Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/754143
ByJonathanLemire The Associated Press NEW YORK DonaldTrump held court from his perch high above Manhattan on Monday, receiving a line of former rivals, longtime al- lies and TV executives while overseeing a presidential transition that at times re- sembles a reality show like the one he once hosted. Trump met with nearly a dozen prospective hires, all of whom who were pa- raded in front of the cam- eras set up in the Trump Tower lobby as they en- tered an elevator to see the president-elect. Out of pub- lic view himself, he fell back on his TV star roots by film- ing a video that touted his legislative goals once he takes office. Trump; did not imme- diately announce any ap- pointments after the meet- ings, which came on the heels of a two-day whirl- wind of interviews at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Unlike his predecessors, who often spoke with Cab- inet candidates under a cloud of secrecy, Trump has turnedthesearchintoavery public audition process. The extraordinary exercise took on a routine feel on Monday: First, former Massachusetts SenatorScottBrownstepped off the gold-plated elevator intothemarble-coatedlobby after his meeting to declare to waiting reporters that he was "the best person" to be- come Veterans Affairs sec- retary. Next, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a candidate for Interior secretary, did much the same, striding off the lift to say she had "a wonderful discussion" with Trump. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry de- clined to speak to report- ers, but he did take time for a photo with the Naked Cowboy, the underwear- sporting, guitar-strumming New York institution who is normally a fixture at Times Square but has spent recent days camped out at Trump Tower singing about the president-elect. Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who re- signed her post on the Dem- ocratic National Commit- tee after endorsing Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clin- ton, also met with Trump but entered and exited out of sight. She later defended crossing party lines to meet with Trump about U.S. in- volvement in Syria, saying in a statement she would never "play politics with American and Syrian lives." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a longtime Trump ally, was also ex- pected to meet with him on Monday. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said of the visitors, "Not all of them will be in his Cabinet and his federal government, but they are all incredibly important in offering their points of views, their experience and certainly their vision of the country." No one was saying whether Trump would an- nounce more appointments before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving. He was planning to leave Tuesday or Wednesday to spend the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, while Vice presi- dent-elect Mike Pence will spend Thanksgiving in Mis- sissippi, where his Marine son is stationed. Trump has largely re- mained out of sight since winning the election, save for a flurry of brief public appearances over the week- end, often with Pence at his side, to flash thumbs-ups and provide quick updates on his progress in building a government. He remained in the upper floors of his skyscraper Monday, seeking counsel on the phone and interviewing candidates all while keeping an eye on the cable news coverage of the day's events. The video he made, ex- pected to be released late Monday, continues the pres- ident-elect's practice of try- ing to go over the heads of the media and take his case directly to the Amer- ican public. Since Election Day, he has twice ditched the group of reporters des- ignated to follow his move- ments and has so far es- chewed the traditional news conference held by the president-elect in the days after winning. Trump has not held a full-fledged news confer- ence since July. But the media were clearly on his mind as he met with executives and on-air personalities from TV networks. He frequently singled out the media — de- claring them "so dishonest" — for criticism during the campaign, but it's not un- usual for presidents to hold off-the-record meetings with journalists when try- ing to promote policies or programs. Among the attendees were NBC anchor Lester Holt and "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd, ABC "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopou- los and anchor David Muir, CBS "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and several execu- tives at the networks. Those Trump met with over the weekend included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a former critic now being consid- ered for secretary of state; retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who Trump dubbed an "impressive" prospect for defense secre- tary, and billionaire inves- tor Wilbur Ross, who is un- der consideration for Com- merce secretary. TRANSITION Trump auditions Cabinet prospects above Manhattan CAROLYNKASTER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gives the thumps-up as he arrives at Trump Tower, on Monday in New York, to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. EVAN VUCCI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally in New York. By Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Here's the idea: Swiftly pass a re- peal of President Barack Obama's health care law, perhaps soon enough for Donald Trump to sign it the day he takes the presi- dential oath. Then approve legislation restructuring the nation's huge and con- voluted health care system — despite Republican divi- sions, Democratic opposi- tion and millions of jittery constituents. What could go wrong? With Republicans con- trolling the White House and Congress in January, they're faced with deliv- ering on their long-time promise to repeal and re- place "Obamacare." Here are hurdles they'll face: Speedvsdeliberation Trump and congres- sional Republicans will be under intense pres- sure from their core con- servative supporters to re- peal Obama's 2010 health care law — and fast. Af- ter all, Congress already sent Obama a repeal bill last January, which he ve- toed, and many GOP vot- ers will see no reason for delays this time. But there probably won't be anything fast about this process, which is likely to take at least months. While the replacement effort is underway, Repub- licans will risk aggravat- ing up to 30 million people who are covered by the law or buy policies with prices affected by its insurance marketplace. A solution Nothing's been de- cided, but here's one likely scenario:(backslash). The new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, tries to quickly approve legislation repealing Obama's health care law, maybe completing it by Trump's Jan. 20 inaugura- tion or soon after. But the repeal would not take ef- fect until the future, per- haps a year later, to give lawmakers time to fashion a replacement. Seemingly acknowledg- ing that two-step process, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump "wants to focus out of the gate on repeal- ing Obamacare and begin- ning the process of replac- ing Obamacare." Because Republicans will control the Senate by just 52-48, Congress will first have to approve spe- cial budget procedures to prevent Democrats from stopping repeal legisla- tion by filibuster. Bill-kill- ing filibusters require 60 votes to end. But those special rules would apply only to items that affect the federal bud- get. Republicans, for ex- ample, would need a sim- ple Senate majority to end IRSpenaltiesagainstpeople whodon'tbuyinsurancebut would still need 60 votes — requiring Democratic sup- port — for other changes such as raising limits on older people's premiums. GOP risks One GOP danger: Con- gress and Trump might repeal Obama's law, but while they're laboring on a replacement, nervous in- surance companies begin pulling out of markets and raising premiums. Insur- ers have been doing that under Obama, but now it would occur under a Re- publican government. Another hazard: Con- gress' work could spill into the 2018 campaign season, when the entire House and a third of the Senate face re-election. Republicans will grow increasingly timid about anything that might anger voters. GOP pathways Virtually all Republi- cans want to get rid of the health law's mandates that individuals buy cover- age or risk IRS fines, and that large employers in- sure workers. They also want to erase taxes on higher-earn- ing people and the health care sector. And they'd like to retain parts of the law guaranteeing coverage for people with pre-exist- ing medical problems and keeping children under age 26 on family plans. Unifying Republicans much beyond that is a work in progress. Trump's health care views have varied and lack detail. His campaign website touts tax deduc- tions for health insurance premiums and permitting policies to be sold across state lines. He'd also re- vamp Medicaid, which subsidizes health coverage for low-income people, di- recting fixed amounts of money to states and letting them structure benefits. Fo r Tr um p an d GO P, 'Obamacare' repeal is complex and risky HEALTH CARE By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON President- elect Donald Trump will not derailprogressmadeinfight- ing climate change and cre- ating clean-energy jobs, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency insisted on Monday in arguing "the inevitability of our clean en- ergyfutureisbiggerthanany one person or nation." EPA chief Gina McCarthy said the world is "in a spec- tacularly different place today than we were when President (Barack) Obama took office," citing new en- vironmental rules and ac- tions to help create thou- sands of jobs in renewable energy such as wind and so- lar power. Eight years ago, "devel- oping countries pointed a finger at us" over U.S. re- fusal to act against climate change, McCarthy said. Now, other countries "are wondering if the U.S. will turn its back on science and be left behind," she said. "That is the choice we face." McCarthy did not men- tion Trump by name. The Republican has called cli- mate change a hoax and has vowed to undo many of Obama's environmental policies. McCarthy said that would be a mistake, calling climate change the biggest threat to U.S. and global prosperity. "The train to a global clean-energy future has al- ready left the station," she said. "We can choose to get on board — to lead — or we can choose to be left be- hind, to stand stubbornly still. If we stubbornly deny the science and change around us, we will fall vic- tim to our own paralysis." While she is proud of the Clean Power Plan imposed by Obama to cut carbon pollution form coal-fired power plants, McCarthy said those who claim the plan is the driving force behind a U.S. transition to clean-energy jobs "give us too much credit." The plan was "designed to follow the clean-energy transition already under way," she said, citing huge increases in wind and so- lar power in recent years. According to the Depart- ment of Energy, there are now more than three solar power jobs in the U.S. for every job mining coal. Twenty-four states had lower greenhouse gas emis- sions in 2015 than in their annual goals for 2022 under the Clean Power Plan, in- cluding states such as Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylva- nia and South Dakota, Mc- Carthy said. 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