
CAPITOL HELL
- Welcome back! It’s a new year, ho ho ho, and we’re making the best of things. That was pretty much the vibe on snow-covered Capitol Hill today, too, where lawmakers gathered to show how adults handle a political transition: by calmly certifying the results of the last election. Four years ago, supporters of President-elect Donald Trump refused to accept his defeat, rioted, and sent lawmakers running for their lives through the halls of the Capitol before leaving the building marked with blood and feces. This year, nobody on the Democratic side disputed Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss. Harris herself stoically presided over the ceremony certifying her own defeat.
- Unfortunately for Trump, that bipartisan show of unity may be the high-water mark for congressional cooperation for the foreseeable future — including within the GOP’s own microscopic House majority. That’s because Republicans are hatching ambitious legislative plans and, judging from their recent history, they’re probably gonna start tripping over themselves while fighting and calling each other insulting names… while not getting much done.
- Trump is working with leaders in Congress to pass a “big, beautiful bill” that would include all of his major policies goals, from tax cuts for the rich to extreme anti-immigration measures. There’s a few, uh, problems with that. First of all, the lawmakers aren’t even all on board yet. Far-right House members told House Speaker Mike Johnson last month that they want it separated into two bills. Some Republican senators want it split up, too. And you can’t pass shit if your party can’t even agree on how many bills should be considered!
- The thinking is this: House Republicans are so bad at their job (agreeing on stuff) that Johnson thinks it would be easier to pass one massive bill rather than convincing Republicans to pass two. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, however, favors passing one bill quickly to deliver Trump a speedy win before moving on to nitty gritty tax policy. Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) provided a surprisingly sensible point of view on the situation: “It seems more realistic … that we may only get one bite at the apple because you have a highly thoughtful, and a highly dysfunctional, House.”
- Remember when centibillionaire conspiracist and “first buddy” Elon Musk helped spike the House spending bill, flexing his muscle as the shadow president? House Speaker Mike Johnson barely managed to pass a temporary measure to avoid a government shutdown. That time, Musk and Trump created chaos and controversy when almost everybody had already agreed on what to do.Â
- After all, these are the guys who promised “infrastructure week” so often in Trump’s first term, with zilch to show for it, that the phrase became a running joke. And infrastructure was supposed to be the thing literally everyone in D.C. actually liked.
- Trump isn’t helping the current situation at all. In fact, he’s probably emboldening Johnson and Thune to remain steadfast in their positions. Less than a day after supporting the single bill approach, Trump tempered his own stance: “I would prefer one [bill], but I will do whatever needs to be done to get it passed,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt this morning. “I’m open to either way as soon as we get something passed as quickly as possible.” Very helpful. Good leadership. This guy surely knows what he’s talking about.
- Trump will still be able to accomplish a lot through executive actions, including restarting border wall construction; banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government; and pardoning as many January 6 rioters as he wants. But historically, presidents have a short window to get big legislative priorities through, early in their tenure. So the clock is ticking.
Grab your popcorn and prepare for Republican infighting of epic proportions in the coming weeks, months and years. It’s worth remembering that a key obstacle to Trump’s iron rule will be Republican lawmakers sucking at their jobs.
RAILROAD TO VICTORY
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