What a Week: Constructive Criticism for Congressional Republicans and President Trump

Last week was quite a roller coaster ride for the Trump Administration; with many ups and downs.  Those who rely on the mainstream media for all their news probably heard exclusively about the downs.  The highlights (and lowlights) of this past week can teach many lessons about what steps the Trump administration as well as Congress can take in order to more effectively implement their conservative, America first agenda.       

 

Let’s start off with the lowlights.  Senate Republicans overpromised and under-delivered on health care.  After seven years of promising to repeal and replace Obamacare, the Republicans could not manage to put together 50 votes for any of the proposals brought forward.  It looks like they are going to abandon their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare and move on to other initiatives such as tax reform.  I sure hope those efforts yield more success.  Further legislative failures will risk a demoralized GOP base, which means that the Democrats could possibly win back control of the House.  We should all agree that Congress does not deserve a vacation until it starts fulfilling its promises to the American people.

 

Newly minted Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci caused quite a stir when he used expletives to describe Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon while giving an interview to the New Yorker.  Scaramucci apologized, saying he made a mistake trusting a reporter.  Members of Team Trump should have learned by now to never, ever trust reporters from news organizations that have shown hostility to the President and his agenda.              

 

President Trump has been using Twitter to attack Jeff Sessions, his Attorney General. The President had previously criticized the Attorney General in an interview with the failing New York Times.  Why he even bothered to sit down for that interview remains a mystery. The President appears frustrated that the Attorney General recused himself from the Russia investigation.  Because of his recusal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, far less of a Trump loyalist than Sessions, appointed a Special Counsel to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.  The ongoing Russia debacle presents a major distraction as the President and his cabinet members seek to implement their Make America Great Again agenda.  Still, the anti-Sessions tweets are counterproductive.  Sessions has demonstrated outstanding loyalty to the President; serving as a tireless advocate for his policies, both during his decades-long career in the Senate as well as his brief tenure at the Department of Justice.  While Sessions has described President Trump’s comments toward him as “kind of hurtful”, he says he has no plans of stepping down.      

 

As the week drew to a close, the President replaced Chief of Staff Reince Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.  In my opinion, this is neither a highlight nor a lowlight; although I sure hope the General will bring much needed order to the Trump White House.  Kelly’s appointment as Chief of Staff means the Senate will have to confirm a new Homeland Security Secretary in the near future. Ann Coulter would love to see Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in that position while others such as Fox News’s Dana Perino think that President Trump plans to appoint Attorney General Sessions the head of DHS so he can appoint a new Attorney General who will fire the Special Counsel.  Such a scenario would undoubtedly cause Democrats (and some Republicans) to lose their minds.  We’ll see what happens.   

 

Now, let's look at the highlights.  President Trump ventured outside of the Swamp a few times this week.  On Tuesday, he held a campaign-style rally in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Youngstown, Ohio.  On Friday, he travelled to Long Island’s Suffolk County, where he delivered a speech to law enforcement officials.  His speech focused on the Administration’s progress in taking down the brutal gang MS-13, which has been terrorizing the residents of Suffolk County.  Trump gave this speech as Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in El Salvador, MS-13’s home base.  The President delivered a message to MS-13 and all other gang members and criminals illegally squatting in our country:  “We will find you, we will arrest you, we will jail you, and we will deport you.”   

 

While their colleagues in the Senate embarrassed themselves by failing to repeal and replace Obamacare, the House passed a $827 billion defense bill that includes funding for the border wall.  This bill is likely to be met with some opposition in the Senate, which may put its passage in jeopardy.  The bill faced pushback in the House from both the Democrats, who absolutely despise the idea of a “racist” wall, and fiscal conservatives, who opposed the bill because of its other provisions.           

 

The final highlight took place inside the beltway, where President Trump announced that Foxconn would be building a $10 million factory in Wisconsin with a completion date of 2020.  Foxconn, based in Taiwan, manufactures products for companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon. Once opened, this factory will furnish thousands of well-paying jobs.  This shows that the President is committed to fulfilling his campaign promise to be “the best jobs President God ever created.”

 

Let’s take a look at the lessons we’ve learned in this past week.  First, a Republican majority in the Senate does not guarantee the passage of a conservative agenda.  The Republican Civil War is real, whether we want to admit it or not.  Second, it is unwise for Trump Administration officials to treat the media as their friend.  While Anthony Scaramucci and other members of the Administration proclaim themselves front-stabbers, the mainstream media prefers backstabbing.  They can and will use locker room talk against Republicans.  Finally, venturing outside of the beltway can allow the President to clear his head and connect with his passionate supporters who helped him earn the highest number of Electoral College votes for any Republican Presidential candidate since 1988.   

 

A dull moment never goes by in the Presidency of Donald Trump.  Let’s see what progress this week will bring to Operation Make America Great Again.