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Stickied until the inauguration: Status of cabinet picks and other appointments: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/
Monday 1/2
- House Republicans vote to downgrade Ethics Office, placing it under the (GOP controlled) Ethics committee rather than an independent bipartisan office and stripping it of most of its power (source). DJT and Paul Ryan criticize move. House Republicans reverse course the next day (source).
Tuesday 1/3
- House votes in rule change to value all Federal land as $0, making it easier to sell off (source)
- House approves rule allowing bill that would undo all Federal regulations done in the last 60 days en masse and proceeds immediately to pass said bill (source).
- Full text of rule changes including the ones above and the ethics office business are at http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/
20170102/BILLS-115hres5-PIH-FINAL.pdf, also includes the rule forbidding any photography or video from the floor of the House and a bunch of rules limiting government spending, with explicit exceptions if that spending is somehow related to repealing Obamacare or the regulations mentioned above.
Wednesday 1/4
- NYtimes has two articles on the repeal of Obamacare. First, an explanation of budget reconciliation, the process likely to be used and second, an outline of the likely process/timeline.
- Senate proceeds with first step of Obamacare repeal more or less as described above. House to vote next week (source).
Thursday 1/5
- House approves rule that would allow representatives to withhold pay from individual Federal employees (source).
- Hearings on Russian hacking begin today, Trump still in denial. (source)
- Trump plans on shrinking intelligence agencies (source)
Maps of the week:
- Since we visited Mt. Vernon last week. Here's a map drawn by the General himself during his surveying days.
