As Trump attacks Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Republicans are privately admitting that the person who really deserves the blame for the health care bill failure is the President.
The Washington Post reported, “Privately, senior GOP congressional aides across Capitol Hill have said it’s Trump and his team — not McConnell — who deserve the blame for the collapse of the GOP’s health-care plan. The aides gripe that Trump seriously damaged relationships with key Republican senators over the months-long debacle. At one point this summer, Trump was flanked at a White House meeting by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who both voted against the health-care measure. At the mid-July meeting, it was Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) seated next to Trump. The president called him out with cameras rolling for wavering on the health-care bill.”
Trump burned his bridges with the Senate, and now he is attacking Mitch McConnell, the man whose support he absolutely has to have if he is going to get any legislation passed. To say that this is a self-destructive strategy would be an understatement. What Trump is doing is treating US Senators like they are his employees. Trump is trying to order the Senate to do what he wants, but the Senate is part of a co-equal branch of the United States government. They don’t work for Trump, and if he continues to push them, Republican Senators will make him pay for his arrogance.
The grumbles that Trump is a failed president are growing louder within Republican circles. It may be a bit longer before they come out and say it on the record, but even Republicans are admitting that Trump is a disaster as president.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
