The honeymoon is over

WASHINGTON—This year hasn’t gone according to plan.

President Donald Trump’s election victory brought newfound optimism to Washington. Republican lawmakers teased big plans to fulfill promises of repealing the Affordable Care Act and reforming the U.S. tax code. The day after Trump won, a bevy of pro-life and conservative grassroots groups joined together to gloat about the possibilities with total GOP control of Washington.

Almost a year later, those boasts ring hollow and conservatives aren’t happy.

“I’m very, very frustrated,” March for Life Action president Tom McClusky told me. “I think it’s a frustration that many in the grassroots are echoing, like ‘why did we elect these guys here?’”

Pro-life groups understand that until they have 60 votes in the Senate they won’t see the passage of key legislation, including a 20-week abortion ban. But other failures are harder to defend.

Through reconciliation, Republicans could have defunded Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, and ended abortion funding through Obamacare programs.

McClusky told me the Senate filibuster isn’t an excuse to freeze the pro-life agenda: “Republicans in the Senate have shown they can’t even get to 51 [votes] on something.”

On top of it all, judicial appointments are at a near standstill. When Trump took the oath of office, the federal courts had 107 open seats. They now have 150 vacancies. Only six judges have successfully cleared a Senate confirmation vote since lawmakers sent Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Politico reported last week that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is gearing up for heavier workweeks in the Senate, possibly forcing senators to toil in Washington through Fridays.

Earlier this month, a handful of conservative grassroots groups sent a letter asking McConnell and other Senate leaders to step down. The groups—Senate Conservatives Fund, Tea Party Patriots, FreedomWorks, Conservative HQ, and the Media Research Center—vowed to work with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon to oust incumbent Senate Republicans next year in an attempt to bring new leadership to the body.

All the while, conservative lawmakers continue to quarrel with party leaders.

Republicans narrowly approved a budget resolution Thursday in preparation for passing tax reform legislation through reconciliation. House Freedom Caucus members don’t like the budget because it adds to the deficit and doesn’t rein in spending, but they reluctantly supported it because of the promised tax reform.

“It’s frustrating for me to be asked to vote for a budget that nobody believes in so that we have the chance to vote for a tax bill that nobody’s read,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

At the start of the 2017 push to repeal and replace Obamacare, Freedom Caucus members complained party leaders shut them out. When House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., finally unveiled that bill, many conservatives hated it. They fear déjà vu next month with the tax reform package when GOP leaders finally release a draft.

Keeping Flake in perspective

Tuesday was not a normal day in Washington.

It started with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn. saying President Donald Trump can’t stop lying and needs adult daycare. Hours later, another Republican senator, Jeff Flake of Arizona, delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor announcing his decision to retire because of Trump’s brash behavior.

Flake’s sudden announcement makes him the second GOP senator, along with Corker, to seek retirement rather than continue to work with Trump.

The president’s bombastic leadership style should never be the norm, Flake said. Trump’s next day Twitter analysis: “The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected. Now act so hurt & wounded!”

It’s true Flake trailed in early polls—his constituents prefer the president to him. But it’s less certain Tennessee Republicans would have ousted Corker. Ironically, both Flake and Corker’s criticisms for Trump focus mostly on his style and not his policies. Flake disagrees with Trump on a few key areas, such as immigration, but he hasn’t tried to thwart the president’s agenda.

Flake voted lockstep with Trump’s preferences 90 percent of the time, according to a FiveThirtyEight tally. Corker’s numbers are similar. Those votes include supporting the GOP plan to repeal parts of Obamacare and helping advance Trump’s tax plan. Flake has a 96 percent lifetime voting score from the conservative Club For Growth.

The media loves to talk about the handful of anti-Trump Republicans, but Trump still enjoys public support from most of the caucus. And 83 percent of GOP voters still support the president.

Flake and Corker made personal decisions to leave politics after 2018. And most of their colleagues do not view those decisions as the start of a revolution to overthrow the president.

“I have a huge amount of respect for Jeff Flake and a huge amount of respect for Bob Corker,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told me. “But at the same time I look at the results we’re getting with President Trump and I will work with the president when I agree with him, and I’ll disagree respectfully with him when I disagree with him.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told me he liked Flake’s speech but he didn’t agree with all of it. I asked if it was just a distraction.

“Oh yeah,” Tillis responded. “I think anytime that I’m talking with you about anything other than tax reform is not a good thing.” —E.W.

Abortion loophole

Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., introduced legislation Wednesday to close a longstanding abortion loophole that allows taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion facilities. Federal taxpayers have subsidized construction of abortion centers in Florida, Illinois, and Massachusetts through a special federal tax exemption on municipal bonds, according to Pittenger. In 2012, Planned Parenthood renovated its national headquarters in New York City using a $15 million subsidized municipal bond.

Every year the federal government doles out billions in tax-exempt bonds to support community infrastructure. Pittenger’s No Abortion Bonds Act would prohibit the use of those bonds to bankroll abortion facilities. “These tax-free bonds are intended to finance schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, not abortion clinics,” Pittenger said on the House floor Wednesday. The bill already has 53 co-sponsors, including Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois.

Pittenger argues in an op-ed in the Charlotte Observer that even his pro-abortion colleagues should support the bill. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment prevents federal tax revenue from paying for abortion. Congress recertifies the amendment each year on a generally broad bipartisan basis. Most Americans agree—even those who support abortion—that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for the procedure. Pittenger claims his bill follows the spirit of the Hyde Amendment and hopes more Democrats will support closing the loophole. He hopes to soon get a vote on the legislation as a stand-alone bill, but he’s also looking into attaching it to upcoming tax reform legislation. —E.W.

Gone but not forgotten

Reince Priebus spent six months as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff before getting fired in July. This week he unveiled his future plans. Priebus will return to his old Wisconsin-based law firm—Michael Best & Friedrich LLP—as president and chief strategist. There, he said he looks forward to helping his friends and colleagues maneuver through politics and courtrooms. Priebus, who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee before joining the Trump team, also signed up to give paid speeches through the Washington Speakers Bureau. Priebus helped guide the Trump campaign in the months before the election and worked to connect the president with Republicans. Ahead of the 2018 election, Priebus will deliver paid speeches to boost Trump and congressional Republicans. He already has events lined up in New York and London, according to Politico. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted congratulations to Priebus on his career moves: “We’re proud of you Reince!” —E.W.