Congress Is Barely Functioning, But Its To-Do List Keeps Getting Longer
Congress is barely functioning, but its to-do list keeps getting longer
WASHINGTON — Last week's actions by President Trump to decertify the Iran deal and end key Obamacare subsidies only lengthened the to-do list for a Congress that hasn't achieved much during the first nine months of the Trump Era.
- Due to Trump’s decertification of the Iran deal, Congress now has 60 days to reinstate sanctions against Iran, or to modify the law that governs congressional oversight of the deal;
- Lawmakers will see if they can try to shore up the Obamacare markets (though Democrats doubt Trump would ever sign such legislation into law after his previous actions to break Obamacare );
- The Senate this week considers its 2018 budget resolution , and its fate is uncertain given that it’s the vehicle for the GOP’s tax-reform proposal;
- In two months, Congress will again have to pass legislation to keep the government open (with Trump’s border wall being a major snag to get 60 votes in the Senate);
- Congress also is considering what to do with the DACA program, which Trump rescinded (and the border wall again is a thorny issue here);
- And the GOP is still eyeing tax reform as its major legislative item for the remainder of the 115th Congress.
This would be a daunting list for even the most functional and productive of Congresses. But for this Congress — whose top achievements have been rolling back Obama-era regulations, VA reform and passing ceremonial bills (like the Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal Act ) — this is the equivalent of running a marathon when your previous longest race was just a 5K.
And to govern, Trump and congressional Republicans have to make a choice: Do they try to pass this stuff through their narrow Senate majority (where they can afford only two GOP defections)? Or do they bargain in good faith with Democrats?
The former route didn't work so well with health care, and the latter seems even harder given the current politics in DC.
By the way, President Trump has lunch with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at 12:35 pm ET, and this comes after former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon fired off this warning to McConnell and establishment Republicans: "There is a time and season for everything, and right now it's a season of war against the GOP establishment… Yeah, Mitch, the donors aren't happy. They've all left you. We've cut your oxygen off, Mitch."
Why Trump decertifying the Iran deal was such a big deal
“If America would overturn a pact it made to the rest of the world … how can it retain the reputation of a great power?” Don’t miss the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos writing about Trump decertifying the Iran deal: “Gutting a deal that Americans conceived, brokered, and secured would undercut decades of U.S. leadership on non-proliferation."
More: "Decertifying the Iran agreement would fracture the United States’ credibility among its original partners in the deal. It would open a rift with China just as it is weighing whether to join the United States again, this time in negotiating with North Korea. Global Times, a state-backed Chinese newspaper, has asked, ‘If America would overturn a pact it made to the rest of the world, solely because of a transition in government, how can it retain the reputation of a great power?’”
On “ Meet the Press” yesterday , UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said, “I think right now you are going to see us stay in the deal.” She added, "What we hope is that we can improve the situation. And that's the goal. So I think right now, we're in the deal to see how we can make it better.”
Steven Bannon on Trump cutting off those Obamacare subsidies: “Gonna blow those exchanges up, right?”
“The White House said it was acting on the recommendation of the Justice Department — that it was canceling illegal federal subsidies that helped sustain the Affordable Care Act. President Trump said what he was doing would hurt the insurance companies only,” the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake writes
“But former top Trump White House aide Stephen K. Bannon told a very different tale this weekend. And it will confirm what every opponent of the move already suspected: that Trump was trying to cause Obamacare to fail. In the midst of playing up Trump's accomplishments Saturday at the ‘Values Voters Summit’ in Washington, Bannon turned to Trump's controversial Obamacare executive order the day before. ‘Then you had Obamacare,’ Bannon said. Trump is ‘not gonna make the [cost-sharing reduction] payments. Gonna blow that thing up. Gonna blow those exchanges up, right?’”
On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich criticized Trump ending these subsidies. “What I don't understand, Chuck, is what are they doing?” he said, per NBC’s Kailani Koenig . “Are they just passing these things and people are praising what the president did because of politics? I mean, do they understand the impact that this has on families, on people?”
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I vote for compromise between the 2 parties - work together get some stuff done. I get it, there was 8 years of obstruction ... etc etc, but pay back being a bitch only affects 'We the People'. Time to act like grown ups that were elected to represent said people.
Steve Bannon, what a nightmare .. he is not going away, but it would be nice!
Side note .... Headlines are saying that Kaepernick is accusing NFL teams of colluding to not sign him, what a merry go round - best of luck to him, think he will need it..
Good morning and Happy Monday
Ah, compromise...the idea of each side making concessions. The American people's call for change is left unheard as the political parties continue to drink at the money trough.
The attitude of the House, "we did our work". An entire body of government is willing to sit on their hands while Rome literally burns!
Prediction - without bipartisan support, tax reform is DOA. The budget also DOA as the Dems take a page out of the Tea Party book and threaten shut-down.
Morning LynneA...
Sometimes I think individuals are looking up the definitions of compromise and bipartisanship (2 words rarely used)... I still have hope, and agree with your prediction .. There is NO way Health insurance can be fixed, nor tax reform without both sides building a bridge in order to meet in the middle.
Government shutdowns are what they are - there are days when I would like to shut the government down and send them all to the time out corner!!!
So....the question remains....how much can the Senate get done with 51 votes? If the Democrats want to win back seats in either House of Congress, they are going to have to learn the art of compromise.
Morning right back at ya! Woke up, it's a great day indeed.
In my corner, hope springs eternal...just weary of watching the pendulum swing.
In answer to your question, the GOP cannot get anything done with 51 votes...not even with CR. I was hopeful watching the work being done by Alexander & Murray, two adults trying to find solutions for the entire country. The leadership threw their work under the proverbial bus in the last voting debacle.
The mantra of we ran on repeal, while true, has millions of American's seeing what that mantra means for their lives. The pushback has been tremendous even in my scarlet red state.
Perhaps you neglected to notice that it's not the Democrats who are unwilling to compromise. The Republicans can't even agree with their own party, let alone a different party.
I hear you, but I cannot do the whole 'sky is falling' thing (it appears that neither can you) ... the pendulum will always swing, but I have a son that will be eligible to vote in 2018, perhaps his generation will make a difference (?)
My Dragon tells me that anything is possible .. so I keep dreaming. : )
Recently the (D)'s have shown a positive interest in working with the President on their agenda (which is a good thing) yet it does not equate to bipartisanship in Congress. Neither party is doing much to get things done in DC - yelling and pointing fingers is proving to accomplish nothing..
The Republican party is exploding in all directions .. the latest individual elected to Congress .. has me shaking my head worse than election night 2016! (I did not support either candidate!)
I wonder what RT has to say about this.... should we ask?