White House Working on Secret Health Care Plan With 3 Think Tanks

Here is more from the Washington Examiner:

The White House is quietly working on a healthcare policy proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

While it is not clear how far along the process is, work on a proposal has been going on for months. The effort appears to belie criticism that Trump's decision to restart the debate on healthcare, an issue Democrats used to their advantage in the 2018 midterms, was an error committed without forethought.

The analyst said the administration has been “having conversations” on healthcare policy and has reached out to numerous think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation, the Mercatus Center, and the Hoover Institute.

And in related healthcare news, Scott Gottlieb, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently announced that he would be returning to his old think tank, American Enterprise Institute (AEI).  He reportedly plans to focus on drug prices and will commute to Washington, DC around six days per month.

AEI Scholar Tapped to run FDA

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a health policy expert at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), has been selected by President Donald Trump to be the next head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Gottlieb, a Resident Fellow at AEI, has for the past decade also been a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital firm investing in technology and healthcare.

The Washington Post reports that Dr. Gottlieb has longstanding ties to the drug industry, serving as a consultant or board member for several companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.  "He received ore than $400,000 in payments from pharmaceutical companies between 2013 and 2015, according to a federal database," says the Post.

A number of high-level think tankers have been tapped to join the Trump Administration in recent weeks, including Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Hunstman (to be US envoy to Russia), and Brookings scholar Fiona Hill (to join the National Security Council).

Agri-Pulse notes that Gottlieb's writings at the think tank focused on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and prescription drug policy.

More on the White House-think tank revolving door can be found here.

Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman to be Envoy to Russia

Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman has been offered the position of US Ambassador to Russia and has apparently accepted it.

Many Russians seem to like Huntsman, but they don't have as much love for his think tank, Atlantic Council.  Here is more from the New York Times:

Most Russian officials reacted favorably, he [Dimitri Simes, President of the Center for the National Interest] said, though some expressed concern about Mr. Huntsman’s ties to the Atlantic Council, a think tank of which he is chairman of the board, because it is perceived in Moscow as anti-Russian.

Indeed, Russian senator Alexei Pushkov was quoted in Sputnik as saying that Huntman's recent work as head of Atlantic Council, "a think tank critical of Russia," suggested that as ambassador Huntsman would "be no dove."

Vox says there is no evidence that Huntsman has any expertise on Russia, noting that "the closest is a stint from 2014 to present, as chair of the Atlantic Council."

MarketWatch says that Atlantic Council is "deeply critical" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Politico notes that the think tank supports the expansion of NATO.

Here are all of Atlantic Council's writings on Russia.  A look through them shows recent articles such as one entitled "Here's Why You Should Worry About Russian Propaganda," and "Putin Learns the Hard Way that Crimean Crime Does Not Pay."

Here is Think Tank Watch's recent piece on US think tankers wooing Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak.

Brave Brookings Scholar to Join Trump Administration

The Trump Administration has selected dozens of people from conservative think tanks for various White House and Cabinet positions.  In fact, there is not a single person on the Trump team that has been tapped directly from a liberal-leaning think tank - until now.

Fiona Hill, a Senior Fellow at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, has been offered a job at the National Security Council (NSC).  Here is more from Foreign Policy:

The Trump administration has offered a well-respected scholar and sober critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin the position of White House senior director for Europe and Russia, a White House official told Foreign Policy.

Hill, a dual U.S.-UK citizen and former U.S. intelligence officer from 2006 to 2009, has written critically of Putin’s autocratic tendencies and desire of a “weakened U.S. presidency.”  In her 2013 biography of Putin, she warned policymakers not to underestimate the Russian strongman given his strategic cunning and ability to find weaknesses in opponents derived from his experience in the KGB.

Hill was offered the position by National Security Council chief of staff Keith Kellogg prior to the ouster of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. She hasn’t yet filled the position and is still going through procedural steps such as background and security checks, according to the White House official. Hill is “in the process to take over the Europe and Russia position,” said the official.

Here is Hill's official biography from Brookings, along with her past writings.  Besides being a Senior Fellow at Brookings, she also serves as Director of the think tank's Center on the United States and Europe.  Hill is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Here is a recent Think Tank Watch piece on the White House-think tank revolving door in the Trump Administration.

Think Tank Chief Turns Down No. 2 Job at DoD

Michele Flournoy, the Co-Founder and CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), has reportedly turned down the No. 2 job at the Department of Defense.

Here is some more from Business Insider:

Michèle Flournoy met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in December about coming on board as his deputy, but she ultimately turned down the job. 

A roundtable discussion in Politico Magazine published on Monday finally reveals why: Her own conscience would have made it difficult.

"When [Mattis] called me to ask me to consider ways to help, I had to give it due consideration," Flournoy told Politico's Susan Glasser. "But I also knew that he needed a deputy who wouldn't be struggling every other day about whether they could be part of some of the policies that were likely to take shape."

Flournoy, a cofounder of the Center for a New American Security, has served in a variety of top roles within the Pentagon in the past, and was considered a top pick for Secretary of Defense if Hillary Clinton had won. She most recently served during the Obama administration as undersecretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon, a highly-influential job that Mattis is still trying to get filled.

While there may be some policy differences and too many uncertainties about the Trump Administration, one thing is clear - she would have taken a significant pay cut if she switched jobs.  In 2014 she made $282,208 at the think tank, but the DEPSECDEF job only pays about $185,000.

Think Tank Revolving Door Spinning Fast in New Trump Era

Top officials from the Obama Administration are being scooped up by powerhouse Washington think tanks, while the Trump Administration continues to bring in (and consider) a number of think tank scholars.  Some recent examples include:

• Jason Furman, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) in the Obama Administration, who has just joined the Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE) as a Senior Fellow.

• Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative (USTR) under President Obama, has joined the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) as a Distinguished Fellow. 

• Penny Pritzker, the former US Secretary of Commerce under President Obama, is joining the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• Mark Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, has been hired as Vice President Mike Pence's chief economist.

• Kevin Hassett, Director of Research for Domestic Policy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is reportedly on the short list to chair the CEA, a position that now has diminished stature.

• Paula Dobriansky, who sits on the Board of Directors at Atlantic Council, is being considered for the position of Deputy Secretary of State.  [Elliott Abrams, a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at CFR, and John Bolton, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), had been in the running for the No. 2 slot at State but that idea was nixed a few days ago.] 

As CNBC has noted, economists are visibly missing in Trump's Cabinet.  Are Trump supporters killing off Trump's connection to think tanks?  Does the White House even need think tanks if they are starting their own internal think tank?

Obama Alumni-To-Be Contemplate Life at a Think Tank

Thousands of officials serving in the Obama Administration are contemplating life after the White House, with many angling for a job in think tank land.

Here is more from Associated Press:

Their BlackBerrys are still buzzing, day and night. For the moment, aides to President Barack Obama still have world leaders to worry about, distant wars to help manage and decisions to make that affect the nation.

All that will come to a crashing halt on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.

Hoping to ensure that his staffers find decent jobs, Obama and his team have brought in representatives from Facebook, Instagram and other companies to offer insights into the job market. Officials from LinkedIn are helping White House staffers identify ways to market their skills.

That change can be jarring for longtime staffers, and even a letdown. Ivan Adler, a headhunter at McCormick Group who specializes in government affairs, said most go on to work in one of two settings: firms, like consulting and lobbying agencies, or organizations like trade associations, think tanks and nonprofits.

It is a good time to go into the think tank world because think tank salaries seem to be increasing (see also the link to Think Tank Watch's salary guide to think tanks.)

The First Rule of Getting a Job with Clinton: Know John Podesta

The first rule of getting a job in the Clinton Administration: Know John Podesta, the founder of the think tank Center for American Progress (CAP).

Here is more from Politico:

 If you're wondering how to get a job in a Hillary Clinton White House, start by reading campaign chairman John Podesta's hacked emails.

From a billionaire plugging a federal official for a cabinet appointment to Podesta himself plugging the daughter of a friend for an internship, the trove of Podesta’s correspondence posted by WikiLeaks is a portrait of Washington insiderism, showing powerful people turning into supplicants using connections and flattery.

A new president has 4,000 political appointments to dole out. And as Podesta went from running a think tank to serving as a counselor to Barack Obama to joining the Clinton campaign, everybody from high-ranking officials to college undergraduates jockeyed to get themselves or their friends onto his radar.

In 2014 Podesta himself appeared to put in a good word with his former Center for American Progress colleagues on behalf of the daughter of a friend who had recently applied to an internship at the think tank. She ended up getting the internship, according to the email.

As you can see, if also pays to know Mr. Podesta when you want to work at CAP, a think tank that houses many scholars who will likely soon be working in a Clinton Administration.

Could Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman be Trump's VP?

Rumors continue to swirl around who will be Donald Trump's vice presidential pick, and some have even floated the idea that a think tanker could be in the running.

Huffington Post recently said that Jon Huntsman is on Trump's short list as a VP candidate.  Huntsman, who is the Chairman of the think tank Atlantic Council, said back in February that he could support Trump if he is nominated.

Huntsman has been eager to try to impact the thinking of the next president, releasing in April a "policy playbook for America's next president."  He released that "playbook" along with Joe Lieberman, both co-chairs of the group No Labels.

Huntsman, who was a 2012 presidential candidate, may not be the only think tank head being considered by Trump.  Another possibility is former Sen. Jim DeMint, who some speculate is also in the running for VP.

Think Tank Quickies (#190)

• JHU Professor Daniel Schlozman: Leading Democratic think tanks have moved left on economics.
• Foreign policy debates "usually confined to the ivory tower corners of Washington think tanks and government agencies."
• At the largest 250 US companies, Catholic groups have submitted 12 environment-related shareholder proposals this year, according to Proxymonitor.org, a website sponsored by Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy.
• Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND): Think tank studies conclude that lifting the oil export ban will add jobs, boost GDP, and lower gas prices.
• Andrea Torniella: Pope Francis's message misunderstood and badly presented by US think tanks.
• What makes a great city for think tanks? 
• 10 ways for a think tank to raise its profile and become and international player.
• Tea Party voters at odds with Beltway think tanks. 
• Sabrina De Santiago of Sen. Tom Udall's (D-NM) office leaving to become director of government affairs for Center for American Progress (CAP). 
• A few think tanks/think tankers to follow on Twitter, via Bloomberg Business.

Star Economist Peter Orszag Re-Joining Brookings

The Brookings Institution has just announced that Peter Orszag, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Obama, is rejoining the Economic Studies Program at Brookings as a Nonresident Senior Fellow effective September 8, 2015.  Here is more about his past history at the think tank:

Prior to leading CBO, Orszag served as the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Economic Studies [at Brookings], was the first director of The Hamilton Project, was director of the Retirement Security Project, and was a Co-Director of the Brookings-Urban Tax Policy Center.

Before his time at Brookings, Orszag served in the Clinton Administration, where he was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and prior to that a staff economist and then Senior Advisor and Senior Economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Orszag also has affiliations with other think tanks.  For example, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).  In the past, he has served as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

A couple months ago, Brookings announced that it has scooped up another all-star economist in Douglas Elmendorf, who has also re-joined Brookings after a stint in the Obama Administration as Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).