Getting a decent steak in Washington, D.C. isn’t that difficult. But Republicans continue to frequent Trump Hotel like it’s the only reliable restaurant in the Capitol. According to the Washington Post, GOP committees have already spent nearly $1.3 million this year to host events at Trump properties.
This is tacky and it should stop.
Imagine for a moment if Bill Clinton or Barack Obama opened a similar club, a place where the president knows not only your name but also your voting record. Congressional Democrats wouldn’t frequent the establishment in hopes of catching a saxophone solo or some beat poetry. They’d pump cash into the restaurant for a chance to rub shoulders with the president and Republicans would rightly condemn it.
That fact hasn’t kept 25 congressional campaigns, state parties, and the Republican Governors Association from wining and dining and partying at Trump restaurants, hotels, and golf courses.
None of this is exactly new. Clinton turned the Lincoln Bedroom into an Airbnb and Hillary turned the Clinton Foundation into a clearing house. But Trump is more brazen, and the conflict more boldfaced. A dollar spent at one of his places pads the president’s bottom line and buys invaluable access.
As we pointed out in March, it’s literally pay to play at Mar-a-Lago. Plenty of lobbyists have ponied up $200,000 to buy club membership and a chance at bending the president’s ear. Apparently congressmen are following suit, rewarding a president who refused to divest.
According to the report, big GOP names like House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee have quite literally put dollars in the pocket of the president’s family. Politically, it’s a win-win. They’re able to simultaneously fundraise for their own campaigns, kick back some cash to the Trumps, and get on the president’s good side.
All of this is incredibly ironic for the party which regularly rails about Congress surrendering its constitutional authority. On the Senate floor recently, one Republican received ovations for asserting that Congress was not the “president’s subordinates” but “his equals.”
If they truly thought that, if Republicans really believed in checks on presidential power, they’d find another place to eat.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
