Tuesday's politics & policy stories

Trump sued by 'Apprentice' contestant
First she claimed Trump kissed her without permission at a hotel in 2007. Now Summer Zervos has hired Attorney Gloria Allred to sue the President-elect for defamation.
Zervos claims Trump spread false rumors about her after she accused him of sexual harassment, shortly after the Access Hollywood scandal. She says she'll drop the case if he offers a public confession and apology.
So far, Trump has denied every allegation that surfaced after the tapes were leaked.

Bernie met with Tom Price. They still disagree on health care
The conversation went just about as expected, Sanders told reporters after the meeting.
Sanders wants everyone to have health insurance. Price's plan focuses more on getting costs down while insuring less people. Sanders wants Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. It's pretty safe to say Price, a relatively conservative Republican, would never go for more government price controls.
But Sanders said he did get reassurance Trump probably meant it when he tweeted about his opposition to cuts to Social Security or Medicare.
What's interesting: Sanders and Price may not see eye to eye, but Price and Trump don't seem to either. The things Sanders wants — health care for everyone and drug price negotiations — are exactly what Trump has called for, most recently in an interview with the Washington Post.

@realDonaldTrump will keep his Twitter handle
On Monday, Donald Trump reached 20 million followers on Twitter – surpassing the likes of Kylie Jenner and Chris Brown. Given his total social platform reach of 46 million, which includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., the President-elect told the Times of London and German newspaper Bild Sunday that he will continue to use his personal accounts to disseminate news and information.
Is that legal? Yes. Per a spokesman from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the handle itself is immaterial. All that matters is that the Trump Administration accurately submits all tweets, posts and records laid out by NARA in the Presidential Records Act.
What will happen to @POTUS? In October, the Obama administration announced their plans to give all social accounts to the 45th President upon inauguration., including official handles, like @POTUS on Twitter and "The White House" page on Facebook, but deleting all posts so that the new president could start from scratch. Should Trump choose to abandon them the official accounts will sit dormant.
Why Trump says he's doing this:
- It's effective: Trump says tweeting offers a sense of immediacy and scale that a press release or a news conference couldn't deliver.
- It's hard to misinterpret: Trump says tweeting his messages helps ensure accuracy in his messages, which can be construed when he is covered "so dishonestly" by the press.
- He has promised to be more "restrained" about the account after taking office
Our thought bubble: This is a missed opportunity for the Trump Administration. While Trump does have a larger personal social following than most of the official accounts, the existing government accounts likely reach a different audience and he could use the official accounts to amplify his messages.

Tech regulators visit Trump Tower
Donald Trump met recently with two people rumored to be in line for major tech regulatory jobs, according to reports about Tuesday's transition press call. The Trump tower visitors:
- Ajit Pai, the senior Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission
- Joshua Wright, a former Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission who now works for the transition
Why it matters: Top appointments at the FCC, FTC and the Justice Department will set antitrust policy under a presidential administration that has been skeptical of big deals. Both Pai and Wright are also generally advocates of a light regulatory touch — so if they are nominated to top posts it will send a signal about what the next several years bring for tech and telecom.
What we're tracking: Trump needs to nominate new chairs of the FCC and FTC, and fill the top antitrust spot at DOJ. Pai's office had no comment, and Wright didn't immediately respond to an email about the meeting.
Update: Joshua Wright declined to comment on the meeting.

GM makes it official: $1 billion and 1,500 jobs
GM announced they will invest $1 billion in U.S. factories, creating about 1,500 jobs. This comes just a couple weeks after Trump tweeted at GM threatening a "big border tax" if they move jobs out of the country. But GM said it was coming either way.
As the U.S. manufacturing base increases its competitiveness, we are able to further increase our investment, resulting in more jobs for America and better results for our owners. The U.S. is our home market and we are committed to growth that is good for our employees, dealers, and suppliers and supports our continued effort to drive shareholder value.— GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra

Most Americans don't like Trump
54% of Americans view Trump unfavorably heading into the inauguration, according to a new ABC/Washington Post poll.
That's the lowest favorability of any president since 1977. Before Trump, George W. Bush was the least-liked, with 34% unfavorability just before he took office. Obama had 79% favorability when he took office.
Trump's silver lining: This isn't his worst favorability score. A Gallup poll from the primaries last year had Trump at 63% unfavorable.
And his response: "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before."

Here's another ethics issue for Tom Price
It's about stocks, again. CNN notices the Georgia Republican, who is Trump's nominee to lead HHS, introduced legislation delaying regulation on a company in which he'd recently purchased stock. The transition team says there's no scandal — the purchase was made by a broker and Price didn't know about it until after the bill was introduced.

The new Davos focus: inequality, not growth
The World Economic Forum, which runs the exclusive annual retreat at Davos, is responding to Trump and Brexit (and others) by telling governments they should focus on "insecurity and inequality accompanying technological change and globalization." In a new report they rank which countries are doing the best (Reader service: the list is on page 6 of the 75-page report. Norway is best)
Why the change? The WEF founder kicked off the event by telling attendees "it's important to listen to the populists." And this sentence in a Reuters report from Davos nicely sums up the mood:
"Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump..."

This week's undercard: 8 confirmation hearings
Tuesday: Betsy DeVos (Education), Ryan Zinke (Interior)
Wednesday: Wilbur Ross (Commerce), Scott Pruitt (EPA), Nikki Haley (UN), Tom Price (HHS)
Thursday: Rick Perry (Energy), Steven Mnuchin (Treasury)






