Administration Says Obama Did Not Sabotage NSC Budget

It’s the first full week of February, and Donald Trump has been president for nearly two and a half weeks. So why, besides the executive orders, do things seem to be moving so slowly for the Trump administration?

For starters, Senate Democrats are doing everything in their power to slow down the confirmation process for most of Trump's cabinet picks. That should change after this week (stretching "this week" into Saturday, that is), with several more nominees expected to have their votes and get through.

And those executive orders haven't been easy to move on from. The legal zoo surrounding Trump's travel restriction, which a federal court ordered suspended over the weekend, continues. The Ninth Circuit federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesdayafternoon, the Washington Post reports.

But what about Obamacare repeal? Tax reform? Other elements of the Trump legislative agenda? The White House is keeping quiet on all this until the cabinet is confirmed, I'm told. That doesn't mean the administration isn't getting ready for these big fights behind the scenes. But for the moment, we don't know much yet about if and how the White House is getting ready for the upcoming battles. What we do know is that Vice President Mike Pence will be on Capitol Hill Tuesday, attending the weekly Republican Senate policy lunch and possibly conferring with senators about the path forward on these issues.

Trump Admin Says Obama Did Not Sabotage the NSC

For a couple of weeks, a rumor has been percolating among national-security types in Washington. In a final act of indignity, so people were saying, the Obama administration left the incoming Trump White House with a drained staff budget for the National Security Council—by handing out bonuses to its staff as they were headed out the door.