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Oklahoma may be Trump country, but that did not prevent James Lankford (R), the states junior senator, from criticizing President Trump this week by saying he ought to keep his promise to release his tax returns.

Nor did Trumps popularity in Iowa stop Sen. Joni Ernst (R) from telling her constituents there that she is perturbed by the presidents frequent jaunts to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.

I do wish he would spend more time in Washington, D.C. That is what we have the White House for, Ernst said at a town hall meeting Tuesday in Wall Lake, Iowa. She said she has not spoken to Trump about the Florida issue, but it has been bothering not just me, but some other members of our caucus.

As Republican lawmakers face questions from their constituents back home, some elected leaders have been willing to break with their partys president. Although they generally support Trumps agenda on such priorities as a tax overhaul and health care, these Republicans are criticizing the president over his continued refusal to make public his tax returns, as past presidents have, and his costly trips to Florida.

Some of those criticizing Trump are not moderates eager to establish political independence, but rather conservatives from red states who are popular with the voters who propelled Trump into office.

The ease with which a GOP favorite such as Ernst has separated from Trump she has criticized his Florida travel and his defiance on taxes underscores the weak grip the president and his political operation have on the Republican Party.

It is hard to defend in todays world not releasing your tax returns, and its hard to defend playing golf at a seven-star resort when its a busy time and people are anxious about problems being addressed, said Ed Rogers, a GOP operative and lobbyist.

David Carney, a GOP strategist, said finding ways to break with Trump on issues such as tax returns and travel is a smart strategy especially at a moment when Trump opponents are galvanized.

Back in 2009 and 2010, if Democrats had not been drinking Kool-Aid, saying Obama makes no mistakes, and actually called him out on a few things, they would have had a better chance to survive the onslaught in the midterm elections, Carney said.

White House officials say that although they wish GOP lawmakers would be fully supportive of Trump, it matters more that they back him on policies.

The president has been pretty clear about where he is on releasing his tax returns, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. People knew that before they voted in November, and he still won overwhelmingly. The American people are a lot more concerned about their own taxes than President Trumps, and thats what hes focused on.

Democratic leaders are connecting the two issues, however, threatening to block Trumps efforts to overhaul the tax code unless he releases his tax returns so the public can determine whether he would personally benefit from the legislative changes.

Trump has had plenty of defenders, of course. At a town hall meeting Monday in Little Rock, one man asked Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to demand Trump release his tax returns so we can see what kind of connections he has to different countries.

Cotton responded by repeating the talking points employed by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

As far as Im aware, the president says hes still under audit, Cotton said, drawing loud boos in the crowd.

Cotton continued by noting that the president filed a personal financial disclosure as a candidate and arguing that because Trump puts his names on buildings where he has them, his foreign connections are well known.

Cottons defense drew applause from some in the audience but more jeers and shouting from others. One woman stood and shook her head as the senator finished his response.

Some Republican campaign operatives said their partys politicians would be wise to move on from the tax returns debate, recognizing that it may be nearly impossible to persuade Trump to do something he has steadfastly refused to do.

Anyone who thought Trump would ever release his taxes is mistaken, said Alice Stewart, a GOP consultant. Its not going to happen no way, no how. Everybody has to get used to that idea.

Still, the list of Republican senators and House members saying Trump should release his tax returns has grown to at least a dozen.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said this week on CNN that releasing his tax returns is the right thing to do. Several other GOP House members including some House Freedom Caucus conservatives have either signed a letter calling on Trump to release his returns or backed a Democratic measure to force their release.

On Tuesday in rural Rogers County, Okla., where Trump won 76 percent of the vote last November, Lankford was asked at a town hall meeting about Trumps decision not to release his tax returns.

He promised he would, Lankford responded, according to the Tulsa World newspaper. He should keep his promise.

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) was quick to join her colleagues, saying in a statement Wednesday that Trump should release his taxes voluntarily like his predecessors did before him. She went on to say, If the investigative committees believe that they need the presidents taxes during the course of their investigations [into Russias role in the 2016 campaign] then it is in their right to subpoena them.

Trumps frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago have also been raising concerns in the GOP. He has spent seven of the 13 weekends since he has been president at his Florida resort, often combining golf outings and leisurely meals with official business, such as the visits of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

I dont like him going down to Mar-a-Lago, or wherever it is, Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) said during a Tuesday town hall meeting.

Comstock posited, Camp David would be a better weekend retreat and save the taxpayers money, referring to the official presidential retreat in Maryland that is already outfitted to secure the commander in chief and his visitors.

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Even in red states, Republicans feel free to criticize Trump on his taxes and travel - Washington Post

New York Times

Why Are Republicans Making Tax Reform So Hard? New York Times President Trump speaking with small business leaders at the White House in January. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times. In the aftermath of the health care blowup, President Trump and the Republicans need a legislative victory. Tax reform ... Republicans Prepare To Lose On A Government Funding BillHuffington Post House Republicans could force government shutdown in the Senate over coal miners health benefitsDaily Kos Paul Waldman: Trump's tax returns will keep causing Republicans headachesAllentown Morning Call New Republic -Salon -Financial Times -Fox Business all 177 news articles »

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Why Are Republicans Making Tax Reform So Hard? - New York Times

Republicans have friends in Silicon Valley, too.

Undeterred by the regions overwhelming opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump, a group of the Senates most powerful GOP lawmakers led by Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. are slated to head to the Bay Area on Thursday for a high-dollar fundraiser at the home of Larry Ellison, the co-founder and former chief executive of Oracle.

Ellisons expected co-hosts include the likes of Safra Catz, the current CEO of Oracle who has advised Trump in recent months; Mike Markkula, the former chief of Apple; Ted Ullyot, the former general counsel of Facebook whos now at Andreessen Horowitz, and a selection of area investors, such as the Schwab family.

All are billed on an invite, obtained by Recode this week, that solicits other potential Bay Area hosts if theyre willing to raise or contribute $35,000 to Republicans.

For Democrats and Republicans alike, Silicon Valley is an annual stop on the way to Election Day: The regions executives are cash flush, politically inclined and, at times, can serve as helpful gateways for national officeholders to boost their own tech expertise. If anything, GOP leaders in recent years have taken great pains to forge new relationships in the Bay Area, hoping a message of low taxes and hands-off government might resonate with voters there.

But the Valley largely rebuked Republicans in the 2016 election because of Trump, who often targeted the tech industrys darlings, like Apple and Amazon, on the campaign trail. Since winning the presidency, that opposition hasnt subsided. The Bay Areas politically active engineers have protested vigorously against Trumps approach to issues like immigration, and many have called on their executives to do the same.

But Republicans still have allies in Silicon Valley and theyll seek their financial help at the Thursday fundraiser to be held at Ellisons home in Woodside, California. Joining McConnell are the likes of Sens Cory Gardner, Thom Tillis, Steve Daines and John Thune, the leader of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees tech and telecom issues, according to the invite.

Republicans arent the only ones fundraising in the Bay Area this week, by the way. Senate Democrats chief, Sen. Chuck Schumer, also is in town with Sen. Ron Wyden, according to a source familiar with the event.

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Larry Ellison and friends are hosting a fundraiser for Republican lawmakers - Recode

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Republicans are "very close" to getting a breakthrough on legislation to repeal Obamacare even after rowdy town halls during the Easter recess sparked more opposition among Republicans.

Lawmakers are "negotiating finishing touches" on a compromise, Ryan told the London think tank Policy Exchange during an overseas trip Wednesday.

"We have a system that is in dire need of reform," Ryan said, referring to Obamacare.

Since lawmakers adjourned for recess nearly two weeks ago, talks have been continuing among conservatives and centrists to let states opt out of some Obamacare insurer mandates. Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus want states to be able to opt out of requirements for insurers to provide essential health benefits and abide by price controls that prevent them from charging sick people more.

However, centrists are against easing the mandates because of concerns about affordable coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. Recent raucous town halls haven't helped sway centrists to get on board.

Congress is set to return next week.

Ryan also said that Congress hopes to take on tax reform by the end of this year, hopefully by the end of summer. Lawmakers have sought to get Obamacare repeal done first to use the savings for tax reform.

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Paul Ryan: Republicans 'very close' to Obamacare repeal deal - Washington Examiner

WASHINGTON Republicans have been shredding Obama-era regulations with a special congressional power that not only kills a regulation but also is supposed to stop a federal agency from ever reissuing similar rules.

When it comes to mandatory drug testing for unemployed people, however, Republicans actually want the U.S. Labor Department to reissue a rule that Congress and President Donald Trump killed last month. It remains unclear what will happen with the policy, but the episode has already demonstrated that even if Congress kills a regulation, theres no guarantee it will stay dead.

Federal agencies issue regulations to carry out laws Congress has passed.In the 1990s, Congress gave itself a special power when it passed the Congressional Review Act, which provides a shortcut for lawmakers to strike down recently issued regulations. The procedure is only effective when one party gains control of both Congress and the White House, since a sitting president of the opposite party could veto attacks on his regulations.

Trump has signed more than a dozen Congressional Review Act resolutions since taking office. One of them nullified a rule the Labor Department issued last year that allowed states to drug-test people applying for unemployment insurance but only for unemployed people seeking work in a narrow range of occupations with a public safety component, such as commercial drivers and police officers. (Unemployment insurance is a federal-state program that replaces a portion of a persons wages if she is laid off through no fault of her own. Before the regulation, the federal government has never allowed states to add a drug test as a condition of eligibility.)

Republicans hated the rule the Obama Labor Department produced, because they wanted states to be able to drug-test unemployed workers in other occupations. Last month Congress approved and Trump signed a resolution throwing out the Obama rules.

Once the regulation had been struck down, some Republicans seemed to think states could go ahead with making unemployment claimants take the tests, which has been something of an obsession for Republicans since about 2010. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), for instance, said last month that Mississippi should be free to pursue the drug testing reforms the state had previously enacted. The state law had been on hold because the U.S. Labor Department hadnt finalized its regulation until late last year.

Heres the problem with Wickers view: The underlying statute that authorized the drug testing which Congress passed in 2012 and which is still on the books says states can only test unemployment claimants who are seeking work in an occupation that regularly conducts drug testing as determined under regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor. Those regulations are gone now, and theyre not supposed to come back.

The text of theCongressional Review Act states that a rule Congress has disapproved may not be reissued in substantially the same form unless lawmakers pass a new law specifically telling the relevant agency to do so. Congress hasnt passed a new drug testing law, but some top Republicans nevertheless expect the Trump Labor Department to reissue the regulation with a broader testing mandate.

My understanding is that they will promulgate a new rule, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), sponsor of the drug testing resolution in the House, told The Huffington Post last month.

Spokespeople for the Labor Department declined to say what the agency would do, though its current director has said the department looks forward to examining additional flexibilities for states relative to the drug testing of persons seeking unemployment benefits.

Mississippi, Wisconsin and Texas each created unemployment drug testing programs that are pending while the federal regulation is sorted out. A spokesperson for Texas Workforce Commission, which handles unemployment insurance in the state, told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that the agency hasnt received any guidance from the federal government but is waiting for the Labor Department to issue a new regulation.

Rena Steinzor, a University of Maryland law professor and co-founder of the Center for Progressive Reform, said a new regulation that is substantially the same as the old one would be vulnerable to a lawsuit.

I dont know why they were all in a fluster about this rule, but assuming theres minor tweaking and they put it out again, somebody would have to dislike it and bring it to court, Steinzor said.

Steinzor said she believed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has shied away from issuing regulations to protect poultry workers from injuries in large part because Congress struck down an ergonomics regulation in 2001. Before Trump took office, the ergonomics rule was the only one that had been successfully targeted under the CRA.

Since the Congressional Review Act has been so rarely used, experts disagree on what could happen if an agency tried to replace a rule that had been nullified. Curtis Copeland, a former expert on rules with the Congressional Research Service, said its unlikely a lawsuit could succeed.

Someone could try and take the agency to court, saying that the new rule is substantially the same and therefore should not have been issued without subsequent congressional authorization, Copeland said in an email. But he pointed out that a section of the Congressional Review Actactually exempts actions taken under the law from judicial review.

And given this language, the courts have been generally unwilling to hear CRA-related cases, saying Congress has said we have no role here, he said.

If courts dont want to overturn agency actions related to the Congressional Review Act, that leaves Congress as the arbiter of what counts as substantially the same under the law. So if the current Congress wants an agency to redo a nullified regulation and the executive branch is happy to do so, theres nobody else who could stop it from happening.

Some Republicans have reportedly toyed with the idea that the Trump administration could introduce liberal regulations just so the Republican Congress could permanently nullify them with the Congressional Review Act, thereby hamstringing any future Democratic presidents. The episode with the drug testing rule shows, however, that its mostly up to Congress whether an agencys rules are kosher. That means the portion of Obamas regulatory legacy that Trump has supposedly killed with the Congressional Review Act could be resurrected.

The substantially similar requirement of the CRA is essentially self-policed by Congress, saidPhilip Wallach, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.

Its not even that clear to me that Congress has really thought through all these rules and said to themselves, Oh its really important that we never get another rule like this, Wallach said, adding that he thinks Republicans main motivation may have been simply to rebuke Obama.

As for lawsuits, potential plaintiffs wont necessarily need help from an arcane parliamentary law if they didnt like a states unemployment drug testing scheme. George Wentworth, senior counsel for the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, pointed out that states have been stung by lawsuits over drug testing for other types of public benefits. Courts recognize that a drug test counts as a search by the government, and its up to states to make sure their programs dont run afoul of the Constitutions Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches.

A state that drug-tests individuals just because they are applying for unemployment benefits has got a constitutional problem, Wentworth said.

Arthur Delaney is co-host of So That Happened, the HuffPost Politics podcast:

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Republicans Are Killing This Regulation In Order To Save It - Huffington Post