Trump lashes out at Republican lawmakers over failures on issues
President WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Friday rejected Republican complaints about his decision to work with Democrats on fiscal and immigration issues, chiding his own party for failing to advance major legislation and calling on congressional leaders to begin overhauling the tax code immediately.
As the rift between the president and Republican lawmakers widened, the president argued that he had no choice but to collaborate with the Democratic minority to get business done, especially because the opposition has the power to block bills in the Senate, where Republicans do not have the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.
“Republicans, sorry, but I’ve been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn’t happen!” he wrote in a series of morning messages on Twitter, referring to the failure of party leaders to pass legislation overturning former President Barack Obama’s health care program. “Even worse, the Senate Filibuster Rule will never allow the Republicans to pass even great legislation. 8 Dems control — will rarely get 60 (vs. 51) votes. It is a Repub Death Wish!”
Trump pressed his party allies to accelerate efforts to revamp the tax code and lower taxes on corporations and workers, perhaps his best chance to pass a major priority item before the end of the year.
“Republicans must start the Tax Reform/Tax Cut legislation ASAP,” he wrote. “Don’t wait until the end of September. Needed now more than ever. Hurry!”
The Twitter messages came as Republican leaders chafed at his agreement this week with the Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, to finance the government and pay its debts for the next three months.
Trump blindsided the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who were pressing for an 18-month deal. Republicans complained that Trump had empowered the Democrats and made it harder to come up with longer-term fiscal legislation in December.
The president, however, was energized by the deal and the sense of progress after seven months of frustrated legislative efforts, and he reached out to Schumer and Pelosi on Thursday to see if they could work out further deals. Among other things, he signaled openness to a plan advanced by Schumer to end the perennial showdowns over the debt ceiling and agreed to a request by Pelosi to publicly reassure younger unauthorized immigrants worried about deportation.
Immigration may be one area where the two sides could come together. Trump this week rescinded Obama’s program protecting immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as minors on the grounds that it went beyond a president’s authority. But he has offered to work with Democrats to fashion legislation that would reinstate the program on firmer legal footing, possibly in exchange for money for his plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico.