By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Nothing we’re doing compels Congress to move. Congress should listen to Abe Lincoln
Today, we look back to history to (hopefully) supply impetus for Republicans to get moving, come together and pass meaningful laws so American voters will have sufficient incentive to vote for them in this all-so-crucial federal midterm election year.
Trying to spur congressional GOPers to do anything isn’t easy – particularly with the practically immovable Republican senate conference. Senate Majority Leader John Thune looked surprisingly good about a year ago when he summoned the courage to push through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – a conglomeration of the MAGA wish list, which has led to wonderful improvements in Americans’ lives in a short time, particularly on taxes.
But Congress hasn’t done much since, other than argue and bicker and delay and obfuscate on the balance of the Trump 2024 agenda, which has predictably resulted in abysmal poll ratings a half year before the country is set to vote on a new Congress. This approval slide has taken place despite Americans’ general distaste for Democrats as well. Not even the kook-fringe liberal party’s struggles inspired Republicans to snap out of their hesitation and lethargy semi-stupor.
Republican congresspeople won’t move. Their stubbornness reminded me of President Abraham Lincoln’s frustration with General George McClellan in the early going of the American Civil War.
Lincoln concluded a note to McClellan in 1862, “I beg to assure you that I have never written you, or spoken to you, in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. But you must act.”
Lincoln understood that General McClellan couldn’t dawdle and delay forever in the latter’s hope of locating the perfect situation to fight General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army. Seemingly endless waiting had started to erode popular support for the Union effort at that time. Something had to give.
A similar urgency confronts Republicans in Congress these days. In an article titled, “Clock Ticking on GOP to Pass President’s Agenda as Midterms Loom”, Nicole Silerio wrote at the Daily Caller News Foundation (as reported in the Star News Network last week:
“With the midterms looming, Republicans have struggled to pass several policy agendas, including funding immigration enforcement, addressing affordability and adding voter identification requirements. Republicans are on a time crunch to address the hot-button issues for voters, including the economy and immigration, before they cast their ballots in November.
“The Senate has 53 days in session before November, while the House has about 40.
“A second reconciliation package aimed at funding immigration enforcement will not reach Trump’s desk by his June 1 deadline, leaving Senate Republicans scrambling to pass the package once they return from Memorial Day recess. Republicans are uncertain on how to handle the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion fund that would pay people alleging the justice system was ‘weaponized’ against them, as many senators intended to use the package to restrict the fund.”
June 1 came and went last week and no additional reconciliation package was voted on and presented to the president for his signature. Republicans have talked about various provisions of the second major bill, but thus far, they’ve just done a lot of squawking and not much doing.
Lincoln’s admonishment to McClellan — “you must act” — is definitely needed in today’s adversarial political scenario, too.
President Trump has tried to light a fire under Capitol Hill Republicans. The House, for its part, has attempted to move with Speaker Mike Johnson skillfully navigating his razor-thin margin and, by and large, steered major “stuff” through, not the least of which is the SAVE America Act, only to see the lower chamber’s good work squandered by the Senate.
In essence, a small group of Republican senate RINOs are holding up the progress of the entire party. And the country. Do they sleep well at night?
Actually, I hope they’re plagued with unrelenting nightmares and guilt for what they’re doing. Speaking specifically of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina (retiring) Senator Thom Tillis, Kentucky (retiring) Senator Mitch McConnell and Louisiana Senator (recently voted out) Bill Cassidy. These holdouts reason they’re being “principled” by reserving their support for terminating the filibuster as well as teetering on the edge of whether they’ll provide assent for major elements of the MAGA agenda.
Therefore, Trump must suspect that if he’s to accomplish anything in his second term, he must initiate it himself.
Congress’s intractability and inertia may also have subconsciously shifted Trump’s focus to foreign policy, since relations with countries overseas is one thing he can do without needing a great deal of congressional motion or approval to act.
Seeing Trump go around the room seeking input from his administration colleagues during the most recent full cabinet meeting was impressive, like the president was a CEO conducting a symphony of the department heads of a mega-corporation. But much, if not everything, the secretaries talked about strictly pertained to duties and tasks they could fulfill under their constitutional powers.
These weren’t “big picture” items, put it that way.
It’s up to Congress to color in the frame. If the nation’s issues are portrayed as images in a kid’s coloring book, Republicans had better pick up a few packs of crayons and start filling in the hues. Rapidly. Can the dilemma be dumbed down any further?
In a larger sense, do you want Democrats to win, Republicans? Then keep doing nothing. And I’m not just talking about the distant prospect of losing congressional majorities in the upcoming election or any successive one thereafter – I’m talking about their purpose and worth as a political party.
Recently, I’ve offered the argument that politics is a team sport, one where the needs of the “team” are greater than the value of its subordinate parts. If players on the field aren’t all on the same page, and pulling for the same goal, they will surely fail. It’s simply not possible to consistently win without everyone aiding in the effort.
Or, as doomed ship architect Thomas Andrews replied (in Titanic the movie) to the notion that the legendary ocean liner was unsinkable, “She’s made of iron. I assure you she can [sink]. And she will. It’s a mathematical certainty.”
There’s plenty of room for individualism as a legislator or senator. Congress is full of personalities and characters. Look at Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, an outspoken conservative who frequently makes news highlights for his pithy comments and astute observations. But Kennedy is a team player, too. Are the voters of Louisiana hankering to “primary” Kennedy the way they did Cassidy?
No chance. Let this be a lesson for the GOP and its leaders on how to get things done.
In addition, here’s thinking Trump and his lieutenants devised the “weaponization fund” proposal to serve as a bargaining chip to motivate Congress to clear the logjam and get moving. Trump must have realized there was no way the RINOs or Democrats would go along with paying J6 protestors or those unfairly targeted by overly ideological and ambitious Biden prosecutors from the past.
So giving in on “Weaponization” might further the larger cause. The Trump people did so last week.
I’m not suggesting, by the way, that folks who were wronged by the Biden legal witch hunts don’t deserve retro-compensation, but there’s no chance, in today’s political environment, that such “justice” could ever get done. It’s better to home-in on the possible.
Another thing to consider. Congress’s unwillingness to act is putting a damper on President Trump’s effort to campaign for the GOP’s candidates this summer. It’s easy to talk about accomplishments and issue promises, but being forced to go around the country and appeal to increasingly frustrated supporters can’t be easy, even for a master communicator like Donald Trump.
Trump staked his presidential campaigns on making promises – and keeping them. He’s followed through on most of his vows and provided fodder for Republican candidates to make their case to Americans – a “see what you’ll get if you elect Republicans” type of pitch. But last year’s Big Beautiful Bill is fading further and further away.
The Iran War has also complicated the message somewhat. While Trump has made good on his vow to not commit American troops to “stupid” and costly wars, the focus on negotiating with Iran’s irrational and anti-American interest leaders isn’t a positive tidbit for voters to concentrate on. How many Americans base their ballot preference on Trump’s ability to free up the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz?
For Republicans expressing displeasure with Trump, perhaps they’d do better by concentrating their “fire” on the do-nothing nature of Congress. And how the days are running short to get something done. Time is a finite resource, but Republicans sure excel at wasting it.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .