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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 2016)
Page 8A POLITICS East Oregonian Saturday, November 12, 2016 Trump shakes up transition team, elevates Pence WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump shook up his transition team Friday as he plunged into the work of setting up his administration, elevating Vice President-elect Mike Pence to head the operations. The move, one of the first key decisions as Trump pivots from campaigning to governing, amounted to a demotion for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had been running the transition planning for months. On the heels of Trump’s upset victory this week, his team has begun to embark upon building a government, an enormous undertaking that likely requires Trump to alter his hands-on management style and consider going outside his small, insular group of loyalists. He has been scrambling to identify people for top White House jobs and Cabinet posts, a herculean task that must be well in hand by the time Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. In a statement Friday, Trump said Pence would “build on the initial work” done by Christie. “Together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding this nation — specifically jobs, security and opportu- nity,” Trump said. Christie was a loyal adviser to Trump for much of the campaign, offered a key early endorsement and came AP Photo/Mary Altaffer Donald Trump points toward Republican Vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana after Pence’s acceptance speech during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 20. close to being the business- man’s pick for running mate. But Trump ultimately went with Indiana Gov. Pence, a former congressman with Washington experience and deep ties to conservatives. In a statement, Christie said he was “proud to have run the pre-election phase” of the transition team and thanked Trump for the “opportunity to continue to help lead.” Christie will still be involved in the transition, joining a cluster of other steadfast Trump supporters serving as vice chairs: former House Speaker Newt Ging- rich, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. In addition, three of Trump’s adult children — Don. Jr., Eric and Ivanka — are on the transition executive committee, along with Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband. Kushner played a significant role in Trump’s Iran deal endangered if Trump seeks to renegotiate its terms WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump isn’t going to rip up the Iran nuclear deal on day one as president, but his vows to renegotiate the terms and increase enforcement could imperil an agreement that has put off the threat of Tehran developing atomic weapons. Emboldened Repub- lican lawmakers are already considering ways to test Iran’s resolve to live up to the deal. As a candidate, Trump issued a variety of statements about last year’s pact. He called it “stupid,” a “lopsided disgrace” and the “worst deal ever negotiated,” railing against its time-limited restric- tions on Iran’s enrichment of uranium and other nuclear activity, and exaggerating the scale of U.S. concessions. Trump said that he doesn’t want to simply tear up the agreement. Instead, he spoke of reopening the diplomacy and declared that unlike President Barack Obama’s diplomats, he would have been prepared to walk away from talks. Trump’s exact plans are vague, however, and a rene- gotiation would be difficult. Iran has little incentive to open talks over a deal it is satisfied with. And none of Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP, File In this Jan. 16 photo, Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has met all conditions under the nuclear deal. the other countries in the seven-nation accord has expressed interest in picking apart an understanding that took more than a decade of stop-and-go diplomacy and almost two full years of negotiation to complete. As Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said: If the U.S. tears up the agreement, “we will light it on fire.” President Hassan Rouhani said this week no country could simply change what was agreed, pointing to a Saturday, November 19, 2016 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center Large Conference Room 73265 Confederated Way Pendleton, OR Jacintha Stanley JacinthaStanley@yellowhawk.org 541-278-7512 www.yellowhawk.org Childcare will be provided U.N. Security Council resolu- tion that endorsed the package. The deal, which went into effect in January, forced Iran to pull back from the brink of nuclear weapons capacity in exchange for an end to many of the U.S. and European sanctions that devastated Iran’s economy. It has been largely respected despite undiminished U.S.-Iranian tensions throughout the Middle East, including their support for rival sides in Syria and Yemen’s civil wars. campaign and was spotted at the White House Thursday meeting with President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. The children’s inclusion raises questions about the role the Trump family will play in the White House — as well as Trump’s ability to sever ties between the administra- tion and sprawling family business — after the celeb- rity businessman repeatedly said during the campaign that his grown children would not follow him to Washington and instead run the Trump Organization. For Trump, who ran on a pledge to “drain the swamp” of Washington insiders, the team is strikingly heavy on those with long political resumes. And another apparent contradiction emerged Friday as Trump, who repeatedly vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act “on day one,” said that he would be open to maintaining portions of President Barack Obama’s signature legisla- tive achievement. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday that, after speaking with Obama at the White House the day before, he was considering keeping the clause that allows chil- dren to stay on their parents’ insurance policies. He has previously said he may keep the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients’ existing conditions. He also said that he wants “a country that loves each other” but said he did not regret his incendiary rhetoric during the campaign. “No. I won,” Trump told the newspaper. By appointing Pence, Trump became the first incoming president since at least Jimmy Carter to use his vice president-elect to run his transition team. Trump and Christie grew apart through the last stretch of the campaign. The governor became increas- ingly frustrated that Trump wouldn’t listen to his advice, particularly over the response to the release of a video in which the businessman is heard making predatory comments about women. Christie is also facing calls for impeachment in New Jersey following the convic- tion of two former aides in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing trial. Christie has denied any knowledge of the lane closures until weeks or months after they occurred in September 2013. The governor was notably absent from the steady stream of advisers entering Trump’s eponymous skyscraper in New York for meetings Friday. Among the first decisions facing the president-elect is whom to choose as chief of staff, a key post that will set the tone for Trump’s White House and be a key conduit to Capitol Hill and Cabinet agencies. Trump is said to be considering Steve Bannon, his campaign chairman and a conservative media execu- tive, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus for the role. Neither has significant policy expe- rience, though Priebus is well-liked in Washington and has ties with key lawmakers. Trump encourages monument opponents Eo Media Group JORDAN VALLEY — Some Eastern Oregon ranchers believe Donald Trump’s victory makes it less likely that President Barack Obama will declare a national monument in Malheur County during his last months in office. Ranchers in Malheur County formed the Owyhee Basin Stewardship Coalition earlier this year to fight a proposed 2.5-million-acre national monument, which would represent 40 percent of the county’s land base. The Owyhee Canyonlands monument is being pushed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association, an environmental group in Bend, and Portland’s Keen Footwear. Opponents believe supporters will ask Obama to use his authority under the Antiq- uities Act to create the monument. Malheur County rancher and OBSC board member Elias Eiguren said the fact that many polls were so wrong about the presidential election gives him hope that there are a lot more people out there than anyone previously realized that support stances such as the one his group has taken. “I’m honestly more encouraged,” he said about Trump’s victory. “I think ... we have a lot more support than we even know. It’s just a matter of getting the word out there about what’s happening.” He said the thought has entered his mind that a nearing Trump presidency could cause monument supporters to increase the pres- sure because they see their window closing. “That thought certainly crossed my mind but the manner in which the (victory) happened gives me a lot of hope,” Eiguren said. “I don’t think the president is going to see this as a good thing to do. I think it would be distasteful for him to do it because of what the voters said.” Jordan Valley rancher Mark Mackenzie said he’s not 100 percent convinced that Obama won’t designate the national monument in his waning days in office but he also believes the American people sent a strong message that they are not happy with federal bureaucrats. He’s also encouraged by Trump’s promise to roll back some of Obama’s exec- utive orders, rules and regulations. “Trump made it very clear he is going to roll back those presidential orders and proc- lamations,” he said. “That should be enough to deter (Obama).”
