Posted on 12/01/2016 9:23:40 AM PST by MaxistheBest
Donald Trump will meet with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) on Friday, his team announced before suggesting she's in the mix for a cabinet job that could cost Democrats a seat in the Senate.
"She comes very highly recommended, very highly qualified, is a proven leader and would be an asset in any role or capacity," Trump spokesman Jason Miller told reporters on a Thursday morning conference call.
A Heitkamp appointment would give Trump's cabinet the veneer of bipartisanship, and all but certainly hand Republicans control of another Senate seat, giving them a 53-47 edge in the upper chamber. The first-term senator won a hard-fought race in 2012 and is a top GOP target in the 2018 midterm elections in a state where Trump won by a 36-point margin
Heitkamp has expressed frustration with the Senate's partisanship in the past and recently toyed with a run for governor before deciding against it. She didn't do anything to tamp down speculation she might leave to join the administration in her statement on the upcoming sit-down, saying that "whatever job" she has she'll fight for North Dakota.
"I appreciate the President-elect inviting me for a meeting, she said. Every single day, my work is motivated first and foremost by how I can be most helpful to the people of North Dakota. They are my driving force and have been throughout my career in public service. Whatever job I do, I hope to work with the President-elect and all of my colleagues in Congress on both sides of the aisle to best support my state.
Heitkamp has experience on environmental issues, energy production and agriculture. Her former jobs include working for the Environmental Protection Agency and a coal and synthetic fuels plant. While Trump's team declined to discuss which roles she might be a good fit for, the EPA, Interior and Agriculture would all be logical landing places.
Democrats are facing a tough 2016 election map, defending 10 seats in states Trump won, including five in heavily Republican territory and only one swing-state target. If Heitkamp leaves, that makes incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) job of holding together his caucus to fight Republicans while minimizing election losses in two years that much harder
There really is no excuse for having a Dem in the cabinet unless it is in a policy-harmless position and it delivers another senate seat.
Put her in charge of AG, and later tell her to eliminate the ethanol subsidy.
I know nothing about Heitkamp, but if she is a sensible Dem. and well qualified for a cabinet post, a chance to the other ND senate seat to Republicans should be a great long term gain. All the senate seats in the Dakotas and Montana should be Republican, but so far there are still those two in the Dem column (Heitkamp and Tester).
Most Palin talk has moved to the VA position today, from what I've heard.
Watch Obama take credit for anything good that happens during the Trump presidency ... if he happens to recognize that what’s good for the American people is actually good.
Unless you are an experienced corporate break up commander, the VA is going to be a good place to go to fail, whoever takes it.
A big job for the little lady, imho. Palin has been unhinged in most of her appearances for some time, but, that’s just me.
And now Manchin too for DoE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW85ZcswiqM
Trump is going to work his way to a Graham/McCain/Collins-proof majority!
And what's in it for her?
1. Keystone and ND pipelines
2. Trump energy policy a big boost for ND fracking
(that is a lot of jobs in ND)
3. A first class ticket on the Trump Train
Hell yes. This 52 (pending the Bayou) is too close for comfort, damn that NH robbery (and the ND robbery of 2012).
I heard Manchin being floated for Energy Sec. I hate this guts but it would worth it.
Of course we would not Manchin’s seat cause of WV rat governor, brain fart.
How is it a win to put a Democrat back in charge of the EPA?
She’s going to lose the seat anyway. No need to pay for it with a cabinet post.
She's supported those all along and I expect she'll continue to do so as a Senator.
2. Trump energy policy a big boost for ND fracking
Which she will support as a Senator and would play well during her reelection campaign.
3. A first class ticket on the Trump Train
A first class ticket to a minor cabinet position, then obscurity and an end to her electoral career. I doubt that fits in with her career goals.
The governor of WV is a Democrat, as is the Gov-elect, so naming Manchin to the Cabinet only would get us a different Democrat appointed to his Senate seat for the next two years. While perhaps this would increase our chances of taking the seat in 2018, we can’t be sure that the person appointed won’t be as personally popular as Manchin (and he won’t have liberal votes cast in the Senate between 2010 and 2016 to throw in his face), plus I think that we would beat Manchin anyhow. While Harper Polling just came out with a poll showing Manchin up by 51-39 over Congressman Evan Jenkins and by 57-35 over AG Patrick Morrissey, polling two years away from the election is pretty useless, and I don’t think that Manchin can survive unless he basically votes like a Republican for the next two years (which would be a huge departure from his voting record).
So I’d rather if Trump named Heitekamp instead of Manchin to something (although if he can name both to positions where they can’t do much damage, I guess that I’d take it).
Good point
I wish people would keep in mind that the Department of Energy does very very little for energy. It is really the civilian agency responsible for defense nuclear weapons activities.
DOE's total budget for FY 2016 was $29.6M.
Of this:
$19.6 was for Atomic Energy Defense Activities: (Nuclear weapons, Naval Reactors (Admiral Rickover's outfit), and Nuclear waste clean-up (crony capitalism to pretend to do something about the legacy waste problem).
$5.7B was for Basic Science (national labs operating accelerators, etc.)
These activities were the province of the old Atomic Energy Commission which became ERDA under Nixon.
This leaves exactly $2.9B for energy activities and other assorted administrative tasks. Of this amount:
$638M is for fossil energy - this is a drop in the bucket, $2 / year per American citizen.
$1B is for nuclear energy (when was the last time that the DOE built a nuclear reactor?)
There is an additional $292 M for ARPA-E [DOE's venture capital effort after all the real venture capital firms have scraped off the good projects).
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