U.S. Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) reacts as he speaks with members of the media outside the Senate chamber, following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump (REUTERS)
Semafor reports that while President Donald Trump is springing onto voters his disastrous invasions and equally disastrous “ceasefires” his Republican Party is desperately trying to get it’s resume together for the midterms.
Only Semafor reports that resume is still pretty thin.
“Republicans are trapped in a messy fight over their pre-election agenda that will extend the longest government shutdown of all time and threatens to complicate an already tough midterm campaign,” Semafor writer Burgess Evertett said. “President Donald Trump’s party has a dizzying to-do list for the year: restore Department of Homeland Security funding, send him billions of dollars more for immigration enforcement, meet his demand for a voter ID bill, extend key surveillance powers, and replenish Pentagon coffers depleted by war in Iran.”
But passing those priorities, whether or not they will resonate with voters, will require muscle from Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
“But the House is still sitting on the Senate-passed bill reopening most of DHS, because they want Thune’s Republicans to advance a standalone immigration enforcement bill,” said Evertett. “Except that House and Senate Republicans also can’t agree on whether to sidestep Democrats only on ICE and CBP funding until 2028, or whether to try to fund all of DHS for that long.”
Meanwhile, more popular items, including aid to save farmers from Trump’s own policies and disaster aid can’t get anywhere because Republicans keep breaking “at the seams over strategy,” said Semafor.
Republicans with their razor-thin majorities do not have the muster to quash a filibuster — but making deals with Democrats to pass bills acceptable to both parties appears to be a non-starter with both Trump and party leaders.
And while the paperwork backs up on Republicans’ desks, the nation has already entered the month of April, with seven months to go before midterms and a president at historic unpopularity.