When President Trump gives his first speech to a joint session of Congress this Tuesday, Republicans will be looking for him to do two things: talk about what he has done, and what they will all ultimately do together.
That’s the message from Republican operatives and lawmakers who are generally happy with the substance of the Trump administration so far, but occasionally mystified by the style. They say the president has lived up to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s description of him as a “man of action” and wish he would talk about it more than past accomplishments, such as beating Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College.
“It is truly an honor to be able to be part of this historical moment,” said Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., the man who succeeded Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Senate. “Like the millions of Americans who voted for real change in Washington, I look forward to hearing President Trump talk about the actions he has already taken to secure our border, repeal Obamacare and rebuild our military.”
“He’s stayed focused on running down his list of campaign promises,” said Republican strategist Ed Pozzuoli. “There’s nothing in his executive orders that is contrary to what he promised during the campaign.”
Soon Trump will have to move beyond his flurry of executive actions and engage the messy legislative process on issues such as repealing and replacing Obamacare, tackling tax reform and creating jobs. With control of the White House and both houses of Congress, Republicans have a chance to enact their agenda.
“The president has an opportunity to find common ground on key issues that unite the Trump coalition, but also can reach out to disaffected Democrats and skeptical Republicans,” said Mike Duhaine, a GOP strategist who advised Chris Christie. “Those opportunities can be found in tax reform, some replacement of Obamacare that doesn’t result in people losing coverage and investment in infrastructure that will be supported by both business and labor.”
At the same time, Republicans are nervous. They are facing a backlash at constituent town hall meetings reminiscent of the protests Democrats faced while passing Obamacare in the first place, heightening divisions over how to scrap the healthcare law and replace it with a more market-friendly alternative.
Republicans have tried to reassure themselves that they are encountering paid protesters and agitators from outside their districts who are being organized by left-wing groups. But many of them also have long enough memories to recall that the Democrats made similar claims about the Tea Party before losing the 2010 and 2014 elections. The White House, through press secretary Sean Spicer, has described the current shouting match as a “hybrid” of grassroots activism and Astroturf.
This has Republicans looking for presidential leadership, said a political consultant who works on GOP campaigns. Trump has never been precise in his language or overly interested in technical policy details, but he has signaled to Hill Republicans through tweets and other public pronouncements that it is important to replace Obamacare quickly and avoid gaps in coverage.
Sometimes Trump gives mixed signals, however. He told the Wall Street Journal that the border-adjustment tax, a key component of the House Republican plan to reform the corporate income tax backed by Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, is “too complicated.” The administration later walked the comment back. Spicer suggested in a White House press briefing that the tax policy change might help pay for a wall along the border with Mexico.
Congressional Republicans are ready to pay for the wall, even if Mexico isn’t. But Trump has gotten far ahead of them on immigration more generally. He has directed the Department of Homeland Security to come down more firmly on the side of enforcement than some GOP senators prefer, though he has left intact former President Barack Obama’s deportation protections for undocumented immigrants who arrived as children.
Several lawmakers expressed hope he will offer a clear rationale for his immigration and travel executive order, demonstrating to the public both its necessity and what distinguishes it from a categorical “Muslim ban.”
“There are some things where congressional Republicans will simply want him to sign what they pass,” said the consultant. “There are other things where they are going to need him to take a more proactive role.”
“I want to hear that we’re going to repeal Obamacare in a timely fashion,” said Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. “Then I want to hear we’re going to get a tax package done.” He argued that both initiatives would boost economic growth, wages and jobs. Although Brat is a free-market economist and policy wonk, he upended the party establishment with a populist campaign centered on immigration before Trump did.
A Pew Research Center poll found an uptick in Republican support for their party’s congressional wing. But 52 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning independent voters still said they would side with Trump over their party’s lawmakers in a dispute, making the imperative of leadership and party unity plain.
Can Trump provide more specific direction in the formal setting of a speech to Congress? “Nobody can articulate to the country what he has done or will do other than him,” said Republican strategist Ryan Price. “Nobody can explain [his position on immigration] better than him.”
“This is an opportunity to restore faith in the process by Republicans delivering what they have promised,” said Pozzuoli, who co-chaired Jeb Bush’s last campaign for governor of Florida. He added that Trump was “better at talking to the forgotten man than any Republican since Ronald Reagan.”
Many Republicans also hope that Trump will highlight his Cabinet, which includes a mix of top generals, successful businessmen and key conservative leaders. With a handful of exceptions, Trump’s nominees have unified the party, and supporters believe they are the best example of the president’s promise to hire the best people.
“This is a new guard in the White House,” said Price, who directed public and special events for Trump’s inauguration. “Gens. Mattis, Kelly and McMaster — this is a really accomplished group.”
The nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court seat once held by Justice Antonin Scalia has also bought Trump considerable goodwill from conservatives, even if it is likely to trigger a fierce battle with Senate Democrats and outside progressive groups.
Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., has emerged as a surprisingly sharp intraparty Trump critic. Sanford wants to hear the president talk about debt, spending and fiscal discipline, all topics he fears have fallen “out of vogue” within the GOP since Trump’s ascendancy.
“Math catches up with you,” Sanford said. “At some point, it is going to be a crossroads moment.” The lawmaker acknowledged that the confirmation of Mick Mulvaney — like himself a South Carolina Republican and strong budget hawk — as director of the Office of Management and Budget was a step in the right direction.”
“Mick knows the numbers inside and out,” Sanford said. He nevertheless would like to see more evidence the president himself is engaged on this issue, or at least open to “quiet education” on the subject. Trump ran against entitlement reform during the Republican primaries.
Other Republicans are hoping Trump lives up to some of his promises to change the party’s priorities. “I’d like to hear him say we’ve done all we can do in Afghanistan,” said Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. “Mr. Trump campaigned on being against building empires all over the world.”
Jones recounted taking a Capitol subway train driven by a young African-American man who had served in Afghanistan. Jones said the driver told him, “Congressman, you’re right, it’s not worth a damn over there.”
Then there are the GOP lawmakers who have been with Trump from the beginning. “I look forward to President Trump addressing the causes I have championed since I came to Congress, including enforcement of our immigration laws, promoting transportation infrastructure improvements, repealing and replacing Obamacare, simplifying the tax code, and fostering an atmosphere that allows the private sector to thrive and create jobs,” said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., an early endorser.
But Trump’s audience will be bigger than his own party. “President Trump is the leader of the entire country, not just the Republican Party,” Price said. “He needs to lay it all out for the independents, the Democrats, for everybody.”
Results matter even more. “If we get to 4 percent GDP growth and 8 percent wage growth, the American people will be happy again,” Brat said. “Then the Left will be irrelevant.”
