The President shocked the Republican establishment by quickly striking a deal with Democrats to provide relief for Hurricane Harvey Victims and an increase in the public debt ceiling for 3 months.
GOP Backlash Rising as Establishment Politicians Grow Critical
The Trump administration is under fire. This time, however, the President is facing harsh criticism from within his own party after striking a deal with democrats. Washington insiders are reporting that Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney were blasted by Congressional Republicans at a closed door meeting last week. Reportedly, Mnuchin didn’t go out of his way to defend the President.
Trump has been facing off against skeptical establishment Republicans since the launch of his primary campaign.
Much of the anger expressed during the venting session was directed towards President Donald Trump. Ironically, while the party insiders were out for Secretary Mnuchin’s blood, he had actually opposed the President when he struck a deal. Reportedly, Trump cut Mnuchin off mid-sentence to come to terms with Democrats without any further negotiations.
For the President, party dissent is nothing new. Trump has been facing off against skeptical establishment Republicans since the launch of his primary campaign. At first, most Republican candidates, pundits, and the like treated his campaign as a joke. When it become obvious that his campaign was the real deal, many GOP candidates and party insiders united against him.
Didn’t matter, Trump won anyways. Yet now Trump’s intraparty struggles look set to worsen after his most recent deal with Congressional Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Republicans are upset for a wide range of reasons. Some are mad that spending cuts weren’t part of the deal, many wanted a longer-term increase in the debt-level ceiling. If nothing else, the Republican Party has evolved into a hodge-podge of often opposed ideologies and beliefs. Even on the best of days, consensus is hard to find.
By reaching a deal with Democrats, Trump spurned counter-deals being pushed by Republicans.The surprising negotiation suggests that the Trump administration may be turning a corner, and looking to adopt a more bi-partisan approach.
While GOP Congressional and Party leaders may be enraged, they are also at fault for Trump’s move to strike a quick deal. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been promising the White House that a debt-ceiling deal would be in place by the August recess. Yet as September rolled around, and Trump found himself facing the first major natural disaster of his presidency, no deal was in place. Facing these realities, Trump moved quickly, perhaps too quickly, to strike a deal.
The Deal That Enraged Republicans: A Quick Win With Long-Term Complications
So why are Republicans so upset? The President shocked the Republican establishment in Washington by quickly coming to terms with Democrats regarding a proposal to provide relief for Hurricane Harvey-stricken Texas and an increase in the public debt ceiling. By reaching a deal with Democrats, Trump spurned counter-deals being pushed by Republicans.The surprising negotiation suggests that the Trump administration may be turning a corner, and looking to adopt a more bi-partisan approach.
The deal will provide $7.9 billion dollars in aid to Houston and other areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.
The agreed-up deal was proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had both rejected Republican deals that called for first an 18 month hike in the debt ceiling, then a 12 month deal, and finally a six month increase. Quite surprisingly, the President agreed without much negotiation.
The deal will provide $7.9 billion dollars in aid to Houston and other areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. In exchange, the Federal government will be funded for the next 3 months, with the debt ceiling on track to be reached in December. This will set up a very tough year-end battle, assuming that Congress isn’t able to reach a deal by then.
Aboard Air Force One, President Trump said “”we essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good.”
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was reportedly stunned by the President’s decision to agree with Democrats. So too was Mitch McConnell, who in regards to the White House has increasingly found himself on the outside looking in. Ryan is said to have been quite vocal in the meeting and was strongly opposed to another short-term increase in the debt ceiling, instead wanting to hammer out a longer-term deal.
Trump’s efforts to quickly come to terms with Democrats shocked not only Republican members of Congress, but also members of his administration. Apparently, Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin was also opposed to the Democrats offer, and voiced his concerns. Regardless, Trump overruled him.
On Air Force One, President Trump said “”we essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good.” With the President having spent a considerable amount of time in Houston over the past several days, it’s possible that he was personally touched, and recognized the need to aid Hurricane Harvey victims as quickly as possible. Much of Houston and other parts of Texas were hard hit by both the storm itself, and the floods that came after.
It’s become par for the course for Congress, and particularly Republicans, to use the debt ceiling for politiking. Problem is, politiking puts the United States at risk. When politicians play games with debt, markets tend to get nervous, and creditors could potentially downgrade American debt. This would raise interest rates and could give businesses cold feet.
FEMA’s emergency funds are nearly depleted, and the government was at risk of running out of cash in the near future.
A default would be disastrous for the Republican Congress, which has largely failed to instill confidence in voters, analysts, and investors. So far, the Republican Party has been able to accomplish little in regards to legislation even though the party controls the White House, the Senate, and the House.
Providing aid to Houston without raising the debt ceiling would have been difficult. FEMA’s emergency funds are nearly depleted, and the government was at risk of running out of cash in the near future. The short-term debt ceiling increase will allow the government to take care of people in Texas, to avoid a default, and to keep government lights on, but it could result in a lot of pain come the end of the year.
