First Draft on Politics: Trump's Victory Affirmed

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Tuesday, December 20, 2016 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Politics »] [The New York Times] Tuesday, December 20, 2016 [A member of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College cast his ballot for Donald J. Trump for president, in Harrisburg, Pa., on Monday.] A member of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College cast his ballot for Donald J. Trump for president, in Harrisburg, Pa., on Monday. Charles Mostoller for The New York Times Good Tuesday morning. • Donald Trump wins a final victory: the Electoral College. Late Monday afternoon, Republican electors in Texas vaulted Donald J. Trump [past the 270-vote threshold] for election, affirming him as the nation’s 45th president. The Electoral College vote is normally a political footnote. But this year, it took on unexpected import after Mr. Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote, spawned an effort by some to block his path to the presidency. In the end, [seven electors did defect] from their party’s nominee, but most of them were supposed to vote for Mrs. Clinton. • With Trump’s victory secured, Democrats are drawing battle lines. The protests at state capitols across the country where electors were meeting on Monday offered a preview of what is sure to be among the most tumultuous inaugurations and first 100-day periods for a president in modern history. With Mr. Trump’s aides declaring a landslide and Democrats crying foul, [battle lines are being drawn]. Washington has been drifting toward perpetual political combat for over two decades, but the hostility toward Mr. Trump suggests there will be stouter opposition to him than there has been to any other recent occupant of the White House. And Democrats, after a period of shell shock, say they will offer a well-financed resistance. • The appointments continue; this time, a pick to oversee the Army. He may have retreated to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, for the holidays, but Mr. Trump has not let that stop him from making another appointment. On Monday, his transition team said that [he would nominate] Vincent Viola, the billionaire founder of a high-frequency trading company, as secretary of the Army. Mr. Viola, a retired Army major and graduate of West Point, is the owner of the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers, former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange and founder of Virtu Financial. • The Obama administration races to complete its final transfers out of Guantánamo. The Obama administration has undertaken a burst of urgent, high-level diplomatic talks aimed at moving out [as many of the 59 remaining prisoners as possible from Guantánamo Bay], Cuba, while Mr. Obama is still in office. By law, the Pentagon must notify Congress 30 days before any transfer, so the deadline to set in motion deals before the end of the Obama administration was Monday. By late in the day, officials said, the administration had agreed to tell Congress that it intended to transfer 17 or 18 of the 22 detainees who were eligible. If all goes as planned, that will leave 41 or 42 prisoners in Guantánamo under the incoming Trump administration. — NICHOLAS FANDOS  Got a confidential news tip? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn more »]  What We’re Watching • Working retreat: Mr. Trump is in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, holding “light” meetings and spending time with his family. Aides said to expect additional personnel announcements later in the week. • Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be in Washington for transition meetings, before returning to Indianapolis for the holiday. • President Obama continues his year-end vacation in Hawaii. Think more golf and no public events.  ADVERTISEMENT  [A mountaintop-removal coal site in Virginia in March.] A mountaintop-removal coal site in Virginia in March. George Etheredge for The New York Times New Coal Regulations May Be Short-Lived The Obama administration on Monday finalized a regulation intended to rein in mountaintop-removal coal mining, in what is expected to be among a last-ditch flurry of significant environmental rules. The new rule would require mining companies to avoid the use of cheap but heavily polluting extraction techniques — such as deploying explosives to blast off the tops of coal-seamed mountains. The rule will ban the use of the technique near streams and waterways that could be affected by the resulting rubble.  The regulation, which has been [in the works for several years], will go into effect just one day before the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. Coal companies and coal-state lawmakers lobbied heavily against the measure and were fiercely critical when it was released on Monday. But it will probably be rolled back soon after Mr. Trump assumes office. Mr. Trump has assailed many of Mr. Obama’s major environmental regulations, but in most cases, it will be difficult for him to quickly and legally undo them. The exceptions will be regulations like the mountaintop-removal rule, which have been released in recent weeks and days. Under the 1996 Congressional Review Act, Congress can undo regulations within 60 legislative days after they are passed — a procedure that requires only a 51-vote majority. While the law has been used only once in its 20-year history, regulatory experts say they expect that it will enjoy a newfound prominence after Mr. Trump takes office. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a coal-heavy state where mining companies lobbied against the rule, has made his intentions clear. “When the new Congress convenes next month, I will also introduce a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn this egregious regulation and work with my colleagues to use every tool available to turn back this regulatory assault on coal country,” he said in a statement. — CORAL DAVENPORT [A member of Pennsylvania’s Electoral College cast his ballot Monday for Donald J. Trump in Harrisburg, Pa.] Charles Mostoller for The New York Times News Analysis [Electoral College Settles Donald Trump’s Victory, but Little Else] By JONATHAN MARTIN AND MICHAEL WINES Electors across the country faced protests, reflecting the vast divide that has carried over from a tumultuous race and that will face the new president.  [More Electors Defected Than Ever Before, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton] By KIERSTEN SCHMIDT AND WILSON ANDREWS Seven members of the Electoral College, the most ever, picked someone other than their party’s nominee. [A wind farm in Colorado City, Tex. Texas currently has more wind power than any other state.] Spencer Platt/Getty Images [As Trump Signals Climate Action Pullback, Local Leaders Push Forward] By TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG Governors and mayors say they are determined to continue with plans to address climate change, no matter what a Trump administration may do. [Steven T. Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary, at Trump Tower on Nov. 30.] Evan Vucci/Associated Press [Trump’s Treasury Pick Moves in Secretive Hedge Fund Circles] By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN AND ALEXANDRA STEVENSON Steven T. Mnuchin’s time in the limelight came mainly as the head of OneWest, a bank bought out of bankruptcy that was criticized over foreclosures. What We’re Reading • The opioid epidemic hung heavily over this year’s presidential election. The Los Angeles Times investigates how the manufacturer of OxyContin, one of the drugs at the center of the crisis, has developed a new strategy to make up for declining domestic sales: “[Put the painkiller that set off the U.S. opioid crisis into medicine cabinets around the world].” • The Charleston Gazette-Mail found that 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills had [flooded West Virginia] in just a six-year period, the equivalent of “433 pain pills for every man, woman and child” in the state. • The prospect of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner choosing one of Washington’s Modern Orthodox synagogues has excited [the Jewish community in the city], Politico writes. The most likely pick, according to the report: Kesher Israel in Georgetown. • Mr. Obama sat down with Steve Inskeep, the host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” for an hourlong interview looking back on Mr. Obama’s presidency. Watch the video and read the transcript [here].  [Vincent Viola, a retired Army major who helped found the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, is the president-elect’s nominee for secretary of the Army.] [Vincent Viola, Billionaire Businessman, Picked to Lead Army] By HELENE COOPER If confirmed, Mr. Viola, a retired major who helped found the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, would be the Army’s senior civilian leader. The 2016 Race [Why Trump Had an Edge in the Electoral College] By NATE COHN It wasn’t about small-state bias or regionalism. It was about the nature of the battleground states, and there was one other key element: luck. [President Xi Jinping singing the Chinese national anthem at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Unlike President-elect Donald J. Trump, Mr. Xi rarely speaks off the cuff in public.] [Trump’s and Xi’s Differences Magnify Uncertainties Between U.S. and China] By CHRIS BUCKLEY The contrasting political styles of Donald J. Trump and Xi Jinping, the president of China, have injected a new unpredictability into relations. [A guard tower at the entrance of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.] [Obama Administration Looks to Move 17 or 18 Guantánamo Inmates] By CHARLIE SAVAGE The effort was part of a burst of urgent, high-level diplomatic talks aimed at relocating as many of the 22 prisoners who are recommended for transfer as possible.  [Anderson Ritter, 11, and his brother Baird, 7, protested House Bill 2 in Raleigh, N.C., in April. The law cut back legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.] Dillon Deaton for The New York Times [North Carolina Limits on L.G.B.T. Rights Appear Set for Repeal] By RICHARD FAUSSET The state’s General Assembly is expected to rescind the contentious law cutting legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. [Dr. Steven Rosenberg, left, who has led the surgery branch at the National Cancer Institute for 42 years, and Dr. Arie Belldegrun, the founder of Kite Pharma.] Jesse Dittmar (left) and Emily Berl (right) for The New York Times Public Labs, Corporate Gains [Harnessing the U.S. Taxpayer to Fight Cancer and Make Profits] By MATT RICHTEL AND ANDREW POLLACK Public funding is backing a new immunotherapy treatment, but the bulk of any profits would go to a private company. So are taxpayers getting a good deal? [President Obama on Friday at the White House. So far in his presidency, he has extended acts of clemency to a total of 1,324 people.] Al Drago/The New York Times [Clemency Explained After Obama Shows Mercy on 231 People] By MICHAEL D. SHEAR President Obama extended his acts of clemency to a total of 1,324 individuals, by far the largest use of the presidential power in the nation’s history. [Caitlan Coleman, an American, and her husband, Joshua Boyle, a Canadian, with their two small children — born during their four-year captivity by the Haqqani network.]  [American Woman Abducted in Afghanistan Makes Appeal to Obama] By ADAM GOLDMAN The hostage, who is being held with her husband and two children, pleaded with the president to secure the family’s release before he leaves office. [Bernie Sanders said he saw things from “a class-based perspective,” and sure enough, Democrats are debating exactly that approach.] Jim Wilson/The New York Times The 2016 Race [Biden, Sanders, Warren: Too Soon for 2020?] By NATE COHN AND TONI MONKOVIC A look at what 2014 and 2016 were trying to tell Democrats, such as whether they should be thinking more about class and less about identity politics.  Economic Trends [Stocks Look Awfully Expensive Since the Trump Rally] By NEIL IRWIN It’s worth keeping your eyes wide open about the risks investors are taking in the market, and the limited compensation they’re getting for them. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK] [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. 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