Barrasso to honor "sherpas" who helped Trump's Cabinet get confirmed
A political organization associated with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso is hosting a reception Monday night to celebrate the "sherpas" who helped Trump's Cabinet get confirmed by the Senate.
Why it matters: Trump's Cabinet was confirmed in record time and senators want to honor the aides and advisers who helped make it happen.
In addition to Barrasso (R-Wyo.), top Trump officials are expected to attend, according to people familiar with the matter.
Driving the news: The event is being hosted by the Senate Opportunity Fund, a 501(c)4 organization that Barrasso aides set up during the first Trump administration to help the Republican Conference hone its messaging.
The effort is being led by Arjun Mody, a longtime Barrasso adviser, who was also involved in the confirmation of Pete Hegseth at the Defense Department, Kash Patel at the FBI and Frank Bisignano at the Social Security Administration.
Zoom out: Both parties use sherpas — typically former Senate staffers or actual senators — to help nominees navigate the confirmation process. (The term is also to refer to a country's top representative at G-20 summits.)
President Trump's transition team started to put together a strategy in July on how to get their nominees confirmed by the Senate.
Nominees were assigned confirming teams when they were named.
Zoom in: There's a debate among Trump advisers and old Senate hands on which sherpas has the hardest job in navigating the confirmation minefield and finding 50 votes.
Atop the list are Eric Ueland (himself nominated to be the deputy at Office and Management and Budget), who helped Hegseth win a 51-50 confirmation vote, with Vice President Vance dramatically breaking the tie.
Arthur Schwartz, an adviser to Donald Trump Jr., also helped with Hegseth, as well as Elbridge Colby. Schwartz also counseled Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on his confirmation.
Ken Nahigian, who led the Trump-Pence transition eight years ago, was instrumental in getting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
10 minutes ago
- Fox News
Rep. Alford to introduce congressional stock trading ban mirroring Senate's 'PELOSI Act'
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., on Wednesday will introduce legislation that would ban congressional stock trading, serving as the House companion bill to Sen. Josh Hawley's, R-Mo., "PELOSI Act" in the Senate. Alford's proposed bill would ban lawmakers and their spouses from holding, purchasing or selling individual stocks while in office, but it allows investments in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or U.S. Treasury bonds. If passed, current lawmakers would have 180 days to comply with the legislation. Likewise, newly elected lawmakers must achieve compliance within 180 days of entering office. "As public servants, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard and avoid the mere appearance of corruption," Alford said in a statement. "Unfortunately, too many members of Congress are engaging in suspicious stock trades based on non-public information to enrich themselves." "These gross violations of the public trust make clear: we must finally take action to ban members and their spouses from owning or selling individual stocks," he added. Under the proposed legislation, lawmakers who continue to make wrongful transactions would be required to hand over any profits they made to the U.S. Treasury Department. The House or Senate ethics committees could also impose a fine on such lawmakers amounting to 10% of each wrongful transaction. House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed a stock trading ban on Wednesday, saying "a few bad actors" have ruined Americans' trust in lawmakers on the issue. "You want me to tell you my honest opinion on that? I'm in favor of that, because I don't think we should have any appearance of impropriety here," he told reporters during a press conference. President Donald Trump himself endorsed the same ban for members of Congress in an interview with Time magazine last month. "I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it," he said of a trading ban. "You'll sign it?" the reporter pressed. "Absolutely," Trump responded. Democrats in the House of Representatives have also expressed support for a ban, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., throwing his weight behind the proposal last week.
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gold Turns Higher on Increased Uncertainty
Gold prices gain as comments from President Trump instill some new economic worries heading into the summer. Trump posted on his Truth Social account that China's President Xi was "extremely hard to make a deal with," and also demanded Fed Chair Jerome Powell lower interest rates.
The Hill
10 minutes ago
- The Hill
Doug Ford urges Canada's leader to ramp up tariffs on US
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pressuring Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney to ramp up tariffs against the United States after President Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum earlier this week. 'I highly recommended to the prime minister directly that we slap another 25 percent on top of our tariffs to equal President Trump's tariffs on our steel,' Ford said during his Wednesday appearance on CNN's 'Situation Room.' 'He has to, he has to start looking around the world at China and other locations that are taking Chinese steel and really stop the flow of steel. That's the problem,' Ford told host Wolf Blitzer. 'Canada is not the problem. Again. We purchased 30 billion, with a 'B,' of steel off the US, and that's going to come to an end real quick.' Trump signed the executive order to hike the tariffs on Tuesday. The measure went into effect on Wednesday and would levy steel and aluminum tariffs on almost all imports to the U.S.. The United Kingdom is exempt as it inked a trade deal with Washington last month. Canada has retaliated against the U.S. previously, slapping a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on U.S. aluminum and steel products. Carney, who met with Trump at the White House in early May, did not express readiness to implement Ford's suggestion. 'We will take some time, not much, some time because we are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,' Carney said to reporters on Wednesday, according to Politico. 'Those discussions are progressing. I would note that the American action is a global action. It's not one targeted in Canada, so we will take some time, but not more,' the prime minister said. Ontario is open to imposing its own countermeasures, according to Ford. When asked on Wednesday if willing to bring back the electricity surcharge, he told reporters that 'everything's on the table.' Ontario implemented a 25 percent extra charge on the electricity Canada exports to three U.S. states after Trump threatened to double tariffs on steel and aluminum. Ford eventually spoke to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and later suspended the tax impacting Michigan, New York and Minnesota.
