Don't Be Fooled: It's the Republican Agenda

To the alarm of Republicans running for office, President Trump actually said something I agree with when he told their “convention” that he wanted them to “pretend I’m on the ballot because, in a way, I am”.¹

For as long as I can remember, Congress has done a masterful, bipartisan job of dodging responsibility. This congressional abdication is most evident in its ceding war powers to the President, but it extends far beyond military action.

For members of the President’s party, this is generally a good deal: claim credit for anything popular, and disclaim power over anything that isn’t. It works: we let them get away with it.

But this Republican Congress has raised the bar to new lows.

If you don’t think that this administration has gone off the rails, I’m not going to convince you. But if you’re part of the 60% that disapproves of the Trump agenda – war with Iran, tariffs on and military threats to our allies, mass deportations, rolling back health care, and massive self-dealing – you should ask what the Republican Congress has been doing for the last 20 months.

At some point inaction becomes consent: the Republican Congress has the power to check the administration on all fronts, but simply hasn’t. Sure, a few folks have crossed the aisle to vote against tariffs and the war with Iran, but the largest pushback has been on Jeffrey Epstein.²

And it isn’t just inaction. They changed the rules to rush through confirmation of Trump’s appointees and jammed through funding for his agenda. They twisted logic to stall voting on tariffs, approved his rescissions, and exempted the President from stock-trading limits.

Mostly, though, they’ve tried to pretend that they aren’t there.

But they are there, they do have power, and they own this, too. So remember, the Trump agenda isn’t just the Trump agenda: it’s the Republican agenda.

And remember to vote on November 3rd.