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Today’s edition is about the relatively easy path Republicans had while moving a monstrous budget bill through multiple chambers; when Trump signs it, it will become one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in years. One of the things that has been made clear during this process is that as long as Trump is in power, there is no more Republican factionalism in the House.
House Republicans, whether described as “moderates” or “hardliners,” have given up their ideological disagreements, which had given rise to divisions that kept Washington in a recurring state of legislative gridlock for years. In particular, the combative faction that pushed out two House speakers and formally removed one is no longer in the lawmaking driver’s seat—they’re not even giving directions. Like the rest of their Republican colleagues, they know their only job now is to sit back and let President Donald Trump take them wherever he wants.
In May, so-called “moderate” House Republicans abandoned any pretense of caring about Medicaid and other critical social safety net programs when they all happily voted for the “big, beautiful bill.” This was expected—they are known for quickly caving—but it confirmed in a definitive way that their ideology is not what motivates their actions when the stakes are high. After an alternate version of the bill moved through the Senate, the package that came back down to the House was in many ways worse than the one they sent up. They voted to pass it anyway Thursday afternoon.
The bill that passed, among many other things, will add an even larger sum to the national debt—concerns about which were once the leitmotif of the hard right. Balancing Lady Liberty’s checkbook, “runnin’ the federal government like a business”—many elected Republicans have used these tropes while campaigning for their offices. Our country will not survive like this, they said...
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