Waching daily Apr 28 2017

Trump�s Cabinet still isn�t close to fully staffed, and secretaries are feeling the pressure

The White House is moving at an alarmingly sluggish rate to fill hundreds of top-tier

posts, making many of President Trump�s Cabinet secretaries unhappy and fearful that

the vacancies are continuing to hinder the everyday duties of the administration, according

to the Washington Post.

There are still 530 senior-level jobs that need to be filled, all of which require Senate

confirmation.

So far, Trump has only put forth 37 nominees.

To date the Senate has successfully confirmed only 26 of the president�s picks, either

for his Cabinet or other top positions.

�These posts include the deputy secretaries and undersecretaries, chief financial officers,

ambassadors, general counsels, and heads of smaller agencies who run the government day-to-day,�

the Post noted.

Prior administrations have typically moved more efficiently.

At this point in his first 100 days, Barack Obama had confirmed 69 appointments with 118

nominations sent in, and George W. Bush had confirmed 35 while having sent in 50 nominees.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has overtly shown patience is being tested, and has �routinely

peppered the White House Personnel Office for updates and called Trump directly to press

for faster action on filling vacant jobs at the Interior Department,� according to sources

that spoke with the Post.

During a breakfast meeting with former congressional colleagues, Health and Human Services Secretary

Tom Price spoke to them about the slow process.

�He�s very frustrated,� said a Republican House who was in attendance, according to

the Post.

�He felt it was much more difficult to operate the department and provide the leadership

level that you need to provide.�

Much of the delay has stemmed from Trump�s decision to replace Governor Chris Christie,

R-N.J. with Vice President Mike Pence as director of the transition team.

After Christie was relieved, much of his work was axed.

Another reason the nomination process has taken so long is partly because of the various

factions in the White House that are competing with one another.

Potential business conflicts of interest have also played a role in the slow process.

The FBI and the Office of Government Ethics are currently vetting 250 candidates before

they can be nominated and then sent to the Senate for their confirmation.

For more infomation >> Trump's Cabinet still isn't close to fully staffed, and secretaries are feeling the pressure - Duration: 2:52.

-------------------------------------------

Democrats Take Government Hostage Threaten To Shut It Down If GO - politics - Duration: 4:14.

Democrats Take Government Hostage: Threaten To Shut It Down If GOP Repeals Obamacare

Once again Republicans have managed to box themselves in.

Just as the GOP has reportedly found enough votes among conservative Republicans to pass

the latest iteration of the proposed Healthcare bill, with Freedom Caucus Mark Meadows saying

"republicans will have the votes to pass" Obamacare repeal, Democrats realized that

they once again have the leverage to bring this whole process to a grinding halt halt.

And they are using it.

As The Hill reports, House Democrats will oppose any short-term spending bill - which

is what McConnell was hoping on passing to buy one week of time - if Republican leaders

attempt to expedite an ObamaCare repeal bill this week, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) warned

Thursday.

In other words, Democrats are now holding the government hostage indefinitely as long

as Republicans - who now have the votes to pass new healthcare legislation - threaten

to repeal Obamacare.

Hoyer, the Democratic whip, spoke with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) Thursday

morning to warn him of the Democrats' position.

"If Republicans announce their intention to bring their harmful TrumpCare bill to the

House Floor tomorrow or Saturday, I will oppose a one-week Continuing Resolution and will

advise House Democrats to oppose it as well,� Hoyer said in an email.

�Republicans continue to struggle to find the votes to pass a bill that will kick 24

million Americans off their health coverage, allow discrimination against those with pre-existing

conditions, and impose an age tax on older Americans.

That's why they are trying to jam it through the House before their Members can hear from

the American people this weekend about their opposition to this horrible legislation.�

"If Republicans pursue this partisan path of forcing Americans to pay more for less

and destabilizing our county's health care system � without even knowing how much their

bill will cost � Republicans should be prepared to pass a one-week Continuing Resolution on

their own,� Hoyer said.

As the Hill adds, the threat is significant because GOP leaders will likely need Democratic

votes to pass a short-term spending bill in the face of opposition from conservatives

historically opposed to government funding bills.

Even Trump has chimed in... again.

Ironically, as long as the GOP was split internally, and appeared it did not have enough votes

to repeal Obamacare, the government shutdown was a negligible risk.

However now that Democrats have realized that the new bill may just pass, they are using

the biggest leverage they have: holding one-week continuing resolutions indefinitely, in the

process assuring that Republicans may never be able to pass Obamacare repeal, with the

government being funded on a week-by-week basis only as long as the GOP agrees not to

pass such a vote.

The Democrats� move comes as bipartisan negotiators in both chambers are getting closer

to an agreement on an omnibus spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.

If Congress doesn�t act before midnight Friday night, much of the federal government

would shut down.

The market, naturally, has noticed, and as Citi observes "the latest bout of headlines

has investors on edge - US Republicans and Senate in deep conflict.

Speaking to our desks, interest seen - especially for USDJPY - appears to be largely short-term,

reactionary.

As we type, the market looks for a base.

USDJPY now 111.20.

US 10y yield at 2.2950%."

How this particular impasse will be resolved remains unclear