President Trump has Republicans rethinking the “pen and phone,” a phrase his predecessor Barack Obama used to describe executive power, while the media greet his latest orders with skepticism.
Over the weekend, Trump issued executive orders designed to break the stalemate in Congress over the latest coronavirus economic rescue package. He seeks to use executive power to lower the payroll tax, extend unemployment benefits, and maintain a moratorium on evictions. Trump said several times last week that he would take such action if lawmakers couldn’t cut a deal, adding that the White House was studying to impose these policies legally.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican from Iowa, took to Twitter to say he “applauds” the moves. “I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployment benefits and other relief to the people who need them most,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. “I am glad that President Trump is proving that while Democrats use laid-off workers as political pawns, Republicans will actually look out for them.”
“The president is doing all he can to help workers, students and renters, but Congress is the one who should be acting,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, wrote on Twitter. “Democrats should stop blocking common sense proposals to help students going back to school & college & parents going back to work who need child care.”
“I hope the President’s actions will prompt Democratic leaders to negotiate seriously to reach a much-needed agreement to help struggling families, seniors, schools, businesses, municipalities & the USPS with this persistent pandemic,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a centrist Republican from Maine who is facing a tough reelection race this fall. “Three times, Senate Democratic leaders blocked extending extra unemployment benefits to prevent their expiration during the negotiations.” Collins allowed, “Congress must act quickly. There are constitutional limits on what the President can do to help through executive orders.”
“It was a brilliant way for Trump to go on offense, and I assume that the Democrats will now have to respond through negotiation,” said John Feehery, a Republican strategist. “The fact that most Republicans are supportive of this makes me believe it is more of a negotiating tactic than a new, long-lasting policy position.”
Many media reports have contrasted Republicans’ statements about the latest Trump executive orders with their opposition to various executive actions undertaken by Obama, especially the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Trump himself has described DACA as an “illegal executive amnesty” and tried to end the program in favor of a legislative solution. But the reports also highlight the difference in how these same outlets covered DACA and other Obama executive actions after Republicans took control of Congress.
The Washington Post ran a story headlined “Trump attempts to wrest tax and spending powers from Congress with new executive actions.” A Google search did not turn up a similar headline about immigration policy after DACA was introduced. Another Washington Post story described the recent orders as “legally dubious executive actions” in a headline. A third Washington Post story about Republican inconsistency on this issue also described them as a “spree of legally dubious executive orders” in the opening paragraph.
“It’s striking enough to see so many GOP lawmakers abandon any interest in institutional limits and the traditional push-and-pull dynamic between branches of government, but it’s all the more extraordinary given how the party felt in the not-too-distant past,” wrote MSNBC’s Steve Benen.
[OPINION: Trump’s executive orders: Two wrongs don’t make a right]
Not all Republicans defended the executive orders. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska called the legal rationale behind them “unconstitutional slop,” drawing a rebuke from Trump on Twitter. Even many of the GOP lawmakers who were more measured in their response expressed a clear preference for legislation. “I appreciate the President taking this decisive action but would much prefer a congressional agreement,” tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I believe President Trump would prefer the same.”
Democrats have framed Trump’s orders as unworkable half-measures that won’t solve the problems and provide political cover for Republican intransigence, making hay over their being issued at one of the president’s country clubs. They have also raised concerns about what would happen to Social Security and Medicare funding in the wake of delayed payroll tax collections, in an election cycle where the GOP was sure to ask Democrats how they planned to pay for programs such as Medicare for All.
“Democrats in Congress failed to act in the best interests of Americans hardest hit by this pandemic. Amid inaction, President Trump stood up for every American who, through no fault of their own, needed relief,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany at Monday’s briefing. “Politics, as usual, should find no place during this pandemic, but Democrats rejected multiple clean bills to provide relief. The American people are tired of games. They seek leadership, and President Trump delivered.”
