Trump’s verbal shots at McConnell complicate agenda

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell come at the worst possible time, if the president’s goal is actually to advance his agenda on health care, infrastructure and taxes that he’s goading his GOP ally to pass.

Congress, now on summer break, will return next month to confront a brutal workload that includes two absolute must-do items: funding the government to head off a shutdown and raising the federal borrowing limit to avert a potentially catastrophic first-ever default on U.S. obligations.

Both will require bipartisan cooperation, something in short supply on Capitol Hill this year.

That’s in addition to Trump’s demand for a tax rewrite to lower rates, a public works bill and renewed efforts to repeal the Obama-era health law. McConnell, R-Ky., tried but failed last month to replace the Affordable Care Act — an outcome Trump called “a disgrace.”

So the president’s rhetoric last week widened divisions at a moment when his party should try to work together on shared goals. His agenda can pass only if McConnell navigates it through the Senate. The veteran lawmaker may not feel motivated to do that with his president working against him.

“Virtually any substantial goals that the president intends to achieve, whether it’s tax reform or more infrastructure, requires the active assistance of the Senate majority leader,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for John Boehner when the Ohio Republican was House speaker.

McConnell’s allies said Trump’s frustration over the failure on health care is shared by the majority leader. Campaign operatives on the political side said it’s crucial the next item on the agenda — taxes — not collapse in a similar fashion. Otherwise, Republicans will have a tough time making the case to voters during next year’s midterm election they should continue to control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

“Tax reform is a must-do issue in our view,” Steven Law, head of the McConnell-aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, said Friday in an interview for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. “I think if we fail to get action on that, I think people will start to wonder why Republicans are in charge of everything and what they’re accomplishing.”

Yet instead of linking arms with McConnell on the issue and working Capitol Hill, which is what President George W. Bush did when he got his big tax cuts through in 2001, the White House already may be at cross-purposes with the majority leader.

The president’s team has raised expectations for fast action on taxes. White House legislative director Marc Short recently suggested a bill could be completed by the end of the year. That’s a tall order for Republicans who have yet to meet a single major legislative deadline. At the same time, Congress has made virtually no progress on infrastructure or the budget, and the unfinished work is piling up.

Unlike health care, the upcoming agenda — outside of taxes and Trump’s nominations — requires Democratic votes. That’s sure to be another sore point between Trump and McConnell because Trump wants the Senate to eliminate the filibuster. McConnell and most Senate veterans, are resolutely opposed.

McConnell dinged Trump this past week for “excessive expectations” about what can happen in Congress. That didn’t sit well with the president, who lashed out at McConnell.