Trump and Republicans Strain to Set Agenda Wall Street Journal PHILADELPHIAPresident Donald Trump and congressional Republicans struggled to understand each other at the party's retreat here on Thursday, as they fell short of reaching agreement on complex policy issues involving taxes, trade and other pillars of ... |
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Trump and Republicans Strain to Set Agenda - Wall Street Journal
For the past eight years, Republicans skewered President Obama as an "emperor" who acted outside of his "legal authority" for the executive orders he issued from the Oval Office. Now, they are cheering President Donald Trump as he issues a raft of his own.
Trump has signed a dozen executive orders in his first few days in office, tackling everything from rolling back the Affordable Care Act's mandate to beginning construction on the Southern border wall to freezing federal hiring. Some Republicans cheered him on, while others, charged with overseeing and investigating executive oversight, have remained silent.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is now Trump's attorney general nominee, called Obama "emperor" for his use of executive action on immigration. He has not commented on Trump's dozen presidential actions.
House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned Obama's executive orders, calling a handful he issued a year ago aimed at reducing gun violence "a dangerous level of executive overreach." Following Trump's immigration executive order signed Wednesday, he expressed support.
"This is about keeping Americans safe." Ryan said in a statement on Wednesday. "I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to make this a national priority."
In a Thursday press conference, Ryan argued that Trump's executive orders were different because he agreed with the actions.
"It's quite the opposite. President Obama used his pen and phone to exceed his powers in our perspective. Everything Obama did by executive order, this president can undo," Ryan said, arguing that Trump could also use executive orders to overcome barriers they've encountered in the past when attempting to build a wall on the Southern border.
During Obama's term, the House Judiciary Committee went as far as to form a task force to probe executive authority accusing "presidents of both parties" of "legislating from the Oval Office," but acknowledged its focus was Obama.
Rep. Steve King, who heads up the House Judiciary subcommittee on executive authority, declined through a spokesman to comment on Trump's use of executive order. The ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Steve Cohen said he doubted the committee would act on Trump's executive orders right now.
"They'll probably push it down," Cohen told NBC News. "It will be a test to see if they're consistent with their philosophy."
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said Obama had "exceeded his executive authority" and was acting "without legal authority" in 2014, following Obama's immigration executive orders.
On Wednesday, he released a statement of support after Trump used an executive order to begin constructing a border wall.
"I welcome President Trump's focus on these problems and look forward to reviewing today's executive orders and working with the administration to accomplish our shared goals," he said.
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Republicans Alarmed Over Obama's Executive Orders, Cheer Trump's On - NBCNews.com
The overwhelming likelihood is that those Republican legislators with the power to rein in Donald Trumps disrespect for truth and Constitutional rights will not do so.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY
Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday morning, Karl Rove, the veteran Republican strategist, seemed a bit bemused. We have two Presidencies under way, he said. In one of them, Donald Trump was looking strong and fulfilling his campaign promises, Rove explained. He was referring to a series of executive orders that Trump had issued in policy areas ranging from health care to trade to the environment. While these edicts outraged many liberals and moderates, they were broadly in line with what the new President had pledged to do.
But there is a second President Trump, Rove added, one whogetsinvolved in food fights over how many people showed up at his Inauguration, and whether three to five million people voted illegally in the election . . . The latter President is not helpful for the ultimate success of Donald Trump. His voice rising, Rove went on, There is no evidence whatsoever that three million to five million illegals voted in this election.
Roves exasperation was probably shared by some of Trumps staff.On Tuesday, Trump had seemed ready to move on from his assertion that only massive voter fraud had prevented him from winning the popular vote, in Novembera false claim that has inspired widespread criticism and ridicule. Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow, Trump tweeted, on Tuesday night. Among many other things, we will build the wall!
On Wednesday, Trump was scheduled to speak at the Department of Homeland Security. His staff had let it be known that he would be signing some fresh executive orders concerning the construction of a border wall and new restrictions on immigration. Because these issues had been central to Trumps campaign platform, it made sense, from the White Houses perspective, to clear the entire day for them.
But, instead of going along with that plan, Trump returned to the subject of voter fraud.In a pair of tweets posted early on Wednesday morning, he promised to launch a major investigation into the issue. The probe would include those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and . . . even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time), Trump wrote. He added, Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures.
Afterward, Rove wasnt the only conservative analyst who sensed danger in Trumps hypersensitivity and his unwillingness to go along with the usual conventions of Presidential marketing. This normally includes a rough adherence to some proximity of the truth and a rigid adherence to the agreed-upon message of the day.Trumps appointments and initial executive orders are winning praise from former conservative critics, while flummoxing the Left, Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian and fellow at the Hoover Institution, wrote Wednesday, for the National Review.But Hanson criticized Trump for getting diverted into periphery issues, saying, Trumps fate is in the hands of Trump alone . . . the only obstacle on the horizon is playing into the hands of those who wish to destroy him.
As it happens, we can be pretty sure that Trumps wont change his ways. His narcissism knows no bounds, and he lives by the principle that he should never back down, even when it is proven that he has spouted outrageous falsehoods. The issue is how much these traits will harm Trump.For those who wish to destroy himincluding Democrats and a diminishing band of Never Trump Republicans, plus anybody who cherishes the values of honesty, inclusiveness, internationalism, and freedom of expression and religionthe problem with Hansons analysis is that they dont actually have the power to bring about such an outcome.
Right now, theonly people with the capacity to stop Trump are Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and their Republican colleagues in Congress. At the minimum, they could refuse to go along with some of his more illiberal proposals; at the maximum, they could theoretically invoke theTwenty-fifth Amendment and deem him unfit for office. The overwhelming likelihood is that they will do neither of these things.
On Tuesday, Ryan did say that he had seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud, but he refused to be drawn out any further. McConnell bowed and scraped to Trump, saying that voter fraud does happen. Other Republicans made similar weaselly statements. And, of course, some of the shock jocks and right-wing outriders who cheered Trump to victory supported his incendiary assertions.
Because G.O.P. legislators in many parts of the country have used similarly dubious allegations to justify voter-suppression efforts, this response shouldnt have been surprising. As Trump has done many times before, he took a bogus issue that Republicans have pursued for years and exploited it for his own purposes.Some Party elders and commentators might have concerns, but thats not because hes undermining a basic institution of democracyits largely because they fear that he will alienate moderate voters. And if Trumps proposed investigation does serve as a pretext for legislation designed to make it harder for minorities, immigrants, and poor people to vote, that will be just fine by the G.O.P.
Aslong as Trump pursues a policyagenda that Republicans support, and which they played a large role in crafting, they will continue to shrug off his nuttier and more despotic tendencies. That is a lesson the past few days should have taught us.
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Why Republicans Won't Break with Trump - The New Yorker
PHILADELPHIA Republican leaders laid out an aggressive legislative agenda Wednesday that would have Congress repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act, pass replacement measures and embark on a major tax code overhaul, all within the first 200 days of blanket GOP control in Washington.
In an afternoon session at an annual GOP policy retreat, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) unveiled plans that put repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act as the first order of business, with the target date for action within the next three months. Lawmakers also plan to move quickly on a broad rewrite of the tax code that is expected to include deep cuts in tax rates. The agenda sets a vigorous pace in an attempt to make good on key campaign promises made by President Trump.
The leaders laid out a three-pronged plan one that would start with a special reconciliation bill that could skirt a Senate filibuster but accomplish only some of the GOPs health-care goals. Meanwhile, the Trump administration would be using its executive and regulatory powers to undermine the Obama-era law, while lawmakers started work on more thorough replacement legislation that would need some Democratic support.
In recent days, Trump has pledged to pursue the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act at roughly the same time. The same day or the same week could be the same hour, Trump told the New York Times this month. Lawmakers pressed leaders for more details on how quickly Ryan and McConnell would be able to move on replacement measures and how far those early efforts would go.
Leaders left key details of that plan for a more in-depth session on health care that has been scheduled for Thursday morning.
Tax reform would follow on an ambitious schedule, members who attended the briefing said, with an eye toward passing that major overhaul before Congress breaks for its summer recess in August. Again, details were left for a subsequent session, although Ryan told members that they would work toward a tax reform plan that would cut rates while roughly maintaining current revenue levels.
He laid out a very ambitious agenda, said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.). Were on an aggressive timetable; it was almost like a construction chart the way he laid it out.
Aides warned that it is possible that the Senate will need more time to complete its work on tax reform, but leaders were eager to set an aggressive target.
A senior House appropriator, Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), announced plans to pass a special appropriations bill funding a Mexican border wall sometime in the spring, and Congress would act to undo several major Obama-era regulations in the meantime. Also on the agenda: drafting the first all-Republican budget in a decade, funding the government and avoiding a debt-ceiling crisis.
One point of tension between Trump and lawmakers was on an infrastructure bill. Leaders told the crowd that the initial draft of their legislative agenda did not include any measure to boost transportation projects, but that Trump himself has insisted on it. No details, such as a price tag or structure, were discussed, multiple members said.
Without the presidents input, that would not have been the case, said Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who advised the Trump transition.
McConnell also stressed that legislation typically moves much slower in the Senate than it does in the House. Dent said McConnell explained that most major legislation needs 60 votes to pass under long-standing Senate rules. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate, meaning any significant bill would need the support of at least eight Democrats.
Some House members worried that the legislative agenda relies too heavily on a quirk in the Senate rules that allows budget-related legislation to pass with a simple majority, according to several lawmakers who were present for the panel but requested anonymity to speak candidly about the private meeting. Republican leaders plan to use that loophole to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act and pass some elements of a replacement. Most other measures will be subject to the 60-vote requirement.
The speakers message was:None of this is going to be easy, Collins said.
Leaders hope to kick-start the agenda next week when the House is scheduled to start voting to halt Obama-era regulations, including measures related to mining and methane gas emissions from oil and gas production.
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Republicans set aggressive agenda on health care, regulations and tax reform - Washington Post
January 25, 2017 In an Inauguration Day picture, it appears crowd size is in the eye of the voter.
Those are the findings of a new study that asked Americans which of the two images President Trumps inauguration ceremony on Friday or Barack Obamas 2009 swearing in was better attended.
To the researchers, the answer was visibly clear. It was Mr. Obamas inauguration ceremony in 2009. But one in seven Trump voters disagreed, a conclusion the researchers say could be the result of expressive responding, a kind of partisan cheerleading. In surveys, respondents sometimes provide answers that aren't factual, but that show support for a politician or party.
Those people are basically saying, I know there are not more people in that photo, but I also know the context of the question,' says Brian Schaffner, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who performed the study with Samantha Luks, managing director of scientific research for YouGov. 'Im choosing to basically lie in order to support Trump.'
At first blush, the survey results offer a bleak view of partisan perceptions. Republicans and Democrats cant even agree on photographic evidence, let alone policies, says Dr. Schaffner.
But the survey also offers insights into the motivations behind these factual disagreements. Political scientists and political psychologists agree the gears driving this discord are complex. They say its likely a combination of multiple factors: this partisan cheerleading, a mistrust of the media and how they present (or distort) facts, and a lack of knowledge about a political debate, but a willingness to provide an answer that supports your political team anyway.
In the survey, the 1,388 respondents, all American adults, were shown two pictures side-by-side. On the left was a view during Trumps inauguration of the National Mall from the observation level near the top of the Washington Monument. On the right was a picture from the exact same spot eight years earlier, during Obamas swearing in. The side-by-side was, of course, the image that went viral on Friday, and which the Trump administration said the next day was deliberately false reporting by the dishonest media.
The respondents, some of whom likely knew about the spat between Trump and the press, were asked on Sunday and Monday one of two questions about the photos. Half of respondents were asked which of the photographs was taken at Trumps inauguration and which was taken at Obamas. Forty-one percent of Trump voters gave the wrong answer, compared to 8 percent of Clinton voters, and 21 percent of nonvoters.
The other half of the survey participants were asked a simpler question: Which photo had more people? Fifteen percent of Trump voters, or about 1 in 7, gave the wrong answer, compared to 2 percent of Clinton voters and 3 percent of nonvoters.
Schaffner says Trump voters likely supplied the wrong answer for one or two reasons. Some might actually see more people in the 2017 photo. The other reason, he says, is expressive responding.
In the question we asked, the truth was obvious and so right in front of people. They really couldnt believe there were more people in the left-hand photo, he says. The only explanation is the 15 percent would have known what theyre saying is wrong. They have to choose what theyre saying anyway to support Trump.
This political cheerleading applies to Democrats as much as to Republicans. In a 1988 survey, the University of Michigans American National Election Study, 30 percent of Democrats said unemployment worsened under the Ronald Reagan presidency. It didnt. Unemployment actually decreased.
In other words, when you ask people about the economy, the answers are less a statement of objectivity and more like what theyd say ifyoud asked which pro football teamwas the best, wrote Neil Irwin for the New York Timess Upshot in 2014.
But Howard Lavine, a political psychologist at the University of Minnesota, says theres another wrinkle in this discussion. In addition to answering out of ignorance or allegiance to your political team, respondents could also be confused between the verified facts about the crowds presented to them by the press and the unverified assertions presented by the Trump administration.
Now, I think were entering a realm, sadly, in which people really are confused, says Dr. Lavine, director of the universitys Center for the Study of Political Psychology, and who was not involved in the study. Populist-oriented Republicans have been saying for quite some time, Dont trust the mainstream media. Theyre lying to youIts possible that [respondents] believe that thats true that theyre being lied to. What that amounts to, then, is that they actually believe the response theyre giving you.
While the pictures of the two inaugurations went viral, they were snapped by only a few news outlets. According to the Reuters editor in charge of his outlets photo, there were three camera operators on the observation level of the Washington Monument. One was from Reuters, one from CBS, and one from the National Park Service. PBS NewsHour also posted a time-lapse video of the crowd throughout Inauguration Day.
But Trump said at CIA headquarters on Saturday that the dishonest media showed pictures of empty spaces at the mall, while White House press secretary Sean Spicer accused some of the media of deliberately false reporting.
In addition to a growing body of research that has shown politicians and political elites can effectively spread conspiracy theories among supporters, Trump and Mr. Spicers accusations come as trust in the mainstream media is at an all-time low.
How do these two images, then, fit into the bigger picture of the partisan divide?
Its not good, say political science and psychology experts. Patrick Miller, a political scientist at the University of Kansas, also not involved in the study, says it shows how Democrats and Republicans live in two completely different worlds, with different news and different facts. Dr. Lavine adds voters have become increasingly less motivated by getting behind policies and politics that are good for them, and more about whether their team is winning or losing.
But he adds that in the 1950s, the American Political Science Association bemoaned the opposite, that parties were too non-ideological. There were a great many conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans, they said. Today, it appears the the opposite is true.