More GOP Senators Willing to Buck Trump, McConnell

1207
SHARE

McConnell is eager to pivot the Senate to tax reform, washing away the bad memory of healthcare. The GOP majority was supposed to unify around legislative items like these. So far, they have proven to do the opposite. McCain, Corker and Collins are not expected to be won over easily. Corker, for one, has already pledged to oppose any plan that adds “one penny to the deficit.”

McCain voted against President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, citing favorability to the wealthy. If the GOP’s tax reform bill strays too far in this direction, we can expect McCain oppose it as well.

Leadership in Disarray

Such public dissent within the GOP Senate majority comes at a time when its own leader, Mitch McConnell, is growing more unpopular with his base. According to polling from POLITICO/Morning Consult, only 28% of surveyed Republican voters said they would be more likely to “vote for a member of Congress that supported McConnell.”

It doesn’t help that the White House offers little assistance to McConnell. Trump has publicly berated McConnell on twitter over the Obamacare repeal failure. The NY Times reported in August that the two had not been speaking for weeks.