Washington is a very easy city for you to forget where you came from and why you got there in the first place.
-Harry S Truman
STABILITY AT STATE: Rex Tillerson entered the hallowed halls of the State Department for the first time as Secretary yesterday. And just in time as President Trump has been lighting up the foreign policy landscape with executive orders, phone calls and - tweets. Over the past few days the president has put Iran “on notice,” had a tense phone call with the Australian PM, dropped the executive order on immigration and sent mixed messages on Israeli settlements. With Tillerson’s arrival at State coupled with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s hawkish statement at the UN on Russian sanctions, look for a more balanced approach to foreign policy.
IT’S COMPLICATED: Shortly after the election, the business community suddenly turned hopeful with a private sector businessman running the government. The honeymoon may be short lived though and the relationship has moved into the “it’s complicated” stage. Following Trump’s travel ban, tremors of trade protectionism, and singling out individual companies via social media, major companies from Silicon Valley to Wall Street have pushed back against the president. As with any complicated relationship, they’re not likely stay away for too long with another wave of execs headed to 1600 Penn at noon today.
FIDUCIARY RULE FREEZE: Trump will continue his regulatory push today by delaying the Labor Department's Fiduciary Rule. The Rule was expected to be implemented in April and require financial advisors to act in the best interest of their client when giving retirement investment advice. While the financial services industry was kept in the dark on this, most in the industry rule viewed the rule as over burdensome and will mark the first step in President Trump’s new directive to the Treasury Secretary to overhaul Dodd Frank.
CRA IN THE LIMELIGHT: The Congressional Review Act (CRA) has officially been dusted off for the first time since 2001. The Senate voted to kill an Obama Administration coal mining rule requiring coal firms to clean up water from mountaintop removal mining. Overturning almost any coal mining related rule would be a prized catch for a Senator from Kentucky (who just happens to be the Senate Majority Leader) and he’s found an ally at the White House - so you can bet Trump will sign it with a flourish.
ACA INCHING FORWARD:CMS sent a proposed rule to President Trump and while we don’t yet know the exact language we can expect it aims to provide relief from essential health benefit mandate, limit special enrollment periods, shorten grace periods, and relax age bans. It’s likely the proposed rule will address the unpopular individual mandate which in our view is neither getting healthy people to buy insurance nor gets enforced by the IRS. While we expect the industry to raise objections about reduced (if that is even possible) or suspended enforcement of the individual mandate, there is probably a deal to be made between those doable items on the industry’s short list of changes and President Trump’s political objectives. Our Senior Health Analyst Emily Evans has a more in-depth analysis here.
