As the president has signaled his reluctant willingness to go along with the bipartisan spending proposal that will be voted on today, some of the president’s biggest and loudest supporters on the right are voicing their angst while Congressmen in his own party are praying he signs the measure and does not shut the government down again.
The New York Times is reporting that White House aides made calls to Fox News hosts Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity, hosts of two of President Trump’s favorite shows, to make the case of supporting President Trump even as he faces a loss in his demand for funding for his border wall. The message to them was that the president deserves support from his base after receiving concessions from the 35 day government shutdown.
This morning, on the floor of the Senate, Sen. Grassley said, “Let’s all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so government doesn’t shut down.” Later he explained to MSNBC that he is no longer a fan of shutting the government down in a bid to get “something” from the other side.
In the face of displeasure from the base, the president characterized the upcoming deal as a win while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. He said the shutdown allowed the public to educated about the issues on the border.
Per the Washington Post, the deal includes $1.37 billion for 55 miles of fencing in Texas, less than a quarter of the $5.7 billion Trump originally asked for. The bill also increases the DHS budget to $49.4 billion. The Democrats’ concerns over the controversial family separations at the border are also addressed in this bill. It includes provisions that prohibit members of congress from being prevented from entering facilities that house children as well as making it easier to reunite children separated from their families.
Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows said the deal was a bad one for the president, telling Fox News, “Only in Washington, D.C., can we start out with needing $25 billion for border security measures and expect applause at 1.37. I mean, only in D.C. is that a winning deal.”
Rep. Chip Roy [R-TX] tweeted a reminder that the president said he would never sign another bill like the one he signed last year.
Why It Matters
The president was never going to win this battle. It was evident from the moment the Democrats took the majority in the House but he, the Right Wing Media, and the Republicans lied continually to their base, ginning up anger and totally unrealistic expectations. Compromise is how a government works. It is how rational adults govern.
The wall, as Trump has presented it for the last three and a half years, is patently unpopular with Americans. But the Republican base has been lied to and willfully misinformed and led to believe that a wall is even possible, much less a sure thing.
Now that the president has lost, his aides are reduced to calling his favorite FNC hosts to beg them to not stir up the base or say anything that, God forbid, might induce the president to refuse to sign the comprise and shutdown the government. Again.
A Senator is reduced to saying that his colleagues should pray the president signs the bill so the government isn’t shut down. Again.
The Republican party and the staff of the president have enabled a man who reigns like an ill behaved toddler. And now they are desperately trying to manage a monster of their own creation, hoping he doesn’t lurch stubbornly towards disaster, for both him and themselves.
There is a certain irony to the fact that the overindulged man-child who spent most of his life as a Democrat has finally been told ‘no’ by a Democrat named Nancy Pelosi. His own party certainly couldn’t manage to rein him in.
