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NASE Assess the First 100 Days of the Trump Administration

Every Presidential Administration takes some time to get their feet firmly planted and while we are cautious to put much stalk into the arbitrary 100 day assessment of President Trump, it is a good benchmark to evaluate the tone and philosophy of an Administration. 

Justice Gorsuch Confirmed to the Supreme Court
While the confirmation of Judge Gorsuch to the high court was a high-water mark for the Trump Administration, it did come at a significant cost. The nomination required the Senate Republican Leadership to invoke the nuclear option, changing the rules of the Chamber lowering the threshold for judicial appointments to a simple majority.

Repeal and Replace the Affordable Care Act
As we wrote in April, the efforts to repeal the ACA in the first 100 days fell flat. However, House Republicans were able to muscle through a bill in the first week of May, achieving a legislative goal for the President just outside of the 100 days. It does remain to be seen if the Senate Republicans will actually touch the House bill with a 10-foot poll. House Republicans made significant concessions to Freedom Caucus members in the repeal bill that are not popular for many “in-cycle” Senate Republicans.

Russia
The Trump Presidency is certainly legitimate, but that doesn’t mean continued questions regarding Russia’s influence and connections to the 2016 election and key Trump officials do not need to be answered. Just yesterday, May 9, FBI Director James Comey was relieved of duty by President Trump, adding fuel to the fire that the Administration is trying to hide something. Additionally, congressional testimony by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, seems to indicate that she shared her concerns about then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. While President Trump may want to move on from discussing Russia, it continues to be great click bait for national media.

Tax Reform
President Trump campaigned on aggressive action towards a complete reform of the tax code, however, tax reform is tied to the repeal and replace of the ACA. Why you ask? The Congressional Budget Office estimates the repeal and replace measure that Republicans have put forth (that failed in April) would net the U.S. Treasury about $1 BILLION in revenue, that money would be used “off-set” any changes to the tax code (which would most likely cause a decrease in monies collected by the U.S. Treasury). Therefore, the Republicans have their backs up against the wall. Fiscally Conservative Republicans have long argued that tax cuts must be packaged with spending cuts as not to add to the long term deficit. Without the $1B in revenue from the ACA repeal and replace, the Republicans are scrambling to put together a tax reform bill that doesn’t add to the deficit, but would have to tread lightly on any budget cut proposals.

A full presidential term of office is 1,460 days, there are a lot of days left in the Trump Administration, while the first 100 days weren’t incredibly productive it did provide an insight as to how the Trump Administration plans to govern: unpredictably.

Katie Vlietstra is NASE’s Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs