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Central New Yorkers watching Trump transition, one now on team

Courtesy Tom Dadey
Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey first met Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2014 when Trump was considering a gubernatorial run.

Central New York is closely watching how President-elect Donald Trump is molding his administration, and now has one central New Yorker with a seat at the table.

Onondaga County Republican Party Chair Tom Dadey was named to Trump’s transition team last week. He was an early supporter of Trump, and ultimately became the co-chair of Trump’s New York state campaign. He says the transition appointment puts him in the position of helping fill thousands of lower level jobs in the Trump administration.

"The big thing is getting the Cabinet members in place. And then making sure the undersecretary and other folks in different agencies are in place as quickly as possible, so you have folks so the government can continue to operate and function effectively,” said Dadey.

Dadey says with four upstate New Yorkers on the transition team, there’s a chance someone from central New York could finds a job in the new Administration.

Other upstate New Yorkers on the committee include Erie County Republican Party Chair Nick Langworthy, Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning), and Rep. Chris Collins (R-Clarence). All were early supporters of Trump.

Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) is also watching closely. Katko never endorsed Trump, and occasionally criticized his party’s presidential nominee during the campaign. But he says he’s feeling better about Trump now, as he watches the administration take shape.

“You know the best mark of how someone’s doing starting off, is to take a look at what someone is doing with Cabinet picks. Now you can argue with some of the Cabinet picks, but the bottom line is he seems to be taking a reasoned approach, he seems to be listening to people,” said Katko.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton in the November election, is one of those people with concerns about Cabinet picks.

"I’m concerned about HUD [Department of Housing and Urban Development], I’m concerned about [the Department of] Labor, and as an American, and given what we’ve heard about Russian influence, I”m concerned about appointments to the State Department,” said Miner.

But a new administration’s nominees generally are approved. The last time a Cabinet nominee was rejected was 1989.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.