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For House Republicans, the political year started with a\u00a0pep rally\u00a0of sorts as\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0gathered them at Washington\u2019s Kennedy Center for a stemwinder of a speech. But by the time lawmakers had completed their first week of work this midterm election year, fractures in the party were already showing.<\/p>\n
From pushback to Trump\u2019s self-described\u00a0\u201cDonroe doctrine\u201d of aggressionin the Western Hemisphere to breaks in party unity over health care, Republican lawmakers are displaying signs of independence from Trump after spending much of the last year acquiescing to his\u00a0practically every demand. It showed a new dynamic in the GOP as Republicans embark on difficult campaign to keep control of both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader\u00a0John Thune, speaking at the U.S.-Mexico border Friday with a group of Republican Senate candidates, said that Republicans were \u201cgoing to be focused like a laser\u201d on issues of affordability and pointed to legislation in the works on housing and health care.<\/p>\n
Thune\u2019s border trip and talk of affordability were a nod back to some of the core themes of Trump\u2019s presidential campaign. But the focus in Washington of late has instead been dominated by Trump\u2019s military operation to capture Venezuelan leader\u00a0Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, his threats to use military force to take control of Greenland, the release of case files on Jeffrey Epstein and a debate over extending subsidies for insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act \u2014 an issue where Republicans have long struggled to find unity.<\/p>\n
Recent shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in several U.S. cities, including one that\u00a0killed a woman\u00a0in Minneapolis, have also raised new questions about Republicans\u2019 hard-line immigration agenda and shifted attention away from Trump\u2019s handling of the border, which they\u00a0see as a political success.<\/p>\n
Even so, Trump still has plenty of command over most of the party. That was demonstrated this week by a pair of\u00a0unsuccessful House veto override votes\u00a0in which most GOP members stuck with the president despite previously voting for the low-profile bills.<\/p>\n
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who has been one of the few Republicans to consistently defy Trump, said that \u201cthere was some bully pulpit intimidation going on\u201d from the president that caused the veto overrides to fail.<\/p>\n
Still, Democrats are making the case that Trump is becoming distracted from the needs of Americans, especially after the attack on Venezuela.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s lurching towards another endless, expensive war, all the while American families here are struggling with skyrocketing costs,\u201d said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n
To prove their point, Democrats are\u00a0forcing votes on war powers resolutions\u00a0that would stop Trump from attacking Venezuela without congressional approval. Such measures are rarely successful, but a\u00a0procedural vote on the legislation\u00a0drew support from five Republicans Thursday, setting up a final vote next week. House Democrats are also pushing forward a similar resolution.<\/p>\n
The GOP senators who voted for the legislation tried to defuse the conflict with Trump by arguing their positions were in line with his own campaign promises to scale back U.S. commitments overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cA drawn-out campaign in Venezuela involving the American military, even if unintended, would be the opposite of President Trump\u2019s goal of ending foreign entanglements,\u201d Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican who voted for the war powers resolution, said in a lengthy statement explaining his vote.<\/p>\n
Trump reacted with fury. The president promptly called for the five Republicans, which included Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is up for reelection this year, to \u201cnever be elected to office again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans are already dealing with retirements from several lawmakers who had uneasy relationships with Trump, and there was worry that such clashes could complicate their campaign picture even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Susan isn\u2019t the senator from Maine, we\u2019re going to end up with a Democrat,\u201d said Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican. \u201cThat would be 10 times worse. But I do appreciate that President Trump is absolutely pissed off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s desire to\u00a0possess Greenland\u00a0and his administration\u2019s decision not to rule out military force also met significant resistance from GOP lawmakers this week.<\/p>\n
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is retiring after crossing Trump last summer, took to the Senate floor to proclaim that he was \u201csick of stupid.\u201d He specifically criticized White House deputy chief of policy Stephen Miller, who made comments that Greenland should be part of the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want good advice for this president, because I want this president to have a good legacy,\u201d Tillis added. \u201cAnd this nonsense on what\u2019s going on with Greenland is a distraction from the good work he\u2019s doing, and the amateurs who said it was a good idea should lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Republicans, including Thune and Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sen. Roger Wicker, also gently pushed back on military threats against Denmark, which is a NATO ally of the U.S.<\/p>\n
After meeting with the Danish ambassador, Wicker said it was Denmark\u2019s right not to sell Greenland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m troubled by Greenland. I\u2019m troubled by some of the things he does. I don\u2019t get it,\u201d said Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, another retiring Republican. \u201cI do feel like Congress should be more independent and should provide checks and balances here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bacon added that Trump still had the ability to \u201cbully\u201d his Republican colleagues, but that Trump\u2019s threats had \u201cstiffened my spine.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Trump\u2019s speech at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, he urged Republicans to own the issue of health care. Yet when the House voted Thursday on a Democratic proposal to extend\u00a0expired health care subsidies\u00a0for Affordable Care Act health plans, 17 Republicans broke with party leadership to help pass the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople recognize the challenge here, which is to address health care affordability,\u201d said Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who voted for the proposal.<\/p>\n
He still criticized the Affordable Care Act, a hallmark piece of legislation for Democrats, yet the health care debate unfolding in Congress is one that Democrats feel confident making a central campaign issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this first, full week of the new year, House Democrats \u2014 every single one of us joined by 17 Republicans \u2014 have partnered in a bipartisan way to protect the health care of the American people,\u201d said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries following the vote.<\/p>\n
On the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, Trump told House Republicans that he had told his supporters to go \u201cpeacefully and patriotically\u201d to confront Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election. The White House also unveiled a website that portrayed the Jan. 6 attack as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d against him by Democrats and some Republicans in Congress.<\/p>\n
But the Senate, which Republicans control, this week agreed to\u00a0display a plaque\u00a0honoring the police who defended the Capitol \u2014 a cause that has become a point of contention with Trump as president. The plaque had been kept in storage rather than being displayed because House Speaker Mike Johnson had said the memorial did not comply with the law.<\/p>\n
It was Tillis again who pushed the issue on the Republican side. He said it was important to honor the police and staff who risked their own lives and safety that day.<\/p>\n
Democrats who joined in the effort said they were alarmed by the White House\u2019s attempt to recast the narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important we be honest with the American people about what happened,\u201d said Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Republicans #push #Trump #Greenland #Venezuela #health #care<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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