Week ahead: Regulators await Trump’s ‘day one’

by Tim Devaney and Lydia Wheeler - 01/23/17 6:00 AM ET

All eyes will be on “day one” of President Trump’s new administration Monday.

The president has promised to hit the ground running, including by rolling back many of former President Barack Obama’s executive actions and policies.

Reports Friday said Trump’s team is already eyeing actions that would ease the permitting process for new energy pipelines and a move to suspend a key metric regulators use to measure climate impacts.

Trump has vowed to do more to boost domestic energy development, including approving both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

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Congress will have a busy week as well, with another round of hearings on President Trump’s Cabinet picks.

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), who’s been nominated to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, is up for his second confirmation hearing Tuesday, this time before the Senate Finance Committee.

New ethical concerns were raised before Price was questioned by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) last Wednesday.

CNN reported Monday that Price invested in a medical device company before introducing legislation to benefit the company.

The Trump team hit back at those claims, saying that Price did not know his broker had invested in the company. But Democrats have seized on the reports to give the nominee who will lead the agency responsible for implementing the repeal and replacement of ObamaCare a grilling.

Democrats had sought for a delay to the hearing, but the Finance Committee, is pushing ahead.

Elsewhere on The Hill, the Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday. It will be his first of two hearings that day. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hear from Mulvaney in the afternoon.

Mulvaney could face tough questions from Democrats after a recent report from The Hill that the new administration is planning deep budget cuts to many agencies.

It’s also a big week for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Trump’s pick for attorney general. The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to vote on his nomination on Tuesday.

That same day, the Senate Small Business Committee will consider the nomination of Linda McMahon to be the administrator of the Small Business Administration. The World Wrestling Entertainment CEO is a former GOP Senate candidate from Connecticut.

The Senate Housing Committee on Tuesday will consider Dr. Ben Carson’s nomination to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got into a feisty exchange with Carson over Trump’s financial conflicts of interest during his confirmation hearing, but Carson is expected to be approved.

The Senate Education Committee will also consider Betsy DeVos’s nomination to lead the Education Department.

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