'Hard to defend': GOP lawmakers fed up with Trump’s antics

07 February

Republican lawmakers and aides are increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump’s leadership -- or lack thereof -- and are feeling left in the dark about his sudden moves, NOTUS reported Friday. Sources say they do not receive advance notice or discussion, so when calls from constituents flood in about Trump’s executive orders, they don’t know what to say.

One particular area of concern is Trump’s pause of federal funding, which two federal judges have temporarily halted. The Trump administration announced the move last month while House Republicans were on their annual policy retreat. Trump had just spoken to the group that night, but he never mentioned a funding freeze. They only received talking points halfway through the next day, which was “too late,” writes politics reporter Reese Gorman.

“Hard to defend controversial executive orders when there’s no heads-up nor rationale,” a GOP member told NOTUS.

“I wish they would communicate in advance,” a GOP lawmaker said of the White House. The member said constituents were “sh----- Twinkies” about the funding freeze and they were left with nothing to tell them.

One aide was even more candid about the White House. “They need to get their s--- together,” they said.

Earlier this week, some lawmakers told Jeff Freeland, the House liaison for the White House’s office of legislative affairs, that they needed better communication.

Other lawmakers defended the president, though. “It can be a very choppy process,” one member acknowledged, “but at least at the end of it, we always seem to get a great conclusion for the country.”

Another member said that the federal aid freeze was “the big communications issue” and “everything else has seemingly been better.”

But for some GOP members and staffers, the federal aid freeze incident could have a lasting impact. Trump is “burning up political goodwill at an alarming rate,” one member said.

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