Pretty Swampy

The White House Is Looking Pretty Swampy These Days

By KEVIN DRUM

Here's a quick tour through the Donny Orangutan swamp today:

Jared Kushner, who has no evident qualification aside from being married to the boss's daughter, has been named to head up a new White House Office of American Innovation, which will have "sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions." I guess that bringing peace to the Middle East wasn't enough to keep Kushner busy.

Orangutan pal Carl Icahn is working on a plan to change the rule that governs the way corn-based ethanol is mixed into gasoline. Icahn is also the majority stakeholder in CVR Energy, which would have saved more than $200 million last year under Icahn's proposed change.

Rep. Devin Nunes, one of Orangutan's most loyal spear carriers, announced last week that there "might" have been "incidental" surveillance of some folks "close" to Donny Orangutan. But where did his bombshell come from? It turns out that Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds. So his "source" is most likely the White House itself. Maybe even Orangutan himself. It wouldn't be the first time Orangutan has done something like this.

I guess that's it for today. The day is young, though, so you never know.