Let's talk about House republicans ignoring Trump.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about House Republicans ignoring Trump.

It all started in small ways. Small groups of Republicans breaking on major issues with Trump. Then it moved to the Senate where Senate Republicans have been mostly treating Trump like an annoying date they got saddled with while playing wingman to a friend. Polite but waiting for it to end. Then there was a little open defiance when it came to the SAVE Act. From there it moved to Republican voters. Now it's finally reached the House.

Trump made it clear his top priority in the midterms was the SAVE Act, not the version the House already passed. No, now Trump wants a whole new one that's even more restrictive with even more add-ons. Reminder, the first version is so bad it can't get through the Senate. So Trump looked at it and said, "You know what? I can make that worse, too."

Heading into the midterms, House Republicans and Trump huddled up for a strategy session. Trump spoke for almost an hour, and about a quarter of the time was spent ordering House Republicans to pass yet another version of the bill, which would be the third time. Trump told House Republicans the new, more restrictive version was his “number one priority.”

And that's when it happened. They simply ignored him. Like Grandpa Simpson talking about his trip to Shelbyville, Trump was ignored. On Tuesday when Speaker Johnson laid out his list of must pass legislation to congressional Republicans guess what wasn't on it? It was mostly normal policy stuff like a farm bill and highway infrastructure and of course more authorizations for federal surveillance.

As Republicans started talking to the press, they started talking about things that might help them win back the center, which has been hammered by Trump's economic policies, ill-conceived wars, government restructuring, trade wars, and so on.

Representative Lisa McClain of Michigan, who is also the House GOP Conference Chair, wanted to focus on what she called real results for real people. She wanted to focus on tax cuts. Reminder, the Center for Economic and Policy Research said Trump's tariffs are amounting to the largest tax increase in history on Americans while other economic analysis said it was only the largest tax increase since 1968.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said he wanted to “make life more affordable for working families.”

I'm not sure what that means. They're going to end Trump's elective war, driving up fuel prices, which is driving up the prices of everything else. Or they're going to end Trump's trade policies, which are driving up the prices of everything else. Or they're going to end Trump's I think you get the point.

From what we've heard from most Republicans so far, they're ignoring Trump's demands and plan on running against the effects of his policies even though they supported them. I don't want to call it too soon because Trump has a knack for political survival, but with any other president, his own party blowing off the president's number one priority before the midterms means he's already a lame duck.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.