Trump says "there has never been a 10-month president that has accomplished what we have accomplished". In a sense, he's right -- if he's speaking to his family, donors, big companies, the ultra-rich, and the Russian government
What a president can do without congressional action: you don't need passing a single bill to "get things done".
Let me reiterate: a president doesn't need legislative accomplishment in order to have a big impact to Americans and people around the world. (This behemoth of executive branch is certainly not what Framers had imagined, nor is it desirable, really.)
The power of appointment:
The president makes about 4,000 appointments. And in many ways, personnel is policy; how good your policy is depends on how effective and dedicated your personnel are.
More than 4,000 political appointees (more like 4,100 during this transition), many of whom hold important leadership and policymaking positions, will be heading out the door next year with the change in administrations. Finding qualified people to fill these jobs is an enormous undertaking, but it is critically important to making the federal government work effectively for the American public.
There are four basic types of appointments:
Presidential Appointments with Senate Confirmation (PAS): There are 1,212 senior leaders, including the Cabinet secretaries and their deputies, the heads of most independent agencies and ambassadors, who must be confirmed by the Senate. These positions first require a Senate hearing in addition to background checks and other vetting.
Presidential Appointments without Senate Confirmation (PA): There are 353 PA positions which make up much of the White House staff, although they are also scattered throughout many of the smaller federal agencies.
Non-career Senior Executive Service (NA): Members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) work in key positions just below the top presidential appointees, bridging the gap between the political leaders and the civil service throughout the federal government. Most SES members are career officials, but up to 10 percent of the SES can be political appointees. (For more information see the Office of Personnel Management’s website.) There are 680 non-career members of the SES.
Schedule C Appointments (SC): There are 1,403 Schedule C appointees who serve in a confidential or policy role. They range from schedulers and confidential assistants to policy experts.
Help Wanted: 4,000 Presidential Appointees
http://presidentialtransition.org/blog/posts/160316_help-wanted-4000-appointees.php
Background info about federal judges:
Of course, among the important presidential appointees are federal judges.
All Article III federal judges (judges whose powers are vested in Article III of the Constitution) are lifetime appointments: they hold their seats until they resign, die, or are removed from office by impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate. Article III federal judges include the judges serving on..
the Supreme Court (total: 9 judges);
13 courts of appeals (also called "circuit courts") with appellate (appealing) jurisdiction over different regions of the United States (total: 179 judges);
and 94 United States district courts (total: 677 judges).
the United States Court of International Trade (total: 9 judges, not counting senior judges, who are semi-retired)
The broad executive power:
the president can issue executive actions that have the effect of binding laws, he can override any executive actions of the previous administrations.
the president can decide how laws are interpreted and enforced
Foreign policies
The president has a lot of power on foreign affairs and some power on making treaties. This, of course, relates to national security, which the president has board power on.
issue clemency
(pardons and commutations) on federal offenses to any American he sees fit.
Executive privilege:
to withhold information from the public in the name of national security.
Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/
It’s not just the Cabinet: Trump’s transition team may need to find about 4,100 appointees
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/
“The supreme responsibility of the president is to protect our system of government, not the safety of individuals or even their physical security.” And Trump was upending that system of government almost from the very start.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-everyones-getting-wrong-about-the-presidents-no-1-job
So what has he done?
The overarching themes in Trump administration are personal enrichment, serving the money and foreign interests, regulatory capture, violating the rule of law, the normal procedure, and the constitution, and utter gross incompetence and chaos
for himself and his family
using his power of the presidency to encourage people (including foreign diplomats) using his own hotels and other businesses as supposed to competitors.
overcharging the Secret Service to protect his family and himself when his family were residing in Trump Tower (until his wife and son decided to move into the White House) and when he takes frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort ("winter White House") in Florida to play golf and meet foreign leaders and dignitaries among other people.
Use his presidency to get permits approved for the hotels bearing his famous name (Trump gets licensing and management fees) in foreign countries and getting his trademarks approved in China.
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-golf-trips-have-cost-nearly-150000-cart-rentals-secret-service-727933
TRUMP GOLF TRIPS HAVE COST NEARLY $150,000 IN CART RENTALS FOR SECRET SERVICE
For the fossil fuel industry:
putting the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) under their control
exiting the Paris Climate Change Agreement to effectively end the effort to reduce carbon emissions
gutting environmental regulations (see below)
issuing permits to drilling and building projects
a case in point: approving the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline
# for the polluting industries:
- getting rid of environmental regulations that chemical and fossil fuel industries, mining industry, etc. will benefit.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/climate/trump-environment-rules-reversed.html
52 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump
regulatory capture & let the fox guard the henhouse
Department of Energy is headed by Trump's appoitee Rick Perry, who has benefited from the fossil industries wants to destroy it. This is the agency that has all kinds of responsibilities related to energy and nuclear weapons. During the Obama administration, the agency prioritized on developing clean renewable energy, which I assume Rick Perry would very much want to end.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), headed by Trump's appointee Ben Carson, gives out contracts to build low-incoming housings for the poor. I'm sure this will be a windfall for building contractors.
Department of Education is headed by Trump's appointee Betsy Devos, who has advocated for charter school system and school voucher programs without any government accountability or regulation. School voucher programs would allow allow students to attend private schools (including religious schools) with public funding. Essentially, Betsy Devos wants private schools to use government funds as money tree without giving students proper education. Her experiment with Michigan's charter school program has already demonstrated this obvious flaw.
I'm sure Betsy Devos will work hard to cut funding for public school and try to push for these programs through the Department of the Education from inside. By cutting the public education, the Republicans can turn around to blame public schools for their ineffectiveness.
Of course, pushing for funding for religious schools also violates the separation between church and state, as the government should not promote religion or favor any religion. Betsy Devos is also very supportive of Christian private schools in order to"advance God's Kingdom".
Also, by defunding public school, the teachers' unions will be weakened, Betsy Devos and her family has a long history of going against unions. And labor unions, including teachers' unions donate to the Democratic Party. Thus, by getting rid of unions, the Democratic Party loses its organized major donor base.
- Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is headed by Trump's appointee Ajit Pai, who is currently pushing for Net Neutrality repeal and prevent local and state government to reinstate Net Neutrality. He has already put this repeal to a vote in the Commission, and the repeal is expected to pass along the party line (3 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats) . He was a lawyer working for Verizon, a major telecommunication company. He has long advocated for deregulation in the communication industry and the repeal of net neutrality.
Without net neutrality, internet service providers are able to discriminate the loading speed of web content to their customers and hold web companies hostage by demanding extra fee for providing speed that end users have already paid for.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)'s acting director Mick Mulvaney will likely serve in the interest of payday loan lenders and big banks. Payday loan lenders often charge consumers (who are mostly cash-strapped low-income people) with exorbitantly high interest rates that most borrowers cannot pay off. Mulvaney had been receiving campaign donations from the payday loan lenders while he was a member of Representative. And he is likely to deregulate the payday loan industry from inside the government, such as by getting rid of the agency's signature payday lending rule.
And not surprisingly, he has called the agency is "sick, sad" joke. [I thought the fact Mulvaney is heading the government agency is a sick, sad joke.]
Rep. Mick Mulvaney: CFPB 'Sick, Sad Joke'
- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is headed by Scott Pruitt. He doesn't believe that global warming is caused by humans denies that carbon dioxide is the main cause. He also has a history of receiving campaign donation from the fossil fuel industry and suing the EPA for at least 14 times as the Oklahoma Attorney General. Clearly, he's been serving the interest of fossil fuel industry and continue to do so as the administrator of the EPA.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/war-on-the-epa/
PBS FRONTLINE: War on the EPA
for the Banking industry:
taking the pesty Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under their control. Trump just created a competing claim to the agency of acting director by violating the law.
financial advisers do not have to serve the interest of clients
The Financial Stability Oversight Council, for example, recently stripped AIG of its “systemically important financial institution” (SIFI) designation. That decision from the interagency group of regulators freed the insurance company from much of the enhanced oversight its messy 2008 collapse inspired.
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/356127-bank-industry-searches-for-wins-under-trump
Bank industry searches for wins under Trump
Lobbyists: An open season for lobbying
Of course, this is a catch all terms, but lobbyists are certainly happy when it's open season. Trump administration is very willing to listen to the lobbyists' advise and complaints -- a complete reversal from the Obama administration.
He reversed President Barack Obama’s restrictions that sought to keep lobbyists at bay by physically barring many of them from the White House. [...] And Trump has stopped the public disclosure of White House visitors’ logs, so now lobbyists come and go with less concern that their presence at the White House will be scrutinized.
A number of business trade groups asked the Trump administration to suspend a rule, created during the Obama years, that would require companies to disclose to the government any communications they have with employees during union disputes. In June, the Trump Labor Department did just that, citing the opposition from business.
Some of the beneficiaries: the steel industry, and fossil fuel industry (coal, oil and gas)
'Open Sesame:' Lobbyists cheer warmer welcome in Trump White House
the vacant judgeship: Trump's smooth sailing of confirming presidential judicial nominees
A history of Republican obstructionism in Judicial nomination under a Democratic administration creates a large number of vacant seats, which are filled by the Trump administration.
Trump and McConnell have succeeded in pushing judicial nominees through the Senate because the Republicans have voted in lockstep since taking control of the chamber in 2014.
When Trump took office in January, there were more than 100 vacant seats on the federal courts, thanks to an unprecedented slowdown engineered by McConnell during the final two years of President Obama’s term. The Senate under GOP control approved only 22 judges in that two-year period, the lowest total since 1951-52 in the last year of President Truman’s term. By contrast, the Senate under Democratic control approved 68 judges in the last two years of George W. Bush’s presidency.
The best known vacancy was on the Supreme Court. After Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, McConnell refused to permit a hearing for Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee. Trump filled the seat earlier this year with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.
The Alliance for Justice, which tracks judicial nominees, said Trump’s team is off to a fast start, particularly when compared with Obama’s first year. By November 2009, Obama had made 27 judicial nominations, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Trump has nominated 59 people to the federal courts, including Justice Gorsuch. That’s also a contrast with Trump’s pace in filling executive branch jobs, where he has lagged far behind the pace of previous administrations.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-judge-20171110-story.html
Trump judge nominee, 36, who has never tried a case, wins approval of Senate panel
For the Russian government:
pulling out out the Syria civil war.
not faithfully implementing the Russian sanctions.
dismissing the idea the idea of democracy and ruining American prestige.
creating chaos and internal strife within the US.
delay funding Ukraine.
Trump promised to stop funding the Kurdish fighters
Trump didn't investigate how the Russian government was influencing public opinion and tried to hacked into the software of voting machines and voter registration systems, laying groundwork for the future.
to get rid of the American counterbalance to Russia that has been subject to for a long time in the military and foreign affairs.
the ultra-rich: we are still waiting for our tax cuts. Don't make us wait!
Of course, their tax cuts are still being negotiated, but it is certain that if it gets passed, the benefits would be enormous, much larger than any previous administration have done. Of course, passing bills are the responsibility of Congress, but having the president more than willing to sign any tax cut bill has removed a major obstacle.