Trump Picks 'Voter ID' Advocate for Election Fraud Panel, and More in Politics Today

It’s difficult to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in this country and to break through the clutter, so we’re here to make it easier. Here’s what we at Countable are reading today:

1.Trump reportedly Picks 'Voter ID' Advocate for Election Fraud Panel

President Trump plans to name Kris W. Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who has pressed for aggressive measures to crack down on undocumented immigrants, to a long-promised commission to investigate voting fraud in the United States, a White House official said on Thursday.

Officials said Mr. Trump would sign an executive order on Thursday creating the commission, which they said would have a broad mandate to review policies and practices that affect Americans’ confidence in the integrity of federal elections. Improper or fraudulent registrations, voting fraud and voter suppression are among the issues the commission will study, they said.

Read more at the New York Times.

2. Full transcript: Acting FBI director McCabe and others testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee

Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, who replaced James Comey after he was fired by President Trump, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the topic of worldwide threats.

MCCABE: As you know, Senator, the work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions. So there has been no effort to impede our investigation today. Quite simply put sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people, and upholding the Constitution.

Read more at the Washington Post.

3. Senate Dems say banking regulator is unvetted, inexperienced

Six Senate Banking Committee Democrats told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday that the recent shake-up of a federal bank regulation is a "political power grab."

The senators wrote in a letter to Mnuchin that they were "deeply concerned" with his recent appointment of former Wall Street lawyer Keith Noreika to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) without a Senate confirmation.

"You have chosen to replace the current head with an acting head who is unvetted, has obvious conflicts of interest, and lacks the experience to run [OCC]," wrote the senators.

Read more at The Hill.

4.White House weeks away from naming anyone to Fed: official

U.S. President Donald Trump is weeks away from naming anyone to the board of the Federal Reserve, a White House official said, meaning it could be the fall before three currently empty seats are filled.

The vacancies on the Fed's seven member Board of Governors include the position of vice chair in charge of banking oversight, a critical role in Trump's plan to revamp financial rules.

If the vetting drags on, it runs the risk of delaying those people from taking their jobs until sometime this fall, complicating Trump's plan to reshape regulation of Wall Street.

Read more at Reuters.

5. CBO to issue cost estimate of House Republicans' health-care bill

The Congressional Budget Office is planning to release the week of May 22 an assessment of how the health-care legislation that the House just passed will impact federal spending.

The bill, which squeaked through the House on a vote of 217 to 213, has now migrated to the Senate. That chamber’s parliamentarian is responsible for deciding which parts of the legislation fit within criteria so it can be considered through a special budget "reconciliation" process for spending matters, which would make it easier for Republicans to pass. The parliamentarian is not allowed to begin that review without the CBO’s analysis.

Read more at the Washington Post.

— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons)