Inauguration Week Panels Consider a Trump Presidency and GOP Congress

Faculty and policy experts from across the Dartmouth community will discuss potential policy changes under a Republican White House and Congress.

On January 20, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. It’s clear from Trump’s campaign rhetoric and cabinet appointments that the Trump Administration will represent a stark contrast from that of President Obama. The November elections also solidified the makeup of Congress, with Republicans maintaining a majority in the Senate and House of Representatives.

To analyze what a Republican White House and Congress might mean for the U.S. and the world, Dartmouth College is convening a series of four panel discussions during the week of the presidential inauguration.

The theme of the discussion is “Opportunities and Risks,” and the panels will offer a chance for experts from across Dartmouth to evaluate President-elect Trump’s and GOP policy proposals, and talk about their likelihood of being implemented and possible implications.

Bob Hansen, the Norman W. Martin 1925 Professor of Business Administration at Tuck, is overseeing the panels. The idea for the event sprang from the unusually emotional reaction Hansen witnessed to the outcome of the election. He initially planned just one panel on energy and environment, under the auspices of Dartmouth’s new Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, but Dean Matthew Slaughter encouraged him to broaden it to the four-panel design. “I thought it would be good to bring together Dartmouth experts and have a scholarly, rational discussion about some of the policy changes that might happen, and Matt’s suggestion for four panels on different subjects made a lot of sense,” says Hansen.

The events will be held from Tuesday, January 17 through inauguration day on Friday, January 20, from 4:00 – 5:30.  Watch for details on locations, which are still being finalized. The organizers are hoping for large audiences of students, faculty, staff, and broader community members.

Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s panels on domestic issues and global issues are being organized by Tuck’s Center for Business, Government and Society, in collaboration with Dartmouth’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding. Likely topics include regulation, taxes, the economy, immigration, foreign relations, and security. Thursday’s panel on health policy will be organized by the Tuck Health Care Initiative and feature speakers from the Master of Health Care Delivery Science program and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. Top on the list of topics here will be the future of the Affordable Care Act and what alternatives to it might look like.

On Friday, speakers from the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth’s Environmental Studies Department and the Revers Center for Energy at Tuck will discuss energy and the environment, considering topics such as the Clean Power Plan, the future for renewables, fossil fuels, and nuclear, as well as climate and environmental policy.

For a more detailed schedule of the panels and a list of speakers, please see the Inauguration Week Panels website. If you are unable to attend the panel discussions, but are still interested in watching them, check out the live stream.