President-elect’s team reportedly exploring ways to downsize or combine key bodies; RFK Jr adviser challenges approvals of polio and other vaccines
RFK Jr key adviser petitioned regulators to revoke approval of polio vaccine
Good morning, US politics blog readers. We have fewer than 40 days to go until Donald Trump is inaugurated president of the United States, and more signs are emerging of how he might follow through on his plans to transform the country. The New York Times reports that Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has filed petitions challenging the approvals of vaccines against polio and several other diseases, has been by health and human services secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr’s side as he has interviewed candidates for jobs in the department. It’s yet more evidence that, if he is confirmed, Kennedy could insert his discredited anti-vaccine views into the government.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump’s transition team is exploring ways to downside or combine major banking regulators, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a key stabilizer of the sector that was created in the wake of the Great Depression. While the country has come a long way since that era-defining financial crisis, bank collapses still happen, and expect tons of pushback if the second Trump administration follows through on the plan.
Joe Biden is starting his day early, with a virtual meeting of G7 countries at 9.30am ET.
House Republicans announced their committee chairs for the next Congress. Notable, Biden nemeses Jim Jordan and James Comer will remain as chairs of the judiciary and oversight committees, respectively.
Xi Jinping is not expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, CBS News reports, after the president-elect invited the Chinese president.
