Inside D.C.

Musings on a Trump ‘transition’…

Consider the following to be musings on the post-election miasma gripping the country, the Trump transition and where we go from here.

On the post-election “attitude” evinced by both ends of the political spectrum, and by attitude I’m talking about the protests, vilification and social media name calling, I’m suggesting folks just get over it and get over yourselves.

Smugness by Donald Trump supporters – overt and “secret” – and the wholehearted exaggeration of the president-elect’s campaign positions and intentions, does not serve the new president or the country well.  I listened closely to what Trump said during the campaign, and I don’t recall hearing any xenophobic or white supremacist rhetoric, and I don’t remember talk of mass deportations unless the targets are convicted criminals in this country illegally.

As for protests by the Hillary Clinton camp, chants of “not my president,” and condescending denigration of those who voted for Trump, these are actions that can only be described for what they are, namely the childish behavior of sore losers.  The Clinton folks denounced such behavior by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I, VT) supporters when he lost the nomination, and it would be helpful if that same indignation was demonstrated now.  Clinton was gracious in defeat because she understood we, as a country, are stronger when we’re pulling in the same direction.  No one can deny that in the context of such a bizarre campaign season, she needn’t have been so classy.

We all need to see how the game plays.  We need to give Trump time, and if the man turns out to be a total nob, and his administration can’t find its collective back end with a flashlight, and if the GOP Congress aids and abets idiocy, then there’s reason to demonstrate, chant and demand change.  The next election is only two years away.  If his White House turns out to be a winner, then all can jump on board.

Sadly, the press thrills to this division of philosophies and politics; it represents manna from media heaven.  It’s sad to see a free press revel in divisive behavior rather than at least attempt to place Trump and Clinton philosophies, statements and behavior in context.

As to Trump’s transition, I’m put off by the so-called “ethics code” applied to his transition team and prospective administration appointees.  Anyone working transition, who’s also a federally registered lobbyist, must surrender that registration and sign on the dotted line they’ll not lobby any part of the federal government for a full five years after leaving Trump jobs.  Heck, President Obama’s version held appointees to two years and the ban was only on the agency/department for which the person worked.  This “let’s-blame-the-lobbyists” idea is silly and it’s self-defeating as it means the Trump team loses the experience and expertise necessary to set up a successfully functioning executive branch, and it loses the good judgment necessary to find and recruit the best people possible for administration appointments.

I’ve said this before:  Being a lobbyist does not ipso facto make one a greedy, amoral fat cat.  Trust me, not everyone is in the job to “enrich” his or herself.  Yes, there are greedy and amoral lobbyists, just as there are greedy and amoral individuals – liberal and conservative – in all walks of life, including among politicians, academics and celebrities.  Unfortunately, it’s the bad guys who get the press.  One truth holds for all:  The bad apples are the distinct minority.  I’ve lobbied for over 30 years; I can count the number of sleazy lobbyists I’ve met on the fingers of one hand.

The Trump lobbyist silliness cost agriculture a dedicated champion.  Heading up Trump’s agriculture transition for the last several months is a gentlemen named Mike Torrey, a son of Kansas, whose career in public service started with the state grain and feed association, included stints as staff to Sen. Robert Dole (R, KS), and executive service at USDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Bush years.  Torrey resigned his transition post last Friday because he’s got his own lobbying shop and couldn’t afford to walk away from the successful business he built over his 25 years in Washington, DC.  He’s not the only registered lobbyist to leave, and the Trump transition is much the poorer for it.

My last pondering is about who our next secretary of agriculture might be.  I’m hoping the Trump transition team keeps at the front of its collective mind when selecting a new USDA secretary and subcabinet that we’re heading into Farm Bill rewrite during the 115^th Congress.  Writing a Farm Bill is one of the most complex, painful and arduous legislative tasks you can imagine because it attempts to balance the interests of urban consumers – both rich and poor – against the needs of farmers and ranchers.  It’s the real world equivalent of legislative “sausage making,” made more difficult because farm income is down and doesn’t look to be rising for a while.

Most of the  prospective ag secretary candidates appear to be good, solid individuals.  I’m hoping the Trump approach to USDA is not to use the department’s top job as a conventional political reward to a governor, state ag secretary or commissionerbecause they were public supporters early on in the campaign.  We’re talking about a federal department second in size only to the Pentagon/DOD, a bureaucracy controlling to a large extent the production of all food in the U.S. and the export of a big percentage of that food around the world.

USDA needs a secretary who’s a veteran aggie, someone who truly understands agriculture, processing and vending of food of all stripes, who can manage a monster operation like nobody’s business, and who can herd cats of various political stripes with the best of them when it comes to Congress and its idea of what’s best for farmers and ranchers.