Donald Trump’s campaign for president wasn’t exactly marked by a wealth of policy specifics, giving Republicans in Congress the chance to fill in the blanks when he returns to the White House in January.
“It’s time to get to work,” said U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Evans. “The American people have made it clear without a shadow of a doubt that they are ready for a new direction.”
Exactly what that new direction will be — in terms of what the Republicans can get through Congress — remains unclear, but some GOP lawmakers were already dreaming big.
“Which federal agency do you want to see dismantled first?” asked Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, as Republicans celebrated Trump’s return to office.
The obvious main item on the congressional to-do list for next year is dealing with a host of expiring individual tax changes which were part of the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
But Trump doesn’t need a vote in Congress to fulfill one of his main campaign promises, which is to slap tariffs on all sorts of imported goods.
Those Trump threats have raised concerns among farm groups and Republicans whose states rely on trade — like Georgia.
“I have a little bit of mixed feelings on across-the-board tariffs,” Gov. Brian Kemp said last week.
On Capitol Hill, GOP leaders have already sketched out all sorts of legislative ideas to pursue under Trump — but two things certainly stand in the way of Republicans.
One speed bump is the Senate filibuster, as Republicans don’t have 60 votes in the Senate. You will likely see Democrats — many of whom had been talking about getting rid of the filibuster — suddenly embrace that procedural tool in order to slow the Trump agenda.
But the bigger hurdle may be inside the ranks of House Republicans.
Just think back to the last two years of legislative dysfunction in the House, where GOP leaders struggled to pass anything of significance.
Will that change with Trump in the White House? Will members of the House Freedom Caucus suddenly see the benefit of party unity instead of torpedoing GOP legislation?
“I do think House Republicans will have an incentive to be more unified,” tweeted Matthew Green, a political scientist who watches Congress at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. “But for how long? And over what issues?”
In President Joe Biden’s first two years, Democrats passed a series of major bills with a narrow four-seat House majority.
House Republicans failed that test repeatedly in this Congress. They’ll get a second chance with Trump.
“We celebrate today but must deliver very soon,” said U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome. “No excuses.”
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C., since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at jamiedupree.substack.com
