Cleats and Causes

Brittani Riddle:

It is day three here at the College of American Pathologists House of Delegates and Pathologists Leadership Summit. I'm Brittani Riddle and I'm super excited to be sitting here with Tevi Troy, CEO of the American Health Policy Institute. Thank you for joining me today.

Tevi Troy:

Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to sit with you.

Brittani Riddle:

Thank you. So you're about to hit the stage, talk to our members, and today is focused on advocacy. For our members who aren't here in person, can you give us a little preview of what you're going to say today?

Tevi Troy:

Oh, absolutely. I want to give them a sense of the Trump administration's first one hundred days. There's no need to go through all the things that happen because they're all above the fold in newspapers every day. But there seems to be some patterns that have emerged, and I think those patterns can be helpful to your members as you go out and advocacy. It seems like the Trump administration is really, they don't have an ideology, they have a methodology and they're really focused on unilateralism. What can you do with the powers of the executive branch without having to worry about Congress, trying to avoid the courts as much as possible? What can they do by themselves? And when you are focused on going out there and lobbying or talking about these issues, you should keep that in mind. The other thing is they seem to have more unity of purpose than in the first administration.

There was a lot of infighting that was stymieing the administration the first time around, they were handcuffed by all the infighting. That doesn't mean it's gone away because infighting never goes away, but there's definitely less of it. I think as your members go out and they want to go and lobby, they should think about the unilateralist approach, but also they should bring their own unity of purpose. Some might be Red Sox fans, some might be Yankees fans, but they can all agree on the goals of CAP and what you're trying to lobby for, what you're trying to accomplish. And I think having that mindset will be extremely helpful.

Brittani Riddle:

You talked a little bit about patterns. Can you give us an example of some of the patterns that you've noticed with this administration

Tevi Troy:

Absolutely. The first time around, there were certain congressional bills legislation that they were trying to push forward. This time that hasn't even been a focus. We're talking in a hundred days and nobody's talking about, these are the big legislative accomplishments, the Trump administration. So instead, what they're doing are things they can do unilaterally, which include Doge, executive orders, tariffs, deals with foreign countries to the extent they can develop contracts and recessions of contracts. All these things are things that the executive branch has in its power to do without having to worry about Congress. So it's just a different approach. If you look back at the Biden administration, the Bush administration, the Trump administration, all of them had legislative goals that they were trying to accomplish, and the first hundred days is a time of great momentum when you have the best opportunity to get through something passed through Congress. That has not been the mindset of this administration. The goal here has been what can we do unilaterally with executive branch powers in the first a hundred days and in the first two years before Congress potentially turns over in the midterm elections.

Brittani Riddle:

You talked about our members being uniformed, a unilateral approach. Our members are heading to the Hill tomorrow morning. We have a lot of meetings. What is some advice for them to make sure that we are united together?

Tevi Troy:

Well, I think you need to think what you're doing before you go. So there needs to be a game plan. You can't just show up and say, Hey, we think you should be nicer to the pathologists. You have to have specific things in mind, and if you are with someone from another state and you're going in together, you have to put aside whatever differences you have in terms of where you're from or where your backgrounds are, or even if you have different views on pathology. But what are the things we're trying to accomplish in this meeting and how can we compliment each other? One person may want to be the initial presenter, the other person may want to answer the questions. One person may want to be more the comedian, the other person, the straight man, but people have great synergy if they work together, but prepare in advance so that they know what they're doing and what they're good at.

Brittani Riddle:

Thank you so much. How can our members connect with you on social media or online?

Tevi Troy:

Oh, absolutely. You can find me at X at Tevi Troy, T-E-V-I T-R-O-Y. You can sign up for my mailing list and my website, tevitroy.org, and you can find me on LinkedIn and you can get my books like The Power and the Money, which is my latest book about presence and CEOs wherever fine books are sold.

Brittani Riddle:

Okay. And you also mentioned Yankees and Red Sox, so I have to ask you, are you a baseball fan and if so, who is your team?

Tevi Troy:

I'm a huge baseball fan. I'm a Yankees fan. I've always loved the Yankees, but lemme tell you this, I would much rather talk to a Red Sox fan than someone who's not a baseball fan.

Brittani Riddle:

Okay, well you're talking to a baseball fan.

Tevi Troy:

Right

Brittani Riddle:

There's unity and purpose here because I'm also a baseball fan, but I'm down south with the Atlanta Braves.

Tevi Troy:

That's great. Alright. I wish they had kept Freddie Freeman because he destroyed the Yankees in the World Series.

Brittani Riddle:

Yes, I do too, but that's our unity of purpose right there. Thank you again for joining me today