President Trump announced on Friday that he was picking former Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) as his new acting Chief of Staff.
In December of 2016, Mulvaney was named as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and was confirmed in February of 2017. He has served in that capacity since.
Prior to his time at the Office of Management and Budget, Mulvaney served his home state as the representative for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional district for three terms.
While in Congress, he served on the Budget Committee, Joint Economic Committee, Small Business Committee, Financial Services Committee, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Mulvaney was also part of the House Freedom Caucus which recently released a list of priorities for Trump’s first 100 days in office. One priority was revoking the Obamacare rule that prohibited states from making the decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Trump filed a rule with the Office of Management and Budget earlier this year revoking the previous rule, and Vice President Mike Pence ultimately cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate and it was passed.
President Donald Trump made the announcement via Twitter on Friday.
Trump followed up the announcement with a tweet saying, “I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to make America great again!” Trump also added in a separate tweet that there was a lot of competition for the position of White House Chief of Staff, and his expressed his confidence that Mick Mulvaney would do a fantastic job.
In 2015, Mulvaney also joined 30 other Republicans in committing to opposing any legislation to fund the federal government unless it defunded the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Mulvaney also has spoken out against Obamacare’s HHS mandate. Back in 2012, he joined more than 50 other members of Congress to oppose the mandate, which forces religious employers to pay for insurance coverage including birth control and drugs that may cause abortions.
He also was involved in a 2015 Congressional hearing with Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards. The hearing concerned the undercover investigation by the Center for Medical Progress showing the abortion chain trafficking aborted baby body parts. Mulvaney asked Richards what should be done if a baby survives an abortion. Richards responded that she had never heard of such a thing happening.
It is not clear whether Mulvaney’s appointment is only temporary but it is certain that having him in this important position within the Trump administration is a good sign, especially for the pro life movement.
