Trump is finding out that Republicans lawmakers are not paying attention to his plans
As we close in on President Donald Trump’s first 200 days in office it is becoming clearer each day that the Republican establishment is not delivering on the repeal and replacing of ObamaCare, along with big battles ahead on Tax Reform, and his new Immigration law proposal. The lack of ability to control their own party is killing Trump’s chances to have even one major legislative victory.
Let’s be clear candidate Trump, crushed all three wings of the party on route to the White House. He won the White House by fighting the very Republican Party he now has to work with GOP lawmakers, many of whom battled Trump ever since he entered the race back in 2015.
He beat former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush part of the old guard of the Republican Party, he took out Ohio Gov. John Kasich who is the leader of the moderate wing of the GOP and lastly he rolled over the conservatives in the party led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruise.
He won as a “Washington Outsider,” and from day one the Republican Party just wanted to send bills from the Capitol to the White House for his signature. Trump is a populist and not a conservative, but he was sold on the idea that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a staunch conservative would be a good vice president, despite Trump’s gut that told him that he needed Gov. Chris Christie or someone who shared his vision to “Make America Great Again.”
For eight years the Republican Party was very good at running against former President Barack Obama, knowing that it was far easier to complain than to actually legislate. It was why Trump beat the Republican establishment, voters thought that if the GOP were in control of the House, the Senate as well as the White House then life would be perfect.
But Trump is finding out that he is the leader of a very divided party, one that might just not be able to deliver on any part of the agenda of President Trump. Vice President Pence, is a key reason that the Trump vision has stalled out, in large part before it got started.
The first misstate Pence made was not start off with a bipartisan bill on infrastructure, that would have gotten Trump a big win out of the box. A law that would have created jobs, while getting Democrats, to the table for a real bipartisan start for the Trump presidency.
Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), sold the White House on the idea that health care would be a better start. What they didn’t tell Trump was they really didn’t have a cohesive plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).
Ryan used the structure of his incomplete plan to repeal and replace the ACA with harsh cuts in Medicaid. He was helped by former Georgia Congressman, now Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price who also had part of a plan of his own.
The House gave President Trump a health care bill that did not come close to resembling the plan that the new president wanted. Trump, himself called the House health care plan “mean.”
Under the leadership of Sen. McConnell, the senate failed again on the one issue all Republicans were behind – the repealing and replacement of ObamaCare. But what he delivered to the White House was a series of bills that not only had a heart it didn’t even have a pulse. In the end the “Skinny Repeal and Replace,” bill didn’t have even 50 votes to move the bill on to committee where it might have been reworked.
President Trump asked Congress to postpone their summer vacation and keep working on a health care bill that could pass. But early last Friday, just moments after the senate failed to repeal and replace ObamaCare, McConnell, was ready to move on to Tax Reform, knowing that no matter what new bill was offered it didn’t have 50 votes.
So, ObamaCare is the law of the land, period, time to move on to other issues in the senate. President Trump, who along with every Republican in politics in Washington ran on the repealing and replacing of ObamaCare, but now they are accepting it will never happen.
The realist chance to make that promise stick is long gone as Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senate point man on health care is starting the committee hearings starting September 4th. Alexander is returning to Regular Order, meaning that there will never be the repeal of Obamacare, as things move now to the repairing the ACA (Obamacare), in a bipartisan plan.
Sen. McConnell, now is working on a tax plan that he hopes to craft a bill he can do through Reconciliation with 50 votes. It is once again going to be another intermural battle within the Republican Party.
Again, tax reform will have the GOP conservatives doing battle with party moderates putting President Trump in the middle. At this rate it is possible that nothing gets done because some housekeeping matters will lockout all key legislation including the new Immigration plans that the White House announced yesterday.
It becoming quite clear that President Trump is a man without a party and saddled with a House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unable to control their own party.
That leaves President Trump without a chance to get a legislative win on anything of substance other than getting Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch confirmed and installed. Don’t be surprised if Trump reaches out to his old pal Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), to work together on infrastructure, going past his party, to start getting some wins.