President Trump enters a new phase in legislative road-blocking fraught with challenges inside the Senate chamber. Almost all U.S. Republican Senators have accepted the indulgences of U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue.
President Trump now relies on the upper chamber to consent on the America-First trade deals he has been renegotiating. Simultaneously, Donohue and McConnell plot how to best utilize their increased influence over the executive branch…. [Romney was the first shot]
A tempered response does not come as a surprise given the landscape.
How President Trump is able to get Republicans in the Senate to support renegotiated trade deals they have been paid to oppose will be an interesting dynamic to watch.
These trade deals and the fundamental economic policy behind MAGAnomics is the most centrally important aspect to President Trump’s mission in DC.
The fight is about control over U.S. economy. Mitch McConnell and his Decepticon caucus will be supporting Wall Street; and only President Trump will be fighting for Main Street.
This is the political dynamic to watch.
It’s about the money.
It is always about the money.
Look at the republican senators who are aligned against the removal of NAFTA (that list includes McConnell)…. and we will easily identify those senators who have been paid to protect the interests of U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue.
(Link to 2018 Lobbyist Results)
In Mexico, Central and South America they call it “corruption” and/or “bribery”; in the United States our politicians call it “lobbying”, the process is identical.
Remember, only a few days ago Mitch McConnell still held the Senate in open session to block President Trump from making any recess appointments over the holidays. That parliamentary scheme requires unanimous support in the upper chamber in order for it to apply. All 100 senators must agree to hold the session in limbo.
It only takes one senator to break ranks and say no, and that parliamentary trick doesn’t work. One republican senator could have allowed President Trump to use recess appointments for Ambassador appointments and/or cabinet appointments.
You’ll note not one senator broke ranks.