Mar 30, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Trump goes it alone

Jonathan Swan

President Trump walking away juxtaposed over a presidential document. — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

President Trump and his chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, have realized they’re passing no major legislation through this divided Congress.

Why it matters: No sooner had Trump put out his budget than the conversation among many Capitol Hill Republicans turned to what they expect will eventually happen: No grand spending deal between Democrats and Republicans, and instead perhaps a continuation of 2019 spending levels through 2020.

Reality check: Forget infrastructure. Forget any serious action to rein in the national debt. Forget entitlement reform. Forget fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.

And yes, forget health care. Trump may want to revisit the Affordable Care Act, but he doesn't have a lot of company in the GOP.
Instead, the Trump team is busy figuring out ways to go over the heads of Congress. (The one exception is drug pricing.)

What to expect: More executive orders, more foreign deals sealed by a presidential signature rather than congressional approval, and more creative applications of the law — for example, declaring a national emergency to build the wall — to get Trump what he wants.

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Trump goes it alone

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