President Trump has transformed the Republican Party over the last four years, but now, with his reelection in doubt, Republicans have begun to sharply divide on whether those changes will or should outlast his presidency.
Old Guard Republicans acknowledge that there is no going back to the pre-Trump status quo, but see a political opening to steer the party away from Trumpism. At the same time, Trumps allies have started to jockey for primacy in a potential post-Trump party.
Those tensions have already begun to have an impact on legislation, leadership power struggles and campaign strategy in Congress and across the country.
In two Senate GOP primaries this week, Trump allies are on the defensive, facing challenges from the right in Tennessee and the center in Kansas.
Divisions have surfaced among congressional Republicans over how to handle the next installment of COVID-19 relief funding, with many of the splits directly related to jockeying over the partys future.
And after years of nearly unbroken fealty to the president, Republicans have increasingly defied Trumps wishes on issues, including his proposal for a payroll tax cut, funding for a new FBI building and most resoundingly, his suggestion of a possible delay of election day, which Republican leaders in the House and Senate rebuffed.
This is a party that knows its going to get beaten and get beaten badly, said Peter Wehner, a Trump critic and former White House advisor to President George W. Bush. Intra-party turmoil, attacks on each other, the language gets superheated.
Still, Trump loyalists remain on guard against apostasy. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a rising GOP star critical of the president on some issues, recently came under fire from a backbencher who called for her to be booted from the House leadership.
Anti-Trump Republicans are fighting back in the 2020 campaign by forming political groups dedicated to keeping Trump from being reelected.
But they face formidable hurdles in rolling back the broader changes Trump has wrought because the voting base of the GOP has been transformed. Country-club Republicanism has been routed, eclipsed by an influx of blue-collar populists who care more about cutting immigration than traditional GOP issues such as deregulation or free trade. At the same time, Trump has alienated many suburban voters who once were mainstays of the party.
Thats why many Republicans both Trump supporters and his opponents believe his influence will persist even if his presidency does not.
Donald Trump will have as big an impact on the profile of the Republican Party as Ronald Reagan did, said Kevin Madden, a veteran of several GOP presidential campaigns including Mitt Romneys in 2012, who has since left the party.
This party and how it wages battles on issues, with the media and with Democrats will be led by him for the foreseeable future.
The biggest fight within the party may be over who can claim to be Trumps heir.
Whether he wins or loses in 2020, youre going to see a contest between people trying to carry the mantle of Trumpism, said Andy Surabian, a former Trump aide who now advises the presidents son Donald Trump Jr.
He is going to be the most influential Republican figure, whether he wins or loses, said Surabian. Youre not going to see a pro-amnesty, pro-foreign-intervention, pro-unrestricted trade Republican get the nomination for president in 2024.
The battle over the post-Trump shape of the party will be waged in part on Capitol Hill, where Trump has remade the GOP by sweeping in a new generation of more populist, nationalist Republican legislators, while driving out more traditional Republicans and those who crossed him. One-third of the Houses 198 Republican members were elected since 2016, most on Trumps agenda and coattails, and many will stay in Washington long after Trump leaves.
Senate primaries continue to be feuds over which Republican will be the presidents most loyal ally, and Trump has often bragged about his ability to carry GOP candidates to primary victories. But this weeks primaries in Tennessee and Kansas show signs of Trumps weakening grip.
In Tennessee, where Republicans on Thursday are choosing a nominee to succeed GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is retiring, the candidate endorsed by Trump is not a shoo-in. Trumps former ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty, is meeting a spirited challenge from the right from Manny Sethi, a surgeon who has been endorsed by conservative stalwarts like Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky and Jim DeMint, a former senator and head of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
In Kansas, longtime Trump ally Kris Kobach a polarizing conservative who lost his 2018 gubernatorial bid is a leading candidate in Tuesdays GOP primary for the seat now held by retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts. The GOP establishment including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Senate Leadership Fund, which is allied with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is backing a rival they believe is less divisive, Rep. Roger Marshall, because they fear Kobach would lose the Senate general election.
Trump has not endorsed either, despite pressure from GOP leaders for him to back Marshall.
The partys split from its Old Guard past is illustrated in both primaries, as Republicans seized a new weapon for demonizing their rivals: Linking them to Romney, the only Republican senator to vote against Trump in his impeachment trial.
In Kansas, the Club for Growth, a conservative political group, has aired ads calling Marshall a friend of never-Trump politicians like Mitt Romney. In Tennessee, Hagerty has had to defend his service as Romneys finance chair in the 2012 campaign.
On Capitol Hill, intraparty warfare broke out recently when Cheney, No. 3 leader of the House GOP, came under attack from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus for, among other things, her criticism of Trumps foreign policy and his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, poked Trump for his refusal to wear a mask to prevent the diseases spread by tweeting a photo of her father wearing one, with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks.
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a Trump ally, tweeted after a closed-door confrontation, Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda. House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair. Liz Cheney should step down or be removed #MAGA.
Cheney has supported Trump on most issues, and the call to oust her fizzled.
Michael Steel, a former aide to House Speaker John Boehner, said Cheneys attackers kicked off a new front in the fight to define the future of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era, an era they clearly worry will begin quite soon.
Writing for the Dispatch, a conservative website, Steel called Cheney a back to the future option for the future of the party advocating a return to fiscal responsibility, an assertive foreign policy, and competence. And there are many who agree with her.
In the Senate, the divisions among Republicans have worsened the stalemate over the next package of economic relief for the damage caused by COVID-19.
One hallmark of Trumpism is the presidents lack of concern about the ballooning federal budget deficit. Republicans have mostly gone along, abandoning their past embrace at least rhetorically of fiscal conservatism.
Now, in a sign of Trumps weakened position on the Hill, some Republicans with presidential ambitions like Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Cruz have begun complaining about growing costs despite the risk that a delayed or smaller relief package might pose to Republicans in tough reelection fights this year.
Trump has had little hand in shaping the package so far, leaving negotiations to his top aides. When he has weighed in, he has been slapped down by fellow Republicans, such as when he proposed a payroll tax cut and when his administration pushed unrelated funding for construction of an FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., across the street from the hotel Trump owns.
If Trump wins in 2020, he will have another four years to cement the changes he has wrought in the GOP. If he loses, Republicans reaction will hinge largely on how big and decisive his defeat is. Short of a landslide, however, it is unlikely that Trumps influence on the party will vanish, Republicans on both sides say.
Tim Miller, an anti-Trump Republican who worked for Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential election, said Trump is not likely to follow the lead of President George W. Bush, who retreated to private life and hobbies on his Texas ranch after leaving the White House.
Hes going to be tweeting. Hell have his own network, Miller said. He is not the type to go to Midland and paint.
See the original post:
With Trump reelection uncertain, GOP battles over its future - Los Angeles Times
- Patriots For Economic Freedom - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Fiscal Freedom and Financial Literacy Campaign :: City of ... - December 30th, 2016 [December 30th, 2016]
- To see how a bill becomes law, follow the money - News Sentinel - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Economy to grow more than 7 per cent next fiscal: Shaktikanta Das - The Indian Express - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Making the case for an RBI rate cut - Livemint - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Cotton Calls for a $26B Uptick in Planned Defense Supplemental - USNI News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Making A FOIA Request Is About To Get Tougher At FBI - Daily Caller - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Guest Article: Capitulation before the First Shots Are Fired - Somewhat Reasonable - Heartland Institute (blog) - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- U.S. Air Force extended some 800 million yen in funds to 128 ... - The Mainichi - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Greece and the Folly of Trying to Solve an Overspending Problem with Tax Increases - People's Pundit Daily - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Hill Republicans quake at Trump's budget-busting wish list - Politico - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Key conservative open to insurer payments during ObamaCare transition - The Hill - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Historic audit of illegitimate debts - Inquirer.net - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Fiscal Freedom: How Tax Burden Affects Economic Freedom - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Police Criticized as Violence Continues in Brazil's City of Vitria - The Rio Times - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Business divided on Malloy budget - CT Post - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- The United Kingdom and the Benefits of Spending Restraint - Cato Institute (blog) - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Trump Threatens to Cut Off Government Funds to Universities, and Why Not? - PanAm Post - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- For Philly Cops Already Awash in Overtime Pay, Another Boost -- Thanks to Trump - NBC 10 Philadelphia - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Fiscal Freedom | Prometheism.net - Part 2 - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Personal finance lessons from the Budget - Hindu Business Line - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- The United Kingdom and the Benefits of Spending Restraint - People's Pundit Daily - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- MEL STA. MARIA | The 1987 Freedom Constitution should not be changed - InterAksyon - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Venezuela now leads US asylum requests as crisis deepens - Philly.com - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Promoting fiscal discipline - Daily Excelsior - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- The GOP's Big Tax Dilemma: Repealing Obamacare Taxes - The Fiscal Times - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Why Liberty Advocates Should Focus on Spending Restraint over Tax Hikes - PanAm Post - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- What the papers say: Britain's soaring EU budget bill shows Brexit can't happen soon enough - Spectator.co.uk (blog) - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Meet The Venezuelan-Born Mom Who Ran For State Senate To Stop Socialism - The Federalist - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- GOP defense hawks barely squawked on Mulvaney nomination - Washington Examiner - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Floyd Bledsoe urges Kansas to compensate the wrongfully convicted: 'I lost my freedom' - The Garden City Telegram - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Are Republicans Losing Momentum on Obamacare Repeal? - The Fiscal Times - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Study: US falls to 17th place in 2017 global economic freedom index - Economic Collapse News - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Mason Fiscal give WVFD go-ahead - Ledger Independent - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Officials Continue to Dodge Attempts to Disclose Use of Stingrays - Reason (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- 10 Things to Know About Stephen Feinberg, Trump's Potential Intelligence Czar - The Fiscal Times - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Mason Fiscal gives WVFD go-ahead - Ledger Independent - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Senate Confirms Fiscal Hawk Mick Mulvaney As Trump's Budget Director - New York Magazine - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Thank You, Obama: US Steadily Lost Ground On Economic Freedom Over Past 8 Years - Investor's Business Daily - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Scott Pruitt: 5 Fast Facts You need to Know - Heavy.com - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Liberia Ahead Of Ukraine In Index of Economic Freedom 2017 - Global News Network - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- EDITORIAL: The United States continues to drop on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom - Las Vegas Review-Journal - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- US Economic Freedom Hits Historic Low - theTrumpet.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Sounds of freedom rattling to far reaches of area - Jacksonville Daily News - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- State lawmakers looking at forced treatment as option to combat opioid crises - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Sri Lanka's govt. integrity, economic freedom deteriorate - Daily Mirror - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Budget 2017: Why taxes will increase - DA - Politicsweb - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- PH up by 12 notches in Economic Freedom Index 2017 ranking | SunStar - Sun.Star - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- County Commission Backs Medical Marijuana, Opposes School Vouchers - Memphis Daily News - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Kellogg column: Our culture must shift from dependent to interdependent - Glenwood Springs Post Independent - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- India's economic freedom plunge | Business Standard News - Business Standard - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Ohanaeze president worried about maltreatment of pro-Biafran members worries - Guardian - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Why is a freedom enshrined in the UN declaration of human rights ... - Stabroek News - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Gambia: Gambian Man Living In The United States; Former Jammeh Aide Sanna Jarju Named In A Multi million dollars ... - Freedom Newspaper - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Gauging the Trump Effect on Congress and the DOJ - Freedom Leaf (press release) (blog) - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- PH leaps in economic freedom; 'yes' to calls for lasting peace - Manila Bulletin - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Ohanaeze Ndigbo decries violence against MASSOB, IPOB - Vanguard - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- PH leaps 12 places in 2017 Economic Freedom Index - Filipino Reporter - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Read Scott Walker's Advice on How Republicans Should Handle Protests - TIME - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- JCPenney to close 13 to 14 percent of stores - Rome Sentinel - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Dj vu all over again - The Capitol Fax Blog (blog) - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Solution created for county builders - Morehead News - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Economic Freedom Up Again, But Not in the US - Investor's Business Daily - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Expect the unexpected with upcoming budget, appropriations cycle, experts say - FederalNewsRadio.com - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Pleading poverty, demanding new taxes - Washington Times - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Newspaper lobby seeks Albany allies in fight for sunlight over state finances - Lockport Union-Sun & Journal - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Philippines Improves in Economic Freedom ranking | CFO innovation - CFO innovation ASIA - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- California lawmakers press ICE for information about raids - The Mercury News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- ExclusiveRep. Meadows: We Won't Fix Healthcare By Replacing Obamacare with Another Bad Plan - Breitbart News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Economic Freedom - HATICE KARAHAN - Yeni afak - Yeni afak English - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- California 'Trust Women' License Plates to Help Pay for Reproductive Care in Trump Era - Rewire - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Reader Viewpoint: Recognizing our imperfections, tribulations allows us to be wise - The Herald Bulletin - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- The Staggering Costs of Operating Air Force One - The Fiscal Times - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- How a Tenet of GOP Orthodoxy Slipped Away - Roll Call - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Who is the enemy? - Emporia Gazette - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Wake Up, Republicans: This Could Be the Democrats' Tea Party - POLITICO Magazine - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Pakistan ranked ahead India in Economic Freedom Index report ... - ARY NEWS - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Excess rules stifle freedom - The Robesonian - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Law & (Executive) Order - Patriot Post - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- A Closer Look at Trump's 10% Defense Spending Increase - Morningstar.com - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]