President attacks left and right
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pledged Thursday to come after Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan and his fellow Freedom Caucus members in next year’s midterm election, but it could prove a hollow threat against someone like the Urbana Constituents happy with Jordan /
Republican, who won in November with 68 percent of the vote.
“The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”
Thursday night, Trump made it even more personal by directly mentioning Jordan. In one tweet, Trump said if Jordan and two other members of the Freedom Caucus “would get on board we would have both great healthcare and massive tax cuts & reform.”
In a second tweet, he asked: “Where are @ RepMarkMeadows, @ Jim_Jordan and @Raul_Labrador? #RepealANDReplace #Obamacare?”
Chalk it all up as another Trump first: Few have ever lumped the Freedom Caucus with Democrats before.
In the aftermath of the Republican failure a week ago to pass a replacement for the 2010 health-care law known as Obamacare, Jordan and members of the ultraconservative group he co-founded have been under intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans.
The organization of about three dozen hard-liners, which also includes Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, effectively blocked the bill because the caucus demanded so many changes that eventually moderate Republicans couldn’t support it.
Throughout the Obama administration, Jordan and his conservative colleagues consistently fought to drive House Republicans further right, essentially preventing any negotiation with Democrats.
But this time, the president is a Republican — and one who won his election thanks to voters in districts like Jordan’s.
Caucus member Justin Amash, R-Mich., responded to the president on Twitter: “It didn’t take long for the swamp to drain @realDonaldTrump. No shame, Mr. President. Almost everyone succumbs to the D.C. Establishment.”
The standoff may have had an impact even before Trump’s tweeted threats.
Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, quit the caucus last week, telling Fox News, “the goal posts kept getting moved and at the end of the day, ‘no’ was the answer. And sometimes you’re going to have to say yes.”
Other Republicans, such as Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, have suggested that Republicans try to work with Democrats, saying it’d be easier to strike a deal with them than the Freedom Caucus.
But Jim Manley, a onetime adviser to former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, said Trump and Republicans will have difficulty winning votes of even moderate Democrats.
“You bet against (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California) at your peril,” Manley said, adding that she has “got a rock-solid hold on her caucus” and any changes will be “under her terms rather than the
Republicans.’”
Manley predicted, “The White House and House and Senate Republican leadership are going to have to figure out a way to deal with Congressman Jordan and the rest of the Freedom Caucus or almost nothing is going to get done for the rest of the year.”
But Jordan has doubled down, insisting that his caucus simply wants good policy.
“We think doing it right is the most important thing,” he told The Dispatch in his Capitol Hill office.
After Trump’s tweet, Jordan told Fox News that while the Freedom Caucus “is trying to change Washington,” the Obamacare replacement bill “keeps Washington the same.”
“Let’s forget the blame and what may happen in the future,” Jordan said. “Let’s just do what we said.”
His explanation of why he fought so hard is a drum he beats constantly: He just wants to do what he told his constituents he would do.
“No one liked this piece of legislation,” Jordan said.
Davidson said he’s concerned that the focus is on blame rather than on getting the bill right.
“I think the status quo in politics is to do power politics and blame,” Davidson said when asked about Trump’s tweets.
“I don’t know that when it becomes personalized that people get helpful and problem solving. It tends to harden everyone’s position.”
While mainstream Republicans have been frustrated by the Freedom Caucus, some conservatives argue the group took a heroic stance.
“I think they helped themselves,” said Tom Zawistowski, executive director of the Portage County Tea Party.
“By doing what they did, they gave themselves a seat at the table. Like it or not, they showed they could hang together and stand for what they believed in and that they’re going to have to deal with them.”
Jessica Towhey, a former aide to former House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester, said by thwarting the GOP leadership efforts, the Freedom Caucus has ensured that Obamacare remains the law.
“I think the president learned that you don’t negotiate with terrorists,” she said, jokingly.
When Boehner was speaker, he repeatedly expressed frustration in dealing with the ultraconservative minority.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the group is “unpersuadable.”
“This is a massive defeat for their party, but they’re just not going to change,” he said. “Their reaction is to dig in their heels.”
Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University in Ohio, said while Jordan’s consistency has made him a hero among conservative groups, standing firm has more fallout when you’re the governing party.
“By weakening Trump, and by earning his disdain, they have made it harder for him to get things done in the future and they have made it less likely he will support a bill they approve,” Smith said.
Still, he added, “They had leverage. They used it … Agree with them or not, we should applaud political courage when we see it.”