dagblog - Comments for "Will the Rift Between Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell Last?"

The GOP’s Civil War Over

artappraiser — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 21:37:43 +0000

In reply to Will the Rift Between Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell Last?

A Global Politico special report on the Republican Party’s epic internal battle over its own president.

By Susan B. Glasser @ The Global Politico, Aug. 14

[....] Can the Republican Party survive a president who came to office convinced that bashing his own team’s powerbrokers was just as much a reason for his victory as his attacks on the Democrats?

For this week’s Global Politico, we convened eight prominent Republicans to answer the rapidly proliferating questions about a GOP that seems increasingly at war with itself—and heard two starkly different stories about a party that might have won the White House and both houses of Congress but sounds at times like it’s more on the verge of a nervous breakdown than a national takeover [....]

missed this Senate vs. Trump

artappraiser — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 00:25:07 +0000

In reply to Will the Rift Between Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell Last?

missed this Senate vs. Trump stuff @ The Hill:

Senate blocks Trump from making recess appointments over break

08/03/17 07:40 PM

The Senate blocked President Trump from being able to make recess appointments on Thursday as lawmakers leave Washington for their August break.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), doing wrap up for the entire Senate, locked in nine "pro-forma" sessions — brief meetings that normally last roughly a minute.

The move, which requires the agreement of every senator, means the Senate will be in session every three business days throughout the August recess.[.....]

Gingrich: Trump handling the Senate 'badly'

08/11/2017 09:51 AM EDT

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized President Trump's lack of cooperation with the Senate amid broadsides the president has levied at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this week.

"It's not the Senate that's the problem," Gingrich said in an interview Friday on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria." "But notice as much as much as I admire the president, and as much as I think he's handling North Korea well, I think he's handling the Senate equally badly." [....]

Also see Sen. Sasse to Trump on Venezuela here.

Trump barrage stuns McConnell

artappraiser — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 22:36:20 +0000

In reply to Will the Rift Between Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell Last?

Trump barrage stuns McConnell and his allies

By Alexander Bolton @ TheHill.com - 08/12/17 06:05 AM EDT

[.....] Sources close to McConnell say he is stunned by Trump's attacks, which have only increased in recent days, as an attack on a member of his own team.

Some in the Trump administration, however, think McConnell should have seen it coming.

A senior administration official expressed “100 percent agreement” with the president that McConnell has not done enough to advance his legislative agenda [....]

Trump’s broadsides at McConnell [...} left McConnell’s allies dumbfounded.

“Trump’s reaction was way disproportionate,” said the source close to McConnell who requested anonymity to discuss the spat with Trump frankly.

While McConnell’s allies say Trump has reason to be frustrated over the Senate’s failure to pass healthcare legislation, venting his anger on McConnell makes no sense — if for no other reason than he needs him to pass other parts of his agenda.

“It was also a strategic blunder because no one is more important than McConnell to Trump’s agenda,” said the McConnell ally, who argued that Trump needs a savvy field general to get his agenda passed through the Senate, where the threshold for controversial bills is often 60 votes.

These allies note that McConnell delivered Trump’s biggest win since the election by holding open the Supreme Court seat left open by the 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. McConnell also changed the Senate rules to confirm Neil Gorsuch, a conservative, to the seat.

McConnell’s camp thinks Trump blew the episode out of proportion, and some wonder if a Trump ally may have an ax to grind with the Senate leader.

“I don’t know if President Trump got bad advice from somebody or if somebody’s trying to portray it to him in a way that isn’t real,” Jennings said.

“When you’re trying to vent your anger and frustration at somebody, you’ve got to remember who’s wearing what jersey. McConnell and Trump are wearing the same jersey,” he added.

In the battle between Trump and McConnell, most GOP senators are making clear their loyalties lie with the Senate leader.

As of Friday afternoon, at least 20 GOP senators had voiced support for McConnell’s leadership [.....]

quite a bit more follows...