Democrats shifting focus from Trump to health care
WASHINGTON — House Democrats, recovering from their failed push to remove President Donald Trump from office, are making a sharp pivot to talking about health care and economic issues, turning away from their investigations of the president as they focus on preserving their majority.
Top Democrats said oversight of the president will continue, and they plan in particular to press Attorney General William Barr over what they said are Trump’s efforts to compromise the independence of the Justice Department. But for now, at least, they have shelved the idea of subpoenaing Trump’s former national security adviser, who was a central figure in the president’s impeachment trial.
In a series of private meetings over the past week and in written instructions she distributed to lawmakers Thursday before a recess, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear that the emphasis must shift.
“Health care, health care, health care,” the speaker said, describing the party’s message during a recent closed-door meeting, according to a person in the room who insisted on anonymity to reveal private conversations.
The move is particularly striking given how aggressively Trump, emboldened by his acquittal by the Senate, has moved to take revenge on his perceived enemies and push the limits of his power. But just as they did before the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats appear to have decided that focusing on Trump only elevates him while alienating the swing voters they need to maintain their hold on the House and have a chance at winning the Senate.
Given that the House has already taken the most powerful step a Congress can take to hold a chief executive accountable — impeachment — Democrats reason that there is little more they can do. Some said Trump brings enough attention to his conduct all on his own.
“His erratic, corrupt, unconstitutional behavior speaks for itself at this point,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in an interview Friday.
In the nearly two weeks since the Senate acquitted Trump, Pelosi has been urging her rank and file to emphasize the same three-pronged “For the People” agenda — creating jobs, cleaning up corruption in Washington and, above all, bringing down the high cost of health care — that won Democrats the majority in 2018. Democrats said the $4.8 trillion budget Trump released last week makes it easier to contrast his priorities with their own.
The budget would cut funding for Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps and federal student loans. In the “recess packet” Pelosi distributed to lawmakers before they went home, she offered a list of suggested events in their districts — such as visits to a senior center, a food bank and an after-school program — that could serve to highlight the impact of the proposed cuts.
“What the president has put forth is a destructive and irrational budget that intentionally goes after working families and vulnerable Americans,” the document said.
Meanwhile, Democrats said they have never taken their eyes off their legislative agenda, in particular lowering health care costs. Even as they voted to impeach Trump, Democrats teamed up with him on a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
Before they left for the recess, Democrats unveiled a $760 billion infrastructure plan that they have said is aimed at jump-starting bipartisan talks with the administration on how to fix the nation’s crumbling roads, rails and bridges.