Trump accuses Republicans of having ‘death wish’
GOP divisions exposed after debt ceiling deal
NEW YORK •DonaldTrump Friday intensified his attacks on his own party, describing the Republicans as having a “death wish” with their refusal to repeal a Senate filibuster rule, and accusing them of failing to get anything done.
The president urged his colleagues to press ahead on tax reform, and chided those within the party who were angered by his siding with the Democrats earlier this week.
“Republicans, sorry, but I’ve been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn’t happen!” he said, mocking their efforts to push through health-care reform.
Friday night Trump was expected to sign a bill that would provide US$15 billion in disaster aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey and, at the same time, raise the debt ceiling — after a surprise move to side with the Democrats. The House Friday passed the bill 316-90, a day after the Senate passed it 80-17.
The bill was agreed after Trump met on Wednesday with the Republican and Democrat leaders of the House and Senate, and surprised many by agreeing with the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, the Republican leaders, argued for a longterm approach to the debt ceiling, which the U.S. was due to hit on with the new fiscal year beginning Oct 1.
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat leaders, however, argued successfully that the debt ceiling should be increased for three months, until Dec 8. Looking for a quick fix, Mr. Trump agreed with them — reportedly cutting off Steve Mnuchin, his own treasury secretary, as he explained his arguments for a longer-term increase.
That effectively postpones until December a potentially damaging fight over fiscal matters, including whether to fund construction of Trump’s Mexican border wall.
Schumer and Pelosi’s apparent outmanoeuvring of the Republicans prompted calls for Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House, to resign.
Indeed for Ryan, GOP reactions to the deal exposed some lurking threats to his perch atop a conference where unrest brews nearly ceaselessly among conservatives, and there have been recent rumblings of a possible coup.
Trump remains highly popular in the conservative districts occupied by many House Republicans, much more so than Ryan himself, who is scorned by many in the GOP base as an establishment sellout.
In a whipsawed moment, some House Republicans defended Trump’s handling of a deal they don’t like, while simultaneously criticizing Ryan. It also underscored the political pressure on Ryan to try to remain in the president’s good graces even when Trump is flirting with Democrats.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the message in his conservative district is that “congressional Republicans need to get behind the president.”
That sentiment “makes him weaker,” King said of Ryan.
Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona described Ryan as “very unpopular” in his district, while regard for Trump “pretty high.”
For his part, Trump has soured on the Republican congressional leadership in recent months, fuming to associates that they led him astray on their health care strategy, among other complaints.
The president has told those close to him that he regrets choosing to tackle the repeal and replace of Barack Obama’s health care law as his first legislative push. is He has singled out Ryan for blame, saying the Speaker assured him it would pass and instead handed him an early, humiliating failure, before ultimate House passage of a revived bill, according to three White House and outside advisers familiar with the conversations but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
GOP health care efforts collapsed in the Senate in July.