Coats weighing role in Trump administration

WASHINGTON — When voters decided last month that Republicans would not only keep control of Congress, but also take over the White House, retiring Sen. Dan Coats had second thoughts about leaving.

“When election night happened, I thought, ‘Gee, if I had known this, would I have wanted to be there to be part of it?’ And the answer was ‘yes,’” the Indiana Republican said Thursday. “But did I make the right decision based on the issues at the time? And the answer there was ‘yes.’ So I’m content with it, and I’m happy to turn it over to somebody who I think will carry on what I was trying to do.”

But Coats, who will be succeeded by GOP Rep. Todd Young, isn’t completely exiting public life.

While his initial plan was to remain active in Indiana — just not in politics — the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence to the White House changed that.

Now, Coats is deciding how much of a role to have in the incoming administration.

He could volunteer his time for specific tasks, similar to how he helped President George W. Bush get Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed by the Senate.

Or Coats could accept a full-time appointment in the new administration.

After Coats met with Trump this month, Politico reported he could be tapped to be the director of national intelligence.

“That’s one of the considerations,” Coats said. “I have some preferences and thoughts, but I really don’t want to go past that because it’s not this or nothing.”

Coats gives final Senate speech for second — and last — time

Coats said he’s weighing which route is best, based on his age — 73 — and what he wants for the next chapter of his life.

“It’s a decision I have to make within the next few days, because things are moving on here and people want to know where I stand,” he said.

Coats already has spent 34 years in public service, starting with eight years in the House. After his first Senate tour from 1989 to 1999, Coats became Bush’s ambassador to Germany. He started that post one day before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Coats decided to seek his old Senate seat in 2010, feeling like a ballplayer who thought his time was up only to be told he could still hit a curveball and that the manager wanted him back.

“I felt the first time, it was incomplete,” he said.

Rather than worry about smaller matters, Coats wanted to focus in his second Senate stint on the big issues. And there were few bigger in his eyes than the federal debt.

Coats had told voters that reducing the debt to keep it from hurting the economy would require making changes to the safety net programs Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

That was the topic of his first major floor speech after being elected.

Coats took assignments on Senate committees where he could work on fiscal issues and was one of the Republicans to whom President Barack Obama reached out in hopes of forging a bipartisan fiscal deal.

That deal, like the others attempted in recent years, never advanced. And Coats used his final Senate speech Tuesday to warn of “America’s looming fiscal storm.”

“I really poured my heart and soul into this. I feel good about having given it my best,” Coats said Thursday. “I wish I could’ve been here when it was accomplished. Because I really thought this is worth everything, even defeat if I chose to stand for re-election.”

Coats prepared to deliver the last of his “Waste of the Week” speech this week, a regular spotlight on what he viewed as egregious examples of wasteful spending.

The final topic? Medicaid coverage for hair replacement.

“I’m the perfect person to say, ‘This is a fact of life,’” the follicly challenged Coats said. “Do we really need to spend taxpayer money on people who are losing their hair?”

Coats sat down with IndyStar to look back on his second, and — he promises — last, Senate term, and to discuss what the future might hold.

Sen. Dan Coats Farewell Speech

Coats Q & A

Question: How would you most like to be remembered during your 34 years of public service?

Answer: I’d like to be remembered as someone who took the job very seriously and tried to focus on what I thought were the major issues that needed to be addressed. I wish we could’ve had more success in addressing those …our whole debt situation ... and the ongoing responsibility of government to provide for the common defense in an age where we’ve never seen such a proliferation of threats.

Q: Since you returned to Congress specifically to focus on those issues, does that make it more frustrating that there wasn’t any action on slowing the growth in entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security?

A: Yeah. There was no lack of effort. But the president and the Congress had two very different visions on that. ... But it is the lurking gorilla in the room, which I call the debt bomb, that is going to have an enormous impact on our future.

Q: You’re leaving just as Republicans will be in charge of both Congress and the White House. Any regrets about not seeking re-election?

A: My first election with Ronald Reagan, the momentum was there for doing big things, and it was pretty exciting. The second time was in 1994, when we overturned the House for the first time in 50 years. ... This potentially could be a third. So, yes, it was a tug.

Q: What’s next?

A: I’ve given that a lot of thought. I’m at the point right now of Plan A and Plan B. Plan A is to do what I thought was the basis for announcing I wasn’t going to run again. I wanted to be engaged in a number of things, but I wanted to center that engagement in Indiana. We bought a permanent home in Indianapolis. I want to be active, but it will be active as a private citizen, not in politics.

Then Mike Pence got nominated and elected as the next vice president. ...

If I can be helpful in that and supportive of that effort, I have two choices. One is a private citizen volunteering my time. ... The other choice I have is the opportunity, and I do have it, to work in some capacity, full time, in this administration.

Q: So there is an offer on the table and it’s up to you to decide whether to take it?

A: I don’t want to get into the details of that. But I think I do have the opportunity to do one of those two choices, not necessarily defining what the specific choice would be.

Q: Such as director of national intelligence?

A: That’s one of the considerations. ... I have some preferences and thoughts, but I really don’t want to go past that because it’s not this or nothing. It’s what is the best way, given where I am, that I can make a contribution, and whether it is as a private citizen back home in Indiana offering to volunteer for a number of things, or whether it’s a specific position here in the administration. ... Nothing has been decided yet as to what it would be.

Q: You were critical of some of the things Trump said during the campaign. In what areas are you most excited about him being president, and is there an area where you have concerns?

A: Number one, he is our president. The country has clearly, in my opinion, decided it wants major change in the way the government functions and works. I think Donald Trump is the person that was elected to bring about that change. I’m very happy that he chose Mike Pence, because I think it’s a great combination of someone from the outside looking at how government for the people can be changed, and someone who has had the experience working on the inside of government. The balance gives us the opportunity to really achieve some major beneficial changes for the future of our country.

I’m 100 percent in support of where we are and encouraged by where I think we can go.

Q: So no areas of concern?

A: It doesn’t matter who would be elected president. You set aside campaign words that have been said, and now you turn to what actions are going to be implemented. And I think we’re on the right path.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge Pence faces as vice president?

A: A lot of it depends on what kind of authority and leash that the president wants to give him. And all indications are that Trump is going to give Mike Pence a critical role in this administration, particularly in working with the Congress. It’s one thing for the White House to set an agenda. It’s another thing to get support of it in Congress and get it passed into law. …

So he’s going to be very, very active, and that is needed.

Q. Are you keeping your Indiana home?

A: Our permanent residence and the home we live in and will continue to be in, we want to be in Indiana. Depending on what we do, there may be some back and forth.

We bought that (Indiana house) on the basis of being there permanently. I want to spend the rest of my life as a Hoosier in Indiana.

Q: Could you go back to lobbying, as you did before running for the Senate again, after the two-year cooling-off requirement?

A: No. I don’t intend to do that. If I join a law firm, it would be an Indiana law firm, not a Washington firm.

Q: Is there anything left for Santa to bring you now that the Cubs won the World Series and Republicans won your seat, the governor’s race and the White House?

A: Santa doesn’t have to give me anything this year. In the space of a week, two of the most amazing things that I had hoped would happen, happened. The first was one I had been waiting all my life to happen, and that is the Cubs winning the World Series. That was pure joy. I’m still reveling in it.

The second was the election victories of Todd (Young), Eric (Holcomb) — who worked for me — and the Republican win (of the White House). That occurred in the space of eight days. They were two of the most exciting moments of my life. So I don’t need anything else for Christmas.

Q:  Are you glad you came back for an encore?

A: I really am. I felt the first time it was incomplete. It’s like a ballplayer (who was told), “Your time is up. It’s time to step down.” And then awhile later, the manager gives you a call and says, “Hey, I think you can still hit that curveball or hit that fastball, and we’d like to have you back for a second try.” It’s been an amazing experience.

Email Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.