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Also see: Administration
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-- 2017 --
February 19: U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling changes to how it calculates U.S. trade deficits in a way that would likely help bolster political arguments to renegotiate key trade deals, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people involved in the discussions.
The main idea being discussed is whether to exclude “re-exports” from the calculation of U.S. exports, sources told the newspaper. Re-exports refer to goods that are imported into the United States, then transferred to another country.
... By using a metric that widens the trade deficit, it could give him [Trump] political leverage to make sweeping changes ...
If the government adopted the new method, the deficit with Mexico [for example] would be nearly twice as high.
... career government employees at the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office objected to a request to prepare data using the new methodology.
Although they complied with the request, the newspaper reported, the staffers explained why they disagreed with the approach.
In a statement to the newspaper, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s deputy chief of staff, Payne Griffin, said officials there are not close to a decision yet on whether to adopt a new approach.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-idUSKBN15Y0V1
September 10: Former Sessions aides chart different paths in Trump’s White House
Policy adviser Stephen Miller has become a key mover in the West Wing while his former Hill colleague Rick Dearborn, a deputy chief of staff, has adopted a lower-key approach.
Dearborn also has quietly populated the administration with allies from his time on Capitol Hill, according to sources close to him, including Jeff Freeland, a former deputy chief of staff to Rep. Chris Collins who is now at the Office of Management and Budget; and G. Payne Griffin, a former Sessions staffer now the deputy chief of staff at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
“I would not knock Rick’s power base because he is not in the clips or the ebbs and flows of news articles,” said one source close to Dearborn. “He is able to maintain relationships on the Hill, and that is harder for the flashier characters to develop those relationships.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/10/sessions-trump-white-house-242512
-- 2018 --
January 25: Trump Hired a Recent College Graduate to Oversee U.S. Trade Deals
President Donald Trump's administration has long been criticized for putting forward a collection of underqualified appointees. Now, a new report from the Daily Beast outlines the rise of a top official in the Office of the United States Trade Representative, a deputy chief of staff who was less than three years out of college when hired.
G. Payne Griffin was appointed to the “landing team” for the Trump administration in September 2016, at the office of the USTR under Robert Lighthizer. The USTR is tasked with renegotiating free trade deals and focusing on ending allegedly unfair practices by economic partners like China or Mexico.
Griffin attended American University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 2014 with a bachelors in economics and political science. According to his biography on the USTR website, he assisted then-Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama in “trade policy and other financial issues” and helped develop trade policy goals as a part of the Trump transition team, skipping past several typical positions between legislative correspondent and high-ranking staffer in a federal office. Griffin has been attending meetings with high-ranking and foreign government officials, as well as trade negotiations about the future of NAFTA.
https://www.newsweek.com/g-payne-griffin-trade-791564
January 25: G. Payne Griffin is a deputy chief of staff to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. He graduated from American University in 2014 with a bachelors in economics and political science, according to The Daily Beast, and he rose to a position in the U.S. government less than three years after graduating from college.
Griffin first joined the USTR office as part of the Trump presidential transition's "landing team," after serving as a legislative correspondent for then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. He became deputy chief of staff in an unprecedentedly short period of time, thanks to Sessions' powerful position in the Trump administration.
But Griffin had minimal experience in trade policy prior to assuming his post, and yet he has been attending meetings with both American and foreign government officials, as well as trade negotiations concerning the future of NAFTA. The USTR office did not immediately respond Thursday to Bustle's request for comment on Griffin's qualifications.
... the Trump administration is relying on "young, inexperienced officials to fill important positions in the federal government.".
https://www.bustle.com/p/taylor-weyeneth-is-resigning-but-another-of-trumps-20-something-hires-is-in-hot-water-8013204
January 25: How a Twentysomething Eagle Scout Became One of Donald Trump’s Top Trade Hands
As the Trump administration goes about revamping trade policy, a leading staffer comes under fire for his thin qualifications.
More than a year into this presidency, the office at the USTR remains severely understaffed. The agency, technically a division of the White House, remains without a permanent deputy trade representative in key regions such as China and the Western Hemisphere. The Senate has yet to confirm ambassador to the World Trade Organization.
But beyond who is not there, it’s who is that has raised alarm.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, is relying on a small group of relatively unseasoned officials to advance a complex agenda, including renegotiating landmark free trade deals and cracking down on allegedly unfair practices by China, Mexico, and other major global economic partners. None have drawn more scrutiny and attention within the trade policy community than G. Payne Griffin, Lighthizer’s deputy chief of staff.
Few, if anyone, in trade circles knew of Griffin prior to his appointment by Lighthizer. That’s because, prior to his appointment by Lighthizer, Griffin was not in trade circles. Griffin attended American University where, by all accounts, he was an exemplary student. He graduated with a bachelors in economics and political science in 2014 and made the Dean’s List. His first job out of college was as a staff assistant for Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL). By January 2015, he was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a job that typically involves corresponding with constituents and helping senior staff craft policy.
Typically, a stint as an LC lends itself to higher-ranking jobs within a congressional office. But in Griffin’s case, those next steps were skipped. Sessions was the first and most prominent Senate endorser of then presidential candidate Donald Trump, which meant that once Trump won the election, he had heavy influence over staffing the administration.
As part of the resume he submitted to the USTR—a resume obtained by the progressive watchdog group American Oversight and sent to The Daily Beast—he noted among his leadership skills that he was an Eagle Scout. The work experience portion included his stint as an “executive intern” at the College Republican National Committee.
Neither Griffin nor USTR nor the White House returned a request for comment.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-20-something-eagle-scout-became-one-of-donald-trumps-top-trade-hands
-- 2019 --
-- 2020 --
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