WASHINGTON — President Trump’s agenda has slowed to a crawl in Congress.
Daily distractions and a pair of major controversies in the past week are diverting lawmakers from their day jobs. While the Trump administration delegates many decisions on legislation to more experienced Republican leaders in Congress, Trump’s low poll ratings and the turmoil at the White House are additional complications.
The slowing pace was evident even before Tuesday’s explosive story in The New York Times that ousted FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo that Trump asked him to end an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. That came 24 hours after The Washington Post revealed that Trump may have disclosed classified information to Russian officials in a meeting in the Oval Office last week.
“I think it would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
What Republican senators and House members aren’t doing right now is passing major legislation, and it’s not just the marquee items like health care and a tax overhaul that are dragging.
The Senate has no legislation on its agenda this week – business is instead limited to three low-profile nominations. The House – fresh off an 11-day recess – is devoting the week to mostly symbolic, feel-good legislation designed to show support for law enforcement. Another 11-day recess, for Memorial Day this time, is just around the corner.
Separately, a small group of Senate Republicans is meeting in hopes of finding a way forward on keeping Trump’s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But that effort appears likely to take several weeks – with no guarantee of success.
“It’s hard to make things happen here, right? It’s really hard. I mean you’ve got all kinds of forces working against you,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
In the meantime, must-do legislation on the military, children’s health and a full slate of spending bills are all slipping behind schedule. Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is dead in the water after being rejected during negotiations on a catchall spending bill – the only major bipartisan legislation to advance this year – and his promised $1 trillion infrastructure bill is still on the drawing board.
Trump’s tax plan is simply a set of talking points and for procedural reasons is on hold until health care is completed.
And while lawmakers and the Trump administration are spinning their wheels, the clock ticks toward potential crises this fall, as deadlines collide on several measures, including legislation to prevent a government shutdown and a bill to increase the government’s borrowing cap and avert a potentially catastrophic default on U.S. government obligations.
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