As Donald Trump and his White House team continue to implement a maximalist agenda, many congressional Republicans find themselves in an awkward position. On the one hand, they’re content to play the role of backup performers for the president at center stage, endorsing his agenda, ignoring his scandals, and rubber-stamping his ideas.
On the other hand, they’re also elected lawmakers with constituents — many of whom have concerns about how the administration’s policies will hurt them and their communities.
As NBC News reported, it’s a path many GOP officials haven’t yet figured out how to navigate.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are full of praise for President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive actions and attempts to slash some federal spending, selling it as the kind of disruption that Americans voted for last fall. That is, until the pain risks hitting home for their constituents. From cuts to health and agriculture funding to fears of new tariffs negatively impacting local industries and consumers, Republican lawmakers are starting to push back against certain aspects of Trump’s plans.
To be sure, they’re doing it with great caution — in part to avoid appearing like a White House critic, in part because to stay on the good side of Trump’s followers, and in part to avoid drawing the ire of the president himself.
But it’s nevertheless true that several congressional Republicans are endorsing the administration’s agenda in general, while specifically looking for exceptions to the agenda as it relates to their own states and districts.
One of the first key examples of the phenomenon came after the White House announced plans to slash investments in the National Institutes of Health, at which point Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama — a steadfast Trump ally — raised public concerns about the impact such cuts would have on important federally funded, HIH-backed medical research conducted in her state. It quickly became apparent that the Alabaman had intraparty company. The New York Times recently highlighted the same phenomenon. Republicans in Congress have responded to President Trump’s unilateral moves to freeze federal spending, dismantle programs and fire civil servants with a collective shrug, staying mostly silent and even praising him as he circumvents the legislative branch. But in recent days, as his slash-and-burn campaign to remake the government has begun to affect their states and districts, some Republicans have tried to push back in subtle ways. They have sought carve outs and special consideration for agriculture programs, scientific research and more, even as they cheered on Mr. Trump’s overall approach.
The more the White House pursues policies that do real damage in red states, the more likely it will be that congressional Republicans politely beg for exceptions to Trump’s plans.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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