APD Review | With Trump at the helm, GOP at war with itself

By APD Writer Lu Jiafei

Washington, Sept. 10 (APD)— Seven months into Donald Trump’s unconventional presidency, Republicans in the U.S. Congress this week were forced to face an ugly truth: the leader of their party now residing in the White House teamed up with their nemesis against them.

And with Trump’s betrayal of the federal fiscal stance of his party this time, a question now arises: Are we witnessing the beginning of a new era under the Trump presidency where the president, hungering for reaching any deals, will buck his own party to solve partisan fights?

On Wednesday, Trump left Republican lawmakers in sheer shock and disbelief when he blindsided them by backing a proposal by Democrats to raise the debt ceiling for a three-month period that delays the risk of a fiscal showdown into December.

The short-term debt ceiling extension measure is part of a package which also seeks to approve relief funding for Hurricane Harvey and avoids a government shutdown for now.

For months, Republican leaders in the Congress had staunchly opposed Democrats’ short-term federal fiscal plan and favored an 18-month period measure that would lift the debt ceiling through the 2018 midterm elections.

Trump’s stunning move to undercut the Republicans on federal fiscal policy came amid simmering tensions between him and congressional Republican leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the humiliating failure to repeal Obamacare.

After month-long criticism of his Republican colleagues in the Congress for failing to deliver any legislative trophy, Trump in this week signaled in a series moves, starting with his cession to Democrats’ demands on fiscal plan, that he was willing to cross the party line to work with Democrats.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Charles Schumer revealed that Trump had called him to solicit help in passing legislation which would protect an estimated 800,000 immigrants who came to the country illegally as children from deportation.

Schumer said he asked Trump to put pressure on Republican leaders in the Congress to bring the DREAM Act, which would provide a direct road to U.S. citizenship for those immigrants, to the floor, and Trump replied that “he wanted to help in the DREAM Act.”

Also, Trump left Republicans jaw-dropping by inviting Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat facing a tough re-election battle in 2018, to travel with him on Air Force One. And later at an event when he was supposed to criticize Heitkamp, Trump invited the senator on stage, and told his supporters that he wanted to work with the Democrat, describing her as “a good woman.”

Trump’s sudden dalliance with Democrats is almost nightmare for Republican lawmakers, and no one knows whether the president, infamously known for his unpredictability, has chosen a new path of ditching his own party to collaborate with Democrats.

For a mercurial leader like Trump, all these could simply amount to a one-time instinctual reaction after months of frustration with his own party in delivering legislative achievement.

Over the weekend, Trump defended his collaboration with Democrats on twitter, blasting Republicans for failing to repeal Obamacare and get rid of the Senate filibuster rule, a mechanism which allows minority Democrats to block legislation unless the Republican majority can muster 60 votes.

“Republicans, sorry, but I've been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn't happen!” Trump tweeted in a tone as if he was speaking to a party not of his own.

Democrats have never shied away from discussing how they could drive a wedge between Trump and the Republicans. In an interview back in January, Schumer told CNN that “the only way we're going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues.”

However, it would be wishful thinking that Trump will simply put on the Democratic Party’s mantle. If the past seven months have taught Democrats anything about Trump, it’s that he differs with them on almost all key social issues.

For Trump, the question is when it comes to his showdown with the Democrats, will his Republican colleagues come to his help?

Lu Jiafei, fellow of APD Institute. After spending one year in Palestine covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict between 2013 and 2014, Lu moved to Washington, D.C. and covered the 2016 U.S. presidential election till the very end of Donald Trump’s upset victory. He is a political contributor to APD.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)