They can’t even agree on their legislative priorities:
Republicans are already bickering over how to pass major parts of President-elect Donald Trump’s platform.
There is serious disunity regarding how and when to pass Trump’s legislative agenda, Politico reported Wednesday. Senator John Thune told his fellow senators that he wanted to accelerate the president-elect’s plans via budget reconciliation so that both the border policy and tax policy portions can pass within the first 30 days of Trump’s presidency.
Some House Republicans don’t think that’s the right approach, though, as passing border policy so early could make it harder for their committee to pass tax law later on. And then there’s also the fact that Republicans already have some significant disagreements on tax policy in general.
While Republican House leaders Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise have been in Trump’s ear in Mar-a-Lago, dissent has been fomenting in D.C.
“Our members need to weigh in on that. This doesn’t need to be a decision that’s made up on high, okay?” said Texas House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington. “We’re all unified around the objectives, [but] how we roll it out, the tactics and strategies, still under discussion.”
Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene noted that Republicans ought to rebuke Thune if he doesn’t approve the entire bill, while Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy also thinks that reconciliation should be forced through and then they can “maybe do a second version that gets at true long-standing permanent tax reform.
The GOP will have a 2 seat majority in the House in the first months. Only a five vote after that. Maybe they will be so euphoric over Dear Leader’s victory that they’ll all just sign off on anything he tells them to sign off on. But that’s a dicey proposition. As you can see they’re already fighting amongst themselves.
The Vivek and Elon show came to the Hill today and everyone was v ery excited to be in the company of such VIPs. We haven’t heard many details about what they plan to cut but there was this:
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune told her that the mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare are on the table.
Good luck with that.