Republicans feel Trump’s dagger on their back

by Tauqeer Abbas
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On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump sided with Democratic Party leaders Sen. Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, on a short-term deal to fund the government, raise the debt ceiling and provide aid for the Hurricane Harvey victims.

 

 

The Republican Party had agreed on a plan before meeting with the president to raise the debt limit to 18 months and add it to the $7.8bn disaster relief for the Hurricane Harvey victims that Trump had requested.

 

 

The Democrats had their own version of the bill which allowed a 3-month raise for the debt limit. House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized the idea calling it “ridiculous” and “disgraceful” before the meeting in the Oval Office.As the Democrat leaders insisted on a short 3-month extension, Republicans agreed to reduce their plan to a 12-month period. Frustrated by the Democrats, they even agreed to 6 months.

 

 

Since the two parties couldn’t settle on a mutual decision, they agreed to disagree, which halted the negotiations.Treasury Secretary Mnuchin who sat in the meeting with the Republicans, tried to convince the president but Mr Trump broke him off and took the Democrats’ deal. Trump’s unexpected decision humiliated his own supporting party in front of their foes.

 

After Trump took the Democrats’ side, he even called them “Chuck and Nancy.” He also listened to Nancy Pelosi’s suggestion to soothe the DACA “Dreamers” with a tweet that they will not be deported for six months.

 

The GOP was furious with Trump for having betrayed them. An unidentified Republican said: “He fucked us.” Others expressed their contempt for the deal by calling it the “Pelosi-Trump-Schumer-deal – PTSD”.

Michael Steel, former House Speaker John Boehner’s aide, said: “Senator Schumer and Representative Pelosi walked in holding a pair of deuces and the president handed them a jackpot.”

 

“I don’t know whether the president wanted to make a deal of some sort and he didn’t really care about the details, I don’t know whether he understood how much leverage he was giving away, I don’t know if he was simply frustrated at congressional Republican leaders.”

 

Steel also pointed out that Trump’s decision was a comeback to McConnell and Ryan for their repeated disdain and failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“This was his way of reminding them he didn’t like what they did in August,” said Steel. “All roads don’t lead through the Republican caucus for this president.”

 

 

Budget director Mulvaney said on the Fox Business Network of whether the president is upset with the GOP: “He probably is. And believe me, as a Republican, so am I. As a citizen, I am too. I was promised that they would have repealed and replaced Obamacare by now.”

 

 

Steel had predicted before that Trump, having been a Democrat for a long time, would get frustrated with the Republicans at some point and turn to Schumer and Pelosi.

“Trump is agnostic on all the things important to Republicans,” said Steel. “It boggles the mind that Republican leadership think they can change him to a Republican.”
Steel also said the relationship between Trump and the Republican leaders is unlikely to improve in the future.

 

 

“Everyone can get to a point where they accommodate each other. You don’t recover from this. You get to a position where you agree not to talk about it but it doesn’t heal.”
Having mentioned that the president is in it for himself and not any particular party agendas, Steel believes that Trump will expect something out of the Wednesday deal.

 

 

“Democrats are in just as much of a pickle as Republicans as to what they stand for. That’s why this was an easy deal for him to cut. If he is careful and calculating, he can probably get Democrats on board for things they wouldn’t otherwise get on board for. There will be a price to pay because there always is.”

 

21-year veteran of the US Senate Jim Manley, also cautioned Democrats in dealing with Trump.“Trump’s so unpredictable that any Democrat has to be very careful,” he said. “Where he is one day doesn’t mean that’s where he is the next day. Hope springs eternal, but I for one don’t believe that there’s a new era of deal-making in the Senate.”

 

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