Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell need each other but can’t get along.
Trump and McConnell need each other but can’t seem to get along
Washington — President Donald Trump can’t enact his agenda without Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell may not have a majority to lead without Trump’s help. It’s simple, and still so complicated.
The strangest bedfellows in Washington are locked in an increasingly public and personal feud that defies conventional wisdom. The escalating tension between the two men is threatening the GOP’s re-election prospects and its ability to govern. It has erupted at a high-stakes moment for the Republican Party, which is facing the prospect of a government shutdown — and the possibility it may fail to enact any major legislation during its first year in complete control of Washington.
The dispute is a reminder of the unconventional politics that have gripped the GOP in the Trump era. While Trump and McConnell ostensibly share the same philosophy, legislative agenda, voters and political opponents, they increasingly act more like adversaries than allies — a reminder of just how divisive the president remains within his own party.
“He’s now actively attacking people who can help his agenda,” veteran Republican operative Doug Heye said of Trump, who has mobilized his avid supporters against GOP senators since the party’s embarrassing failure to overhaul the nation’s health care system. “It seems to be really a one-man spiral to the bottom.”
Divisions have deepened in recent weeks. McConnell, like other leading Republicans, is particularly upset by Trump’s consistent attacks against vulnerable Republican senators who need his help, according to a person familiar with the Kentucky Republican’s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations. The person said McConnell questions whether Trump is capable of righting his struggling presidency.
The concerns were exacerbated by Trump’s recent description of some participants in a white supremacist rally as “very fine people,” remarks that were broadly condemned by Republicans and Democrats.
The intra-party feuding threatens nearly all of Trump’s priorities, including his near-daily campaign trail pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
While Trump threatened Tuesday to force a federal shutdown unless Congress provides funds for the massive project, many GOP lawmakers, especially moderates, lack his passion for the proposal. They may be harder to win over given the current rancorous atmosphere.
Republicans who feel wounded by Trump also could be less likely to defend him amid numerous investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia. And it could complicate the task of rallying Republicans around complicated tax legislation, where lawmakers can have divergent priorities.
“In politics, it’s a mistake to personalize things, particularly if it’s a member of your own team,” veteran Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Wednesday. “The reality is you’re going to need them down the road.”