Speech’s themes: Trump pushing for unity, but will parties follow suit?
State of Union follows damage from shutdown
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump hinted last week that one theme of his State of the Union address on Tuesday will be unity.
The current state of his presidency: turbulence and uncertainty.
Trump will deliver his call for harmony in a new era of divided government and at a time when he has been weakened politically by a just-ended government shutdown – the longest in U.S. history – and by other factors that have driven his approval ratings to near the lowest of his presidency.
House Democrats are back in power and spoiling for a fight.
Senate Republicans are restless and suddenly willing to stand up to their commander-in-chief. Special counsel Robert Mueller is still investigating possible Russian coordination with his presidential campaign and still issuing indictments.
Going against such powerful headwinds, it will be hard for Trump to accomplish much of anything in the coming year, no matter what agenda he lays out in his State of the Union address, political analysts say.
“There are some very bitter feelings from both sides about what has happened with the government shutdown,” said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist with close ties to Republicans on Capitol Hill. “That is going to likely hurt the chances for getting major pieces of legislation done this year.”
Trump will march into the House chamber, where he will deliver his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, as a severely wounded president – one who at times tries the patience of even some members of his own party, said Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a frequent Trump critic.
“The concern is a wounded president tested by a newly minted speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi,” Steele said. “Folks are not very excited about the potential of what could come from the president standing before the nation, sort of drawing some bromides and egging on the Democrats.”
In Congress, many Republicans lament the damage inflicted by the 35-day government shutdown – triggered by Trump’s demand for billions of dollars to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border – and openly worry that it will impede their ability to get anything done.
“It’s not been a promising start – let’s be honest,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. “We’ve been in a fight, and it’s been over an issue that caused harm to the economy and to the country. But I think we can get beyond it now.”
Pelosi, who regained the speaker’s gavel in January, has indicated that while Democrats will fight Trump on policies they consider bad for the country, they are open to working with him on issues such as infrastructure and lowering prescription drug prices.
Next year’s presidential election and congressional races further complicate the prospects for any substantive legislative agenda, Bonjean said.