Month: August 2017

Like a tax reform tag team, Vice President Mike Pence followed President Donald Trump’s call for tax reform in Missouri on Wednesday with his own pitch to the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce later the same day.

Rich Lowry, editor of National Review and a contributing editor for Politico Magazine writes: Donald Trump told us that he’d hire the best people. He didn’t mention that he’d be unable to fire them. The president is experiencing a bout of insubordination from his top officials the likes of which we haven’t witnessed in the modern era. It’s not unusual to have powerful officials at war among themselves, or in the presidential doghouse. It’s downright bizarre to have them publicly undercut the president, without fear of consequence. The new measure of power in Washington is how far you can go criticizing the president at whose pleasure you serve. The hangers-on and junior players must do it furtively and anonymously. Only a principal like Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson or James Mattis can do it out in the open and get away with it. First, it was chief economic adviser Cohn saying in an interview that the administration—i.e., Donald J. Trump—must do a better job denouncing hate groups. Then, it was Secretary of State Tillerson suggesting in a stunning interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News that the rest of the government speaks for American values, but not necessarily the president. Finally, Secretary of Defense