Republicans too distracted by self-inflicted controversies to tackle top crisis: Politico

Republicans can't get out of their own way to tackle the biggest obstacle blocking their path to maintaining their congressional majorities, according to reporting.

A cascade of self-inflicted controversies is consuming the political oxygen Republicans need to demonstrate they are serious about affordability, handing Democrats a series of ready-made attack lines just months before the midterm elections, reported Politico.

The most glaring example is a $1 billion Secret Service funding request tucked into what was supposed to be a straightforward immigration enforcement bill — potentially the last major piece of Republican legislation before voters go to the polls.

Roughly $220 million of that request could be directed toward renovations tied to Trump's White House ballroom project, according to a breakdown obtained by Politico. The optics of asking Americans struggling with surging gas and grocery prices to fund a presidential ballroom renovation have alarmed even senior Republicans.

"Not good," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told Politico when asked about how the request looks to voters.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran visited Capitol Hill Tuesday to make the case for the funding, but several GOP senators said afterward they remained unsatisfied with the justifications provided. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), a key centrist, was more direct, saying the $1 billion request was simply "not happening" in the House.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor Tuesday to argue that Republicans were forcing Americans to subsidize a "billion-dollar ballroom" while delivering "zero dollars" in relief for everyday costs.

Trump's push to suspend the federal 18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax might have offered Republicans a tangible, visible win on affordability, but scores of Republican lawmakers spent 2022 publicly ridiculing then-President Joe Biden for floating the exact same idea after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Backing the proposal now, one person familiar with internal discussions said, would require those members to "eat s---" over their prior positions.

GOP senators pressed Speaker Mike Johnson to pass their housing bill after meeting with the president Monday, saying it would allow them to show voters some tangible progress, but Politico reported that House leaders want to make further changes – thus sending the bill back to the Senate for another vote.

“I’d just be happy if they do something,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). “They’ve been holding it up since God was a baby. Their reasons for holding it up run from substantive to ‘my dog ate my homework.’”

Trump himself further complicated the party's affordability message Tuesday when, departing for an overseas trip to China, he told reporters he doesn't "think about America's financial situation" — a comment Democrats immediately amplified.

The cumulative effect is a party that voters increasingly see as unable or unwilling to prioritize their economic concerns, even as poll after poll shows affordability ranking as the dominant issue heading into November.

"I don't know that the Congress is doing a whole lot — that's the real issue," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). "It seems like voters are making it very clear that they want some relief."