Former Freedom Caucus nutjob Mick Mulvaney's apparent goal of doing all the jobs at the White House continues apace. Not only is he the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the part-time, interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (assuming Trump means to ever appoint someone permanently—which is doubtful), but now he's taking over key jobs from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The White House is poised to give its budget office greater control over some of the Treasury Department's regulations, handing budget director Mick Mulvaney a victory in a months-long power struggle with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
The move, which could come in the next few weeks, would end the autonomy the Treasury Department has enjoyed since the 1980s when it comes to issuing tax rules, while giving greater power to one of Trump's favorite Cabinet members at the expense of another.
The highly sensitive debate has consumed the attention of top officials at both agencies. At stake is the final say over IRS regulations—and the implementation of the Republicans' tax law.
It seems like this is more turf battle than anything—a power grab by Mulvaney. The IRS has all the expertise and experience it needs to issue the tax rules. It's creating a lot of concern that the regulation-writing process stemming from the new law is going to have to run through two processes, at Treasury and at OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The prospect is not making lobbyists happy.
"This is more than just adding a player to the team roster. This is putting an extra person on the court. People will need new playbooks—offensive and defensive—as the tax game is changing," said Sage Eastman, a lobbyist for Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas and former senior counselor to the House Ways & Means Committee under former Chairman Dave Camp.
The head of OIRA, Neomi Rao, admits that having both agencies involved in the process will delay the rules, but that seems not to be of primary concern in the administration. At this point, it seems that what Mulvaney wants, he's going to get. Which is pretty scary. Mulvaney is basically to domestic policy as John Bolton is to foreign policy. His reach continuing to spread in the administration is not good news.