Transition Topics That Have Been Under reported as Trump Begins Presidency
by Cliff Henry
The smooth transition of power between one presidential administration and another constitutes an important aspect of all freely elected governments. It provides a time for the nation to unify behind a new President of the United States and to celebrate everything voters share in common.
Yet this "honeymoon" period may involve some awkward moments, too, especially when the Executive Branch passes from one political party to another after a bitter election contest. Recent mainstream media news coverage focused a lot of press attention on President-Elect Donald Trump's tweets (sometimes taking his comments out of context). Yet most members of the media apparently overlooked three rather significant presidential transition news items:
One: A Unique Transition
Even President Obama admits President-Elect Trump has faced an exceedingly trying transition period. The acrimonious presidential primary race involving a number of presidential hopefuls sometimes found the Republican standard bearer at odds with other senior members of his own political party. As the transition progressed during the past few weeks, he has often had to expend time working to unify his own party.
Trump has received heat for most of his Cabinet nominations, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The mainstream media has already crucified these Patriots before they take office. Trump chose some of the best people in the country to help run this country and to make it great again.
During the critical transition period, Donald Trump has not always received as much bipartisan support and assistance at many previous incoming Presidents. Despite his lack of prior political experience, he nevertheless undertook the transition process with alacrity.
Two: President Obama Commuted Hundreds of Prison Sentences
President Obama spent time during the transition making several hundred last-minute prison sentence commutations. He has commuted a total of 1,715 sentences during his tenure in office, exceeding the total number of commutations of the past 13 Presidents.
In the past, U.S. Presidents usually hesitated to substitute their personal opinion about a criminal sentence for that of a presiding judge or jury. Many of the prisoners freed by the President had committed drug trafficking offenses.
Three: The Trump Transition Team Gave a Profit to The Federal Government
How often do American taxpayers discover politicians actually returning money to the federal government? The Trump Transition Team exceeded fiscal expectations, actually completing its work using only 80% of the allotted funds.
The members of the transition team will pay 20% back to Uncle Sam. They have set a precedent as one of the most efficient working groups in the history of the United States. (This development may bode well for shrinking the federal budget deficit during the Trump Administration.)
A Challenging Road Ahead
Every new presidential administration faces tough challenges. During the next few weeks and months, President Trump will likely need a little time to grow familiar with the demands of his new position. He will require the support of the public. Hopefully, the Washington D.C. press corps will cut him a little slack!
Cliff is a new wrter for The Patriots. A young man who loves America about as much as anyone can. He has always been interested in the topics that others ignore and hesitant to believe anything without doing the research. He brings some fresh new perspective to the site. - ED