously noted, worked his way up from parking attendant to county commissioner. Cortez Masto told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2005, “Obviously, he’s always been a role model.” Cortez Masto attended the University of Nevada, Reno, graduating with a bachelor’s in science in 1986, then went on to law school at Gonzaga University in Washington state. She moved back to Nevada, passing the bar exam in 1990 and spending a year clerking for Judge Michael J. Wendell. The judge, who had been on the bench for two decades, also served as a role model for Cortez Masto: “He had great judicial temperament,” she told the Gazette-Journal. “I just learned from him how to be an attorney … how to deal with people.” She took her first step into politics in 1995, joining the staff of Nevada’s then-governor, Democrat Bob Miller. She was familiar with Democratic politicians: Her father had been a Democrat during his time as county commissioner and he brought prominent Democrats into his family’s life. “Gov. [Mike] O’Callaghan was larger than life and had a big impact on my family,” she told the Gazette-Journal. “My father went to school, and went into the Army with Congressman [Jim] Bilbray. Sen. [Richard] Bryan went to school with my parents.” Cortez Masto found herself thriving in the political environment, and became Miller’s chief of staff in 1998. While serving as chief of staff for Miller in the late 1990s, Cortez Masto was given the assignment of coordinating the logistics of President Bill Clinton’s visit to Las Vegas. The point person on the president’s side was Paul Masto, a Secret Service agent. She later recalled, “He asked me out on a date and he said, ‘Like a good attorney, I asked you out for dinner and you negotiated for lunch.’” With the support of her parents and Nevada Democratic leaders like Harry Reid, she resigned from her job with the county and began campaigning to become the Silver State’s top prosecutor. “There was never any [political] position I was interested in other than being attorney general,” Cortez Masto told the Gazette-Journal. She had been watching Nevada deal with a methamphetamine crisis, widespread domestic violence, and prevalent elder abuse. She told Remezcla, “For me, those are areas—particularly when it comes to domestic violence prevention and sexual assault—that I had worked in before. I thought it was time to step up and take a leadership role and steer the ship to bring attention to those issues and find solutions to the problems. That’s when I decided to run for Attorney General for the first time in 2006.” She went on to serve two consecutive terms, the limit under Nevada law. Cortez Masto had watched her own grandparents “become targets of fraud,” an experience she told Gonzaga University’s law blog was “heartbreaking.” As a result, she said, “Elder protection became my first priority as Attorney General.” Cortez Masto responded to attacks against her Spanish fluency, telling Politico: “It’s a criticism for me and other Mexican-Americans. It is an attack on all of us who come here and have worked hard in Nevada to make it home.” Cortez Masto does not speak Spanish fluently, though she can often understand it. Her mother’s family is Italian by heritage, while her father was a second-generation Mexican immigrant who only occasionally spoke to her in Spanish. Cortez Masto noted to Latina Magazine that when her father and his parents moved to Las Vegas in the 1940s, there were very few Hispanic families in the area. “[I]t was about being more American for them,” she said, “that is why my generation doesn’t speak as much Spanish. During that time, it was about assimilating.” Cortez Masto identifies significantly with her Mexican heritage, and she argues that it makes her better able to represent a state whose population is 28% Hispanic. She told Remezcla, “I’ve always felt, particularly as the Attorney General of the state, that the people that served in my office should be just as diverse as the community we are representing. I think that should be true of Congress.” She also argues that, as someone with a different background than most people in Congress, she brings “a different perspective” and promises to focus, in particular, on passing comprehensive immigration reform and advocating for Dreamers (undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children). “We’re working on a future for everyone,” she told Remezcla, “and we’re bringing families out of the shadows.” LINK Austin American-Statesman – John Young: No shiny shoes at this inaugural ball – Looking around the ballroom, the first thing you notice is the lack of regalia — no tuxes, no flowing gowns, no shiny footwear, no clinking jewels. Nor should there be, for this is the Inaugural Consolation Ball for the people of Not Trump Nation. Some observers are saying that this was one of those historic, old-fashioned GOP political routs. Not true. The Democrats claimed two additional seats in the U.S. Senate — meaning Republicans were actual net losers. The Dems added House seats. The GOP also could not prevent the Congressional Black Caucus from growing to its greatest number ever: 49. (And let’s say that, based on Trump’s sandbox blast at civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis, this is not the beginning of a beautiful friendship.) Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, who held on to Harry Reid’s Senate seat for the Democrats, became the first Latina senator and boosted the ranks of Latino lawmakers in Congress to 38. LINK The Bi-College News – A Glimmer of Hope in the 2016 Election – It’s hard to deny that Wednesday, Nov. 9 was a memorable day. And now that almost a month has passed, the decisions made have already begun to build a foundation for the future of the United States. Kamala Harris is the first black politician to represent California in the Senate, and the second black woman ever elected to the chamber. In Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto became the first Latina ever elected to the Senate. The first Indian-American woman elected to Congress, Pramila Jayapal, won over Seattle’s seventh Congressional District in Washington. An immigrant, founder of advocacy group OneAmerica, and Washington State senator, Jayapal has been praised for her resilient progressivism. LINK Yahoo! News – Nevada expert Jon Ralston on his plan to reinvent local news and why the Silver State swung blue – Jon Ralston found himself in an odd position among political pundits on Nov. 8: He was one of the few who got his part right. In the days before the election, the longtime Nevada journalist and commentator all but called the crucial swing state for Democrat Hillary Clinton based on early voting numbers. And despite Donald Trump’s shocking national victory on Election Day, the prediction proved correct: Nevada remained virtually the only positive sign for Democrats, swinging Clinton’s way and delivering a new Democrat to the Senate, Catherine Cortez Masto, to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. LINK Lexology – House and Senate Financial Services Lawmakers Kick-Off the 115th Congress; Regulators Tackle Debt Collection, Insurance, and FinTech – With the new Congress officially under way, both the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees have announced new Committee members. Joining Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) on the Senate Banking Committee are fellow Republican Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Kennedy (R-LA). On the Democrat side, Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will join Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) as new additions to the Committee. LINK Also Published In: The Nevada Independent (TNI) – Sandoval proposes pot tax to help balance $8.1 billion budget – Gov. Brian Sandoval painted a hopeful picture of a recovering Nevada during his State of the State address on Tuesday, saying dreams of a diversified economy are starting to materialize and proposing a two-year budget that’s 10 percent larger than the one before it. Following a slick video that touted Nevada’s climb from financial ruin, he unveiled an $8.1 billion spending plan that includes more money for higher education, funding to restart the suspended Education Savings Accounts program and a raise for state employees. Even the 10 percent excise tax he proposed on sales of recreational marijuana has an educational bent and will funnel $70 million into the state’s main public education account. “My vision for our state is to put all Nevadans, regardless of age or circumstance, on a career pathway toward success,” he said. LINK Also Published In: RJ – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval gives final State of the State address RJ – Sandoval to add 10% tax on retail marijuana to help pay for programs in $8.1B budget Las Vegas Sun – Sandoval announces new marijuana tax, seeks $60 million for school vouchers KUNR – Sandoval Proposes $8.1 Billion Budget, Including School Voucher Funds KLAS – Gov. Sandoval’s State of the State address calls for $8.1 billion budget Elko Daily Free Press – Nevada governor wants 10 percent tax on retail pot sales NYT – Voice of Politics in Nevada Media Starts a News Website – Jon Ralston will set off on his own with The Nevada Independent, a nonprofit, donation-based news website that he hopes will add more journalistic heft to the coverage of state politics. TNI – Sandoval aims to revive ESAs – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval plans to inject $60 million in funding to restart the state’s controversial Educational Savings Account program, a quasi-voucher school choice program that has inflamed education advocates and promises to become one of the biggest battles of the 2017 Legislature. Sandoval made the announcement during his State of the State address Tuesday, saying he planned to allocate the money as part of his proposed $8.1 billion two-year budget. “We’ve heard from thousands of Nevada families about how crucial it is that we give them freedom of choice in the education of their children,” he said. “I look forward to building a bipartisan solution to get this done.” LINK Also Published In: RJ – Nevada lawmakers agree on education funding, not ESAs RJ – Sandoval makes $60M pledge to ESA program for ‘generations to come’ Las Vegas Sun – Democrats to Sandoval: School voucher program is ‘wrong priority’ TNI – The Independent Poll: Voters divided over ESAs, support more money for education – Nevada voters are split on support for a controversial quasi-school voucher program that promises to become a major sticking point between Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and legislative Democratic leaders. Nevada voters polled were split on whether they agreed with supporters (43 percent) or opponents (45 percent) of the program, with voters largely split along party lines. Sixty-eight percent of self-identified Democrats agreed with opponents of the program with 28 percent agreeing with supporters, while Republicans agreed with supporters by a 54 to 34 percent margin. Independents agreed with supporters by a 10-point margin (48 to 38 percent), though self-described moderates agreed with opponents by a 44 percent to 40 percent margin. Only 8 percent of voters believed Nevada schools had improved in quality over the last two years, with 36 percent saying they had stayed the same and 38 percent saying they declined in quality. LINK TNI – From inception to action: A history of the school reorganization effort – Grow, grow, grow. That’s what Clark County did really well starting in the 1990s. Glittering casinos sprouted on the Las Vegas Strip, each more inventive than the last. Cookie-cutter stucco houses multiplied in the desert, and retail centers sprang up to serve all the new residents. What some hail as that long-awaited transformation is now underway, as the school district reorganizes to shift more decision-making autonomy to each school. But political maneuvering to make it happen has irked both school trustees and community members who say the process has been far from conventional. The plan’s critics point to a powerful interim legislative committee that charted the destiny of the reorganization effort and recently green-lighted a no-bid contract for a consultant to evaluate the district whose previous experience was in transportation and economic development. LINK RJ – State of the State addresses weighted formula needed for CCSD overhaul – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget proposal partially addresses the weighted student funding formula that the Clark County School District sees as critical to its reorganization efforts. Sandoval’s proposal will eventually establish a designated per-pupil amount — or weight — for gifted and talented students, one of four categories designated under a new formula that the state is working to adopt. The weighted formula also will include more per-pupil amounts to students in special education, classified as English language learners or those who receive free and reduced lunch. His proposal does increase the current special education weight by $30 million, providing a total $183 million in 2018 and $199 million in 2019. LINK RJ – Proposed budget signals $115M in new investment for Nevada higher education – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, in his Tuesday night State of the State address, referred to the $115 million in new investment for the Nevada System of Higher Education as “strategic.” Sandoval’s proposed budget would give UNLV the bulk of the money — $37.4 million — directed toward increasing student enrollment as the state prepares for a growing population and economy. The University of Nevada, Reno would receive $21.3 million for this purpose, and $21.4 million would be directed toward the state’s four community colleges for career and technical education. LINK RJ – Late haul puts Sisolak’s campaign war chest at $3.8M – Clark County Commission chairman Steve Sisolak raked in $319,000 in late campaign donations, according to the campaign finance report filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office on Tuesday. Most of that total — about $270,000 — came between Nov. 4 and Nov. 8, the final five days of the campaign. The Fidelity National family of companies gave Sisolak a total of $61,600. Bill Foley, chairman of Fidelity National and owner of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, gave another $10,000. Sisolak spent about $79,500 in the same filing period of Nov. 4 to Dec. 31, netting about $240,000 towards his growing campaign war chest. And that coffer is sitting at roughly $3.8 million going forward, according to campaign finance reports going back to 2011. State law allows candidates to carry over unspent funds from previous election cycles into future campaigns. By contrast, Gov. Brian Sandoval spent roughly $3.5 million of campaign money in 2014 during his bid for re-election and $4.3 million in the more hotly contested 2010 race. Sisolak was first elected to the county commission in 2008 and won re-election in 2012 and 2016. LINK RJ – Interior secretary nominee Zinke to be quizzed on public lands, coal – Zinke’s position on public lands came under fire after he voted in favor of a measure from House Republicans that would allow federal land transfers to be considered cost-free and budget-neutral, making it easier for drilling and development. Zinke “says he’s against transfer of federal lands, but there’s a big gap between what he says and what he does in that regard,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest environmental group. “You’d think the congressman would be on his best behavior going into a job interview, but instead he’s taking steps to once again jeopardize the future of Montana’s outdoor economy,” Nancy Keenan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said after the Jan. 3 vote. Zinke’s spokeswoman said the congressman maintains his position against the sale or transfer of federal lands. Supporters calls the dispute overblown and say Zinke’s vote was on a much larger package that sets House rules in the new Congress. LINK RJ – Heller named chairman of a Senate Banking subcommittee – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller was named chairman of the Senate Banking subcommittee on securities Tuesday, which will also include U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, both of Nevada. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee announced assignments for the 115th Congress. Heller, a Republican, said he would use the chairmanship to “promote economic policies that will spur economic growth and job creation in Nevada.” Meanwhile, Democrats said Cortez Masto would serve on subcommittees that oversee securities, as well as the panel for consumer protection. Cortez Masto said the assignments would allow her to “be more intimately involved on issues that will make a difference for Nevada’s working families.” LINK RJ – Trump’s pick to head Interior vows to review Gold Butte designation – Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Interior Department, told a Senate hearing Tuesday he would review a recent controversial presidential declaration to create national monuments in Nevada and Utah. But Zinke pledged to visit Nevada and speak with officials in the Silver State before making a recommendation on whether the incoming administration should try to rescind President Barack Obama’s declaration to designate the Gold Butte region, and Bears Ears in Utah, as monuments. “Before I make a recommendation to the president, I’m going to talk to you,” Zinke said under questioning by U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. LINK RJ – Poll shows young Americans wary, scared about the next four years – As Donald Trump approaches his inauguration, young Americans have a deeply pessimistic view about his incoming administration, with young blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans particularly concerned about what’s to come in the next four years. That’s according to a new GenForward poll of Americans aged 18 to 30, which found that the country’s young adults are more likely to expect they’ll be worse off at the end of Trump’s first term than better off. Such young Americans are also far more likely to think Trump will divide the country than unite it, by a 60 percent to 19 percent margin. Fifty-two percent of young whites, 72 percent of Latinos, 66 percent of Asian-Americans and 70 percent of blacks think Trump’s presidency will lead to a more divided nation. “Minority people are very afraid of all the rhetoric that he ran upon (in) his campaign,” said Jada Selma, a 28-year-old African-American graduate school student living in Atlanta. “Anytime he mentioned black people, he would talk about poor people or inner city. He would think that all of us live in the inner city and that we’re all poor.” “If you’re not a straight white male, than I don’t think he’s looking out for you as an American,” she said. LINK KLAS – The Boxer: Harry Reid’s contentious career – The 8 News Now I-Team had the opportunity to spend time with Senator Harry Reid during his final days in office in Washington, D.C. On Sunday, Jan. 22 at 10 p.m., KLAS-TV will air a one-hour special, “The Boxer: Harry Reid’s contentious career”. The special looks at the effectiveness and polarizing nature of his career. It uses KLAS-TV’s unparalleled access to 45 years of stories and interviews on and about Reid to weave through his history. LINK El Tiempo Las Vegas – Groups Demonstrate in Favor of Immigrants in Los Angeles and Other Cities El Sol de Nevada – Trump’s Term Nears and with It, Uncertainty for Immigrants El Sol de Nevada – Here to Stay Telemundo Noticias – Consulates of Mexico and Central American Countries Will Protect Immigrants Fox News Latino – Official: Puerto Rico govt could collapse if no steps taken NYT – Obama Commutes Sentence of F.A.L.N. Member Oscar Lopez Rivera – President Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a man convicted for his role in a Puerto Rican nationalist group linked to more than 100 bombings in New York and other cities in the 1970s and 1980s. The man, Oscar Lopez Rivera, was serving a 70-year sentence after being convicted of numerous charges, including seditious conspiracy, a charge used for those plotting to overthrow the United States government. He was linked to the radical group known as the F.A.L.N., the Spanish acronym for the Armed Forces of National Liberation, and was one of more than a dozen group members convicted in the 1980s. Under Mr. Obama’s commutation order, Mr. Lopez Rivera’s prison sentence will expire May 17. It was one of 209 grants of commutation by the president announced Tuesday. The F.A.L.N., which waged a violent campaign for the independence of Puerto Rico, was considered by the authorities to be among the most elusive and resilient terrorist groups to operate in the United States. Among its notable attacks was a bombing at Fraunces Tavern in New York in 1975 that killed four people. LINK NYT – Chelsea Manning to Be Released Early as Obama Commutes Sentence – President Obama on Tuesday commuted all but four months of the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst convicted of a 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world, disrupted Mr. Obama’s administration and brought global prominence to WikiLeaks, the recipient of those disclosures. The decision by Mr. Obama rescued Ms. Manning, who twice tried to kill herself last year, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the men’s military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She has been jailed for nearly seven years, and her 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction. At the same time that Mr. Obama commuted the sentence of Ms. Manning, a low-ranking enlisted soldier at the time of her leaks, he also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to F.B.I. agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program. LINK WSJ – Dollar Tumbles on Trump Comments – The dollar tumbled to its lowest level in a month after Donald Trump suggested to The Wall Street Journal he favored a weaker dollar, breaking with decades of tradition and intensifying investor concern over the incoming administration’s capacity to surprise. The president-elect in an interview published Monday described the dollar as “too strong. ” He dismissed a major tax proposal that would favor U.S. exports over imports— known as a border adjustment—that was expected to further boost the dollar, as “too complicated.” LINK WaPo – Pressure mounts on GOP for post-Obamacare plan following CBO report – A new analysis that at least 18 million people could lose health insurance in the first year if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without replacing it intensified the battle this week over the landmark health-care law as President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans try to figure out how to dismantle it. Democrats seized on the report, issued Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, to discredit Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare and rally Americans who are insured under the program. The report underscored the political peril that Trump faces in trying to meet one of his top campaign promises — and also the discord among Republicans about how to do it. The political and public-relations battle over the ACA is now at full speed, with Democrats holding rallies across the country and inviting Americans to Capitol Hill to describe how their lives were improved or even saved by the law. Republicans, meanwhile, accused Democrats of distorting the truth about the much-debated program — but also revealed signs of disunity about how to meet their promise of repeal without political fallout among voters or economic calamity in the insurance market. LINK NYT – What to Watch: Closer Look at Health Secretary Nominee – For a while now, Democrats have considered Mr. Price to be the one cabinet nominee they might have a serious chance of blocking. With a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Mr. Price will attract no shortage of questions about his fitness for the role. Already a contentious pick as a top critic of the Affordable Care Act and a proponent of overhauling the Medicare system, Mr. Price has seen his nomination consumed recently by several damaging news reports. Wednesday will also focus attention on another Trump nominee vigorously opposed by Democrats: Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general and Mr. Trump’s choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. LINK NYT – Betsy DeVos’s Education Hearing Erupts Into Partisan Debate – At her confirmation hearing on Tuesday to be education secretary, Betsy DeVos vigorously defended her work steering taxpayer dollars from traditional public schools, arguing that it was time to move away from a “one size fits all” system and toward newer models for students from preschool to college. The hearing quickly became a heated and partisan debate that reflected the nation’s political divide on how best to spend public money in education. Republicans applauded Ms. DeVos’s work to expand charter schools and school vouchers, which give families public funds to help pay tuition at private schools. Democrats criticized her for wanting to “privatize” public education and pushed her, unsuccessfully, to support making public colleges and universities tuition-free. LINK WSJ – Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s Pick for EPA Chief, Plans to Emphasize Disagreements With Obama – President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, plans to testify to Congress Wednesday that the agency under the Obama administration hampered its own effectiveness through regulatory action that circumvented Congress. The outgoing president’s name is never mentioned in Mr. Pruitt’s prepared testimony, but a critique of his leadership is implied throughout. At certain times, the EPA “became dissatisfied with the tools Congress has given it to address certain issues and bootstrapped its own powers and tools through rulemaking,” Mr. Pruitt plans to say. Faced with a Congress unwilling to pass legislation cutting carbon emissions, President Barack Obama pivoted in his second term to focus heavily on a regulatory agenda. LINK Politico – Dems demand Sessions recuse himself on confirmation votes – Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) may soon find himself in an unprecedented position: Voting to confirm key members of the new administration while waiting for his own promotion to the Cabinet. Democrats are demanding that Sessions, Donald Trump’s pick to serve as attorney general, abstain from confirmation votes as long as he remains in the Senate — arguing that he shouldn’t be voting for Cabinet officials he will have to oversee as the nation’s top law enforcement official. LINK Politico – Pruitt’s political operation becomes a weapon for Dems – After initially focusing on Pruitt’s resistance to climate change science, Democrats have pivoted to decrying his past chairmanship of the Republican Attorneys General Association, slamming him for raising money from the fossil-fuel industry while filing lawsuits against regulations that companies opposed. And Democrats point to Pruitt’s history of litigation as Oklahoma’s attorney general — 14 legal challenges against the agency he’s now set to helm — to ask whether he’ll be able to impartially handle many of those same cases as a defendant after taking over EPA. LINK Politico – DeVos dodges toughest questions about public school plans – Republican philanthropist Betsy DeVos pledged Tuesday that she would be “a strong advocate for great public schools,” if confirmed as Donald Trump’s Education secretary. But when pressed by Democrats, she wouldn’t commit to keeping federal funding intact for traditional public schools. And while she was eloquent about how low-income families deserve some of the same choices to educate their kids as the affluent, she dodged Democrats’ toughest questions about how — or even if — she would protect traditional public schools. Senate Democrats decried her lack of conventional educational experience, and repeatedly cried foul that Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) limited their questions to one round of five minutes each. LINK ABC – Trump Nominee to Face Questions About Obamacare, Stock Trades – Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, faces his first test Wednesday in a hearing on Capitol Hill. Democrats plan to make the Georgia Republican, a leading critic of Obamacare who authored his own conservative alternative to the law in Congress, defend his and Trump’s records on entitlement reform and health insurance. While Trump is in sync with Hill Republicans and Price on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare, he has split with his party on some of the details of reform. LINK NYT – Trump Team Has Barely Engaged With National Security Council – The Obama administration has written 275 briefing papers for the incoming Trump administration: nearly 1,000 pages of classified material on North Korea’s nuclear program, the military campaign against the Islamic State, tensions in the South China Sea, and every other kind of threat the new team could face in its first weeks in office. Nobody in the current administration knows whether anyone in the next has read any of it. Less than three days before President Obama turns the keys to the White House, and the nuclear codes, over to President-elect Donald J. Trump, Mr. Trump’s transition staff has barely engaged with the National Security Council below the most senior levels. His designated national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, has met four times with his Obama counterpart, Susan E. Rice, most recently on Tuesday afternoon. LINK NYT – Trump Says He Wanted Tillerson at the State Department All Along – The beauty pageant that was Mr. Trump’s secretary of state selection was full of drama: Would the disgraced Gen. David Petraeus be exonerated? Would Mitt Romney swallow enough of his pride to get into the good graces of the man he had called a fraud? Would Rudolph W. Giuliani somehow come in from the cold? And in the end, seemingly at the last minute, Mr. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, swept in to receive the president-elect’s nod. At a dinner in Washington on Tuesday night, attended by about 500 guests, including diplomats, at the sumptuous Mellon Auditorium, Mr. Trump said he always wanted Mr. Tillerson, implying that the rest was for show. He called him the “man that I wanted right from the beginning.” LINK NYT – Republicans Look to Reince Priebus, Trump’s Chief of Staff, to Bring Stability – In a city bracing for convulsive change, Mr. Priebus has emerged as an unlikely symbol of stability, someone who they hope will domesticate the new president and transform his storm-the-gates campaign into a normal, functional White House that can “make America sane again,” in a phrase making the rounds this week among congressional Republicans. That is a lot of responsibility to put on the shoulders of an unflappable political survivor from Kenosha, Wis., who has never held a major government post before. He has instead accrued his power by courting wealthy donors on behalf of Republican candidates, tending to the gripes of the R.N.C.’s 168 committee members, closely monitoring his own Wikipedia page and by mostly staying on the good side of the capricious Mr. Trump, his ambivalent patron. LINK NYT – Trump Entering White House Unbent and Unpopular – Indeed, Mr. Trump will take office on Friday with less popular support than any new president in modern times, according to an array of surveys, a sign that he has failed to rally Americans behind him, beyond the base that helped him win in November. Rather than a unifying moment, his transition to power has seen a continuation of the polarization of the election last year. Where other presidents used the weeks before their inauguration to put the animosities of the campaign behind them and to try to knit the country together again, Mr. Trump has approached the interregnum as if he were a television wrestling star. He has taken on a civil rights icon, a Hollywood actress, intelligence agencies, defense contractors, European leaders and President Obama. The healing theme common at this stage in the four-year presidential cycle is absent. LINK NYT – Commerce Pick Wilbur Ross to Divest at Least 80 Holdings – Wilbur L. Ross, nominated to be the nation’s next commerce secretary, is a very wealthy man with his hands in myriad businesses ranging from banking to energy and real estate loans to the auto parts industry. The billionaire investor, who made much of his money investing in troubled companies, said in a filing released on Tuesday that he will seek to sidestep potential conflicts of interest by divesting at least 80 assets and investment funds over the next several months. He will also step down from positions with more than two-dozen funds or companies in which he has a financial interest. Mr. Ross, 79, also intends to divest himself of holdings in many of those entities. LINK NYT – Trump Can’t Renegotiate Iran Nuclear Deal, Rouhani Says – Even if President-elect Donald J. Trump would want to, there is no chance of renegotiating the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, the country’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said on Tuesday. “Mr. Trump says things like that he is not happy with the nuclear deal, or he calls it the worst agreement,” Mr. Rouhani said. “These are more like slogans. I consider it unlikely that anything will happen in practice.” On numerous occasions Mr. Trump has called the nuclear agreement a “really, really bad deal,” and has said that he may want to renegotiate its terms after he is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday. LINK WaPo – How Donald Trump came up with ‘Make America Great Again’ – Five days later, Trump signed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in which he asked for exclusive rights to use “Make America Great Again” for “political action committee services, namely, promoting public awareness of political issues and fundraising in the field of politics.” He enclosed a $325 registration fee. His was a vision that ran against the conventional wisdom of the time — in fact, it was “much the opposite,” Trump said. To save itself, the Republican establishment was convinced, the GOP would have to sand off its edges, become kinder and more inclusive. “Make America Great Again” was divisive and backward-looking. It made no nod to diversity or civility or progress. It sounded like a death wish. But Trump had seen something different in the country, and in the daily lives of its struggling citizens. LINK Politico – Trump’s team weighs retooling State to focus on terror – Donald Trump’s team wants to restructure the State Department to focus more heavily on counterterrorism — a move that could dramatically reduce the time and resources devoted to climate change, promoting democracy abroad and other programs seen as liberal priorities. Sources familiar with the transition discussions told POLITICO that talks with State officials have convinced the president-elect’s transition team that the department is underutilized and overshadowed by the Pentagon and the White House-based National Security Council, which have typically taken the lead on the counterterrorism front. Beefing up State’s anti-terror focus also dovetails with Trump’s tough campaign rhetoric, as well as the anti-Islamist views of several of his aides. LINK Politico – The Trump lobbying purge that wasn’t – Despite President-elect Donald Trump’s much-publicized efforts to keep lobbyists out of his administration, they have continued to offer policy advice, recommend job candidates and contribute money to his transition team, according to a POLITICO investigation. And while they’re barred from donating to the $200 million in inaugural festivities this week, lobbyists have been collecting checks on Trump’s behalf, according to four lobbyists interviewed by POLITICO who are directly helping raise the funds. The loopholes in Trump’s restrictions are so widespread that many lobbyists said they’ve concluded Trump’s ethics rules aren’t really meant to change how business is done in Washington. LINK Politico – Trump set to take office without most of his Cabinet – When Bill Clinton was sworn into office 24 years ago, every single member of his Cabinet but one was confirmed by the Senate within two days. When Donald Trump is sworn in on Friday, he’ll be lucky to have half that many installed. With Republicans in control of the White House and the Senate, it wasn’t supposed to be this difficult for Trump to get his team in place posthaste, especially since Democrats did away with the 60-vote requirement for Cabinet nominees. But all signs are pointing to a slog for Trump and the Senate GOP, even if Republicans believe eventually all of Trump’s picks will be approved. “We were presented with the problem that the Trump administration was basically unprepared for presenting a Cabinet,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). “They compounded that problem by picking both billionaires with enormously complicated financial situations, and people who have enormous conflicts of interests.” LINK Politico – Trump inauguration’s ‘Cabinet dinner’ offers access for cash – Deep-pocketed donors face a decision on Wednesday night: whether to dine with the Vice President-elect at the National Portrait Gallery, or enjoy an “intimate policy discussion” with incoming Cabinet appointees at an exclusive dinner at the Library of Congress. The closed-door events, just two of many being held during inauguration week, were double-scheduled by planners. “It’s all messed up, they have the cabinet dinner and the V.P. dinner on the same night at the same time,” said a top donor to President-elect Donald Trump who’s torn over which to attend. The cost of admission for the Cabinet dinner is included in a package for either $100,000 or $250,000 to the presidential inaugural committee, while dinner with Vice President-elect Mike Pence is open to donors and corporate underwriters at the $500,000 and $1 million-level as part of multi-day itineraries, with the level of access determined by the amount of cash given, according to inauguration brochures obtained by POLITICO. LINK Politico – Trump noses into one of the world’s biggest mergers – When Donald Trump convened the CEOs of German chemical company Bayer and U.S. seed giant Monsanto at Trump Tower last week, they made the usual small talk. Trump then asked specific questions about the $66 billion merger they are in the middle of, according to people briefed on the meeting. The companies committed to $8 billion in new research and development, along with 3,000 new jobs and a commitment to keep 9,000 other jobs in the United States, if the merger goes through. Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, credited Trump with the commitment in a call Tuesday morning. “The reason for this commitment and expansion is because of the president-elect’s focus on creating [a] better business climate here in the United States, which has already increased consumer and small business confidence since the election,” Spicer said. Yet the merger of the companies — the second-largest deal announced last year — hasn’t been approved by the federal government that Trump is about to take control of, and regulatory concerns remain, especially because it could reshape the world’s food supply. LINK Politico Magazine – What Worries Ben Rhodes About Trump – In his interview with Politico senior foreign affairs correspondent Michael Crowley, Rhodes said Obama restored American “engagement” around the world after the George W. Bush era, shrugging off critics who say Obama left a leadership vacuum abroad. He explained why he is able to look angry Syrian activists in the eye, why the White House once feared that Obama could be impeached, and what worries him most about Donald Trump’s presidency. (It’s not nuclear war.) LINK AP – Trump’s Commerce nominee has business ties around globe – Unlike his soon-to-be boss, the choice for commerce secretary has agreed to divorce himself from a vast financial empire. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross can expect questions about his business dealings at his Senate confirmation hearing. Senators also plan to quiz Ross on trade, and how he plans to make good on President-elect Donald’s Trump’s promise to boost American exports. Trump picked Ross for the post. He is to appear Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee. Worth an estimated $2.9 billion, Ross has extensive business ties around the globe. Supporters say that makes him ideal to represent American business interests abroad. LINK CNN – Obama approval hits 60% as end of term approaches – A new CNN/ORC poll finds Obama’s approval rating stands at 60%, his best mark since June of his first year in office. Compared with other outgoing presidents, Obama lands near the top of the list, outranked only by Bill Clinton’s 66% in January 2001 and Ronald Reagan’s 64% in January 1989. About two-thirds (65%) say Obama’s presidency was a success, including about half (49%) who say that was due to Obama’s personal strengths rather than circumstances outside his control. LINK NYT – Obama’s Stark Options on ISIS: Arm Syrian Kurds or Let Trump Decide – With just days left as commander in chief, President Obama is confronting a wrenching decision on whether to move ahead with plans to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State in order to launch the long-awaited assault to retake Raqqa, the terrorist group’s de facto capital. The choice before Mr. Obama has been a stark one. One option would be forging a closer military alliance with the Syrian Kurds to maintain the momentum in the fight against the Islamic State, even though Turkey has denounced the Kurdish fighters as terrorists. The other would be for Mr. Obama to leave the decision to the incoming Trump administration. Such a move could delay the Raqqa operation for many months and would mean that Mr. Obama would leave office without a clear path forward for seizing the most important Islamic State stronghold and its base for plotting terrorist operations against the West. LINK WSJ – More in U.S. Like ‘Obamacare,’ as Ax Hovers Over It: Poll – Americans are starting to warm up to the Affordable Care Act amid concerns about Republicans’ efforts to dismantle it, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that 45% of Americans think the 2012 health law is a “good idea,’’ the highest mark since pollsters began asking about President Barack Obama’s vision for a health overhaul in April, 2009. LINK WaPo – Secret Service agrees to pay $24 million in decades-old race-bias case brought by black agents – The Secret Service agreed Tuesday to pay $24 million to settle a two-decade-old case in which more than 100 black agents alleged that the agency fostered a racist culture and routinely promoted white agents over more qualified African Americans, according to documents filed in court and interviews with representatives of both sides. As part of the deal, which is the result of a push in the waning days of the Obama administration, the agency admits to no wrongdoing or institutional bias. But the payments to the agents — including lump sums as high as $300,000 each to the original eight plaintiffs — are intended to remedy the sting of the discrimination the agents say they suffered and the job opportunities they lost, according to interviews with representatives from both sides. LINK Politico – Major Democratic super PAC hires Clinton, Sanders vets for relaunch – Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC that supported Hillary Clinton’s White House bid, is accelerating its move to reposition itself as a hub of post-2016 Democratic activity. The group plans to bring on a pair of prominent operatives from both Clinton’s and Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, including Brian Fallon, Clinton’s national press secretary and a frequent presence on television during campaign season, who will join the group as a consultant with the position of senior adviser. While he is expected to start his own public affairs practice, Fallon will spend the bulk of his time working for Priorities. Former Sanders national press secretary Symone Sanders will assume the role of strategist for communications and political outreach, a person familiar with the moves told POLITICO. LINK Washington Examiner – Kiss the ring! GOP Senate candidates told to make nice with Trump – Republicans considering a 2018 Senate bid are being advised to meet with President-elect Trump to ensure they have his seal of approval.Trump isn’t demanding that potential Republican Senate candidates and incumbents seek his blessing before running. But GOP leaders, concerned that he could firebomb a sitting senator or top Senate recruit with a critical tweet and blow up their prospects, are urging them to reach out to the new administration to make sure the president-elect is on board with their candidacy. That is especially the case for Republicans who opposed Trump or were perceived to be odds with him during the 2016 presidential campaign. LINK Houston Chronicle – Chief of staff: George H.W. Bush hospitalized in Houston – Former President George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized but the 92-year-old is “fine” and expected to go home in a few days, his chief of staff told area media early Wednesday. Bush chief of staff Jean Becker tells the Houston Chronicle and KHOU-TV that the 41st president was recently admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital after becoming ill. “He’s there. He’s fine and he’s doing really well,” Becker told the Chronicle. LINK NYT – By Announcing New Jobs, Corporations Help Themselves Too – Donald J. Trump won’t be sworn in until Friday but big business has already thrown him a veritable inaugural ball. A series of blue-chip companies, among them Ford, Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Sprint, have all announced plans in recent weeks to hire and invest in the United States. A who’s who of executives from boardrooms here and overseas have made the pilgrimage to Trump Tower and sought the president-elect’s blessing. The near-daily drumbeat of announcements — on Tuesday it was the turn of General Motors and Walmart — is not just about winning good headlines or a favorable mention from the tweeter in chief, however. LINK
PoliticalNews.me – Democrats: Trump Administration Needs Cordray As Consumer Watchdog
The National Law Review – House and Senate Financial Services Lawmakers Kick-Off 115th Congress; Regulators Tackle Debt Collection, Insurance, and FinTech
“I have been frustrated for all the 30-plus years that I’ve been here at the depth of coverage not being what it should be,” he said in an interview last week. “Especially in what I consider one of the greatest media environments in the country. We want to focus more on how policies affect real people,” Mr. Ralston said, adding that the site will emphasize data and polling. “It will have articles in English and Spanish to appeal to the state’s large Hispanic population, and it will start publishing on Jan. 17, just weeks before the Nevada’s biennial legislative session opens on Feb. 6.”