Trump Politics – 2018 Midterms and Beyond
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905818779327 |
| Author | Alex Waddan |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
JUNE 2018 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 11
Since the election of Donald Trump,
US political life has hurtled along.
One controversy has followed
another, leaving onlookers barely
a moment to catch breath before another
storm breaks. The admonition to focus on
the fundamentals of government rather
than be distracted by each new dazzling
but shiny passing object, can be dicult
advice to follow when so many White House
events feel like they pose a fundamental
challenge to the established rules of political
behaviour, with a constitutional crisis
seeming to lurk around every corner.
While the White House seems to be
constantly battling on a new front, it is
important to remember that Trump was not
the only Republican to win big in the 2016
elections. The President’s fellow Republicans
took control of both chambers of Congress.
Unied partisan control of the federal
government does not easily translate into
eective action, and Republican ambitions
were always likely to be limited by the
slender 52-48 majority in Senate. That initial
advantage was reduced further in December
2017 when the party lost an Alabama seat in
a special election.
Given the fragmented nature of the
country’s governing institutions, progress
on fullling Trump’s campaign promises
was an uncertain task. Under the Senate’s
complex rules, the possible use of a libuster
means a supermajority of 60 votes is
needed to pass legislation. Yet whatever
the institutional obstacles, President
Trump
Politics
– 2018
Midterms
and
Beyond
November’s midterm elections see Republicans defending majorities
in both houses of Congress. Can they retain control? What would
defeat mean for Trump? Alex Waddan assesses elections that could
prove tighter than the president’s low approval ratings would suggest.
Trump, with zero government experience,
at least had the chance to be guided by
the experienced Senate Majority Leader,
Mitch McConnell from Kentucky and the
energetic conservative policy guru, House
Speaker Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. Ryan
was still relatively new to the Speaker role,
but McConnell had developed a reputation
as a formidable political strategist, with
the ultimate insider’s knowledge of Senate
procedure and a willingness to push to the
limits of acceptable procedure in pursuit of
Republican goals.
Trump’s record so far
The major legislative accomplishment in
the opening 15 months of the Trump era
came in December 2017 in the form of
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced
income taxes and signicantly lowered
the headline rate of corporate tax. A dozen
Republicans in the House voted against the
bill but otherwise it passed along party lines
without any Democratic support in either
© Press Association
Political Insight June 2018 NEW.indd 11 02/05/2018 15:39
To continue reading
Request your trial