While the White House is reportedly attempting to court Democrats ahead of its big congressional push on tax reform, the latest national polls concerning President Donald Trump’s standing remain at an all-time low. Most Americans aren’t too pleased with his performance, and judging by the Senate’s rejection of the GOP’s complete plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare, neither are Republicans. Including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who explained his opinion of the president’s tweeted criticisms of Congress on Monday.
“I know everybody is saying we haven’t been there and done anything, which I find extremely irritating,” McConnell told Rotary Club members at a gathering in Florence, Kentucky. “Congress goes on for two years, and part of the reason I think that the storyline is that we haven’t done much is because, in part, the president and others have set these early timelines about things need to be done by a certain point. Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before. And I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”
In other words, Trump doesn’t think Congress — or American democracy, for that matter — is moving quickly enough. And considering the haphazard and often random nature of his tweets, McConnell and his fellow legislators’ irritation is not without merit. “So part of the reason I think people feel we’re underperforming is because too many artificial deadlines, unrelated to the reality of the complexity of legislating,” he explained, “may not have been fully understood.” Then again, with several rushed votes despite last-minute CBO scores, it’s difficult to feel sorry for the Kentucky politician.
(Via ABC News)