First Draft on Politics: Obama Out

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Thursday, January 19, 2017 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Politics »] [The New York Times] Thursday, January 19, 2017 [President Obama in the White House briefing room on Wednesday.] President Obama in the White House briefing room on Wednesday. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Good Thursday morning. • President Obama vows not to be silent after he leaves the White House. At the final news conference of his presidency, Mr. Obama made clear on Wednesday that he found some ideas advanced by President-elect Donald J. Trump so alarming that [he laid out markers that would draw him back] into the fray. All of his red lines seemed to refer to positions taken in the past by Mr. Trump, foreshadowing the possibility of a periodic clash of ideas over the next four years between current and past presidents. • Another cabinet blitz on Capitol Hill. Four more Trump cabinet appointees climbed Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify before members of the Senate considering their confirmation: Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, [the pick for United Nations ambassador]; Representative Tom Price, the man [chosenÂ][to lead the Department of Health and Human Services]; Scott Pruitt, the selection [for the Environmental Protection Agency]; and Wilbur L. Ross, the nominee [for commerce secretary];  We culled 10 highlights from today’s hearings. Read them [here]. • A slow start for Mr. Trump’s national security team. Less than three days before Mr. Obama turns over the keys to the White House and the nuclear codes, Mr. Trump’s transition staff [has barely engaged with the National Security Council] below the most senior levels. A dearth of people with security clearances has deprived the Trump team of weeks of preparation work on some of the most complex security issues facing the country. — 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 • The inauguration festivities officially kick off on Thursday afternoon, with a wreath-laying ceremony, a concert outside the Lincoln Memorial and an intimate dinner for Mr. Trump and his supporters. (See a full schedule [here].) • The Senate will hold two more confirmation hearings on Thursday for Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks: Rick Perry for Energy and Steven Mnuchin for Treasury. • Thursday is Mr. Obama’s final full day as president. Will he announce any last-minute policy moves?  ADVERTISEMENT  [Representative Mick Mulvaney, Republican of South Carolina, the nominee to become the White House budget director.] Representative Mick Mulvaney, Republican of South Carolina, the nominee to become the White House budget director. Zach Gibson/Associated Press A Return of the Nanny Issue? Taxpayers can get upset when their public officials don’t pay their own taxes. That’s one reason Representative Mick Mulvaney, the Trump administration’s nominee for budget director, is in hot water over the disclosure that he didn’t pay required taxes on a family nanny. Zoe Baird, nominated by Bill Clinton in 1993 to be the first woman attorney general, was forced to withdraw her nomination after admitting she had not paid taxes on her household employees. The nanny issue sank a second pending Clinton pick for attorney general when Kimba Wood had to take her name out of consideration when it was revealed she had employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny. More recently, former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle was forced to withdraw his nomination as health secretary in 2009 because he had not paid taxes on a car and driver he had been provided. One tax-challenged nominee did survive in 2009. Timothy F. Geithner, then the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and the nominee for Treasury secretary, was confirmed despite his acknowledgement that he had had to pay back taxes. It was especially striking that he got through the Senate since, as the Treasury secretary, he would be the overseer of the Internal Revenue Service. But lawmakers from both parties said that given the crushing economic crisis at the time, few others were as well equipped to take on the job. Mr. Mulvaney, a Republican from South Carolina, has paid more than $15,000 to cover the nanny shortfall and may survive the embarrassing episode to become the director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he will be responsible for drafting the Trump administration's spending blueprint. He will probably also become more careful about his personal accounts. — CARL HULSE Al Drago/The New York Times [Pick for Health Secretary Is Vague on Replacing Affordable Care Act] By ROBERT PEAR AND THOMAS KAPLAN At a Senate hearing, Representative Tom Price set lofty goals for replacing the health law but did not say how he would achieve them. [Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, center, the incoming national security adviser, has met four times with his Obama counterpart, Susan E. Rice, most recently on Tuesday afternoon.] Kevin Hagen for The New York Times [Dogged by Delays, Trump’s National Security Team Gets a Slow Start] By MARK LANDLER The Obama administration has written 275 briefing papers for the incoming administration, but doesn’t know whether the material has been read. [The Trump International Hotel in Washington, where President-elect Donald Trump stopped for dinner on Wednesday.] Doug Mills/The New York Times [At Dinner Honoring Mike Pence, Donald Trump Touches Many Bases] By MAGGIE HABERMAN The president-elect gave credit to his running mate, but also jabbed at Republicans and critics, and talked about “merit-based” immigration. [Cameron Harris in his home office in Annapolis, Md., on Monday. He created a fake story about an electrical worker who stumbled upon stacked boxes of ballots pre-marked for Hillary Clinton.] Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times [From Headline to Photograph, a Fake News Masterpiece] By SCOTT SHANE Cameron Harris, a recent college graduate, pulled six million people into his bogus story about the finding of fraudulent ballots for Hillary Clinton. Live Briefing [Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia, testified during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.] [10 Highlights From the Latest Confirmation Hearings] By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, JOHN SCHWARTZ, EMMARIE HUETTEMAN AND THOMAS KAPLAN Nominees including Tom Price, the health and human services pick, and Scott Pruitt, chosen to lead the E.P.A., faced aggressive questioning at hearings but avoided major stumbles. [President Obama spoke during his final news conference in the White House briefing room on Wednesday.] [In Farewell, Obama Sets Red Lines That Would Pull Him Back Into Fray] By MICHAEL D. SHEAR AND PETER BAKER At his final news conference in the White House, the president was asked about his future and his decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning. [Barack Obama with Keegan-Michael Key in 2015.] [Obama Understood the Power of Art. And He Wanted You to Get It, Too.] By WESLEY MORRIS The president invited in artists and sought others out, from novelists to rappers to musicians to actors. [The Rockettes performing at an inaugural event for President George W. Bush in 2005, when he was sworn in for his second term.] [A Trump Inauguration Casualty: The Silent, Smiling Rockettes] By KATIE ROGERS AND GIA KOURLAS Current and former Rockettes find themselves in a different spotlight as they take sides over the inauguration, breaking with the solidarity that defines the troupe. [Mr. Hayes and Ms. Ploss placed an order at a McDonald’s in Norwalk, Conn., accompanied by their Donald Trump cutout.] [Road Trip to Trump’s Inauguration: ‘I Want to See How It Plays Out’] The New York Times is driving to the inauguration with supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump, talking about life and the future of America. Follow along for updates. [Ian Schrager, left, and Steve Rubell, right, flanking Roy Cohn, their lawyer, were both convicted in 1980 of tax evasion at their disco club, Studio 54, a popular celebrity hangout.] [On Obama’s Pardon List: A Hotel Magnate Who Owned Studio 54] By SARAH MASLIN NIR Ian Schrager, a Studio 54 owner convicted in 1980 of tax evasion, might seem to be in little need of presidential intercession. He agrees, to a point.  HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. 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