Is Biden working to sabotage Trump’s transition?

President Joe Biden has taken actions that will make former and President-elect Donald Trump’s transition into the White House difficult, slowing him down with federal rules and other roadblocks, according to inside sources and Trump himself.  

Last week, Trump talked to reporters outside of Mar-a-Lago about the departing Biden administration.  

“They’re trying everything they can to make things more difficult,” Trump said.  

He also told reporters that Biden was being “sneaky,” despite the current president’s public pledge to cooperate with the incoming administration’s transition into the White House.  

“They try to be sneaky,” Trump said at a press conference. “They go in and they say, remember, this is a man that said he wants the transition to be smooth. Well, you don’t do these kind of things.”  

Among the roadblocks are federal rules that will take the Trump administration months to overturn, executive orders on climate and big spending on Biden-friendly causes.   

The federal rules include changing the order of succession so that officials friendly to the Biden administration can be in charge while Trump is getting his nominees confirmed in the Senate.  

This is atypical, as an outgoing president’s officials typically resign so the incoming president can put their picks in place.  

According to former undersecretary of defense for Trump and current Hudson fellow Ezra Cohen, however, “[The Biden administration is] trying to put hand-picked career people in place that will make President Trump’s first couple days or weeks in office more difficult.

“They’re doing it across multiple departments and agencies,” Cohen added in a Daily Mail interview. 

During his press conference, Trump cited Biden’s new executive orders on climate and other environmental-related causes as reasons his transition into office is going to be difficult.  

Biden is said to be spending as much money as possible from the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, tying Trump’s hands when it comes to spending and attempting to dictate where the taxpayer money goes before he leaves office, according to the Daily Mail.  

-Ann Dailey Moreno

On our radar

TEA YA LATER According to First Lady Jill Biden, incoming first lady Melania Trump turned down the passing-of-the-torch afternoon tea that is customary between first ladies. And it isn’t because she’s too busy getting ready for the big move. Melania told Fox & Friends she already packed and picked out furniture for the White House. 

SUKS TO BE YOON Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s impeached president, has been arrested and imprisoned on charges of insurrection after he attempted to establish martial law.

CEASEFIRE Israel and Hamas reportedly have a ceasefire deal in the works, though Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet said what it entails.

Trump talks tariffs

President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to start an “External Revenue Service (ERS) to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources” via Truth Social Tuesday. 

Trump made the announcement after saying that Americans have been relied upon to pay for the federal government while delivering “growth and prosperity to the World” as the result of “soft and pathetically weak trade agreements.” He said that this proposed agency would start “charging those that make money off of us” so they would finally pay “their fair share.” He concluded the statement by saying that January 20, the day of his inauguration, will be the birth date of ERS.

This “truth” was shared after months of critics opposing Trump’s plans to shift the funding of the US  government from American citizens to tariffs on imported goods. Some critics, companies and economists say that Trump’s heavy reliance on tariffs could raise prices for American consumers. Trump responded to these claims in a post-election interview with NBC News, saying, “They cost Americans nothing.” He also said that using the threat of tariffs has stopped wars and if used properly “are a very powerful tool, not only economically but also for getting other things outside of economics.”

While the support of the ERS has quickly risen in the MAGA movement, constitutional conflicts may hinder Trump’s January 20 goal of launching the new agency. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the US Constitution, it is Congress’s duty to “lay and collect” duties and imposts, such as tariffs, and to “provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.” This is in line with the precedence laid out by the development of the Internal Revenue Service through the Revenue Act of 1862. Though Republicans have the majority in both the Senate and the House, it is unclear how this could be achieved before Trump’s deadline.

–Derek VanBuskirk

Confirmation hearings heat up

With five more days of the Biden administration to go, the Senate began the confirmation process of President-elect Donald Trump’s top cabinet picks this week. Things were off to a rocky start yesterday, with the subjects of alcoholism and fidelity making for a nice spectacle in Trump’s defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s hearing.

Today, a half-dozen of Trump’s cabinet picks made their ways to Capitol Hill for their respective hearings. Governor Kristi Noem’s hearing for the top Department of Homeland Security role was abruptly canceled. Still, Senator Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, John Ratcliffe, Sean Duffy, Chris Wright and Russell Vought — Trump’s choices for secretary of state, attorney general, CIA director, transportation secretary, energy secretary and Office of Management and Budget head, respectively — all had their hearings today.

Rubio’s hearing was held in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is a member. The exchanges were mostly amicable. During it, he affirmed his support of NATO — though demanding greater burden sharing, highlighted China’s growing influence in the western hemisphere and criticized the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy.

At one point, Connecticut senator Chris Murphy asked Rubio whether the upcoming president should refrain from business dealings in the Middle East while in office. “My understanding is the president doesn’t manage that company, his family members do, and they have a right to be in that business,” Rubio replied.

The Bondi hearing was more heated. During it, the former Florida attorney general was pressed on whether she would use the Department of Justice to punish enemies and reward friends. On one occasion, Senator Adam Schiff pressed Bondi on whether she sees sense in investigating former representative Liz Cheney. “Are you aware of any factual basis to investigate Liz Cheney?” Schiff asked. 

“We’re all so worried about Liz Cheney,” Bondi said with sarcasm. “You know what we should be worried about, senator? The crime rate in California is through the roof.”

–Juan P. Villasmil