White House lashes out at GOP: What exactly is your agenda?

President Obama’s top spokesman lashed out at congressional Republicans on Thursday, accusing them of slow-walking items on the president’s agenda that have bipartisan support. 

“What exactly are Republicans going to do?” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “What exactly is their legislative agenda that they seek to advance?”

{mosads}The comments come amid signs of trouble on Capitol Hill for two of Obama’s top priorities for his final year in office: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and a criminal justice reform bill. 

The president is hungry to add to his list of accomplishments before he leaves office in 2017, but election-year gridlock could make that difficult. 

Earnest argued that delaying action would not just hurt Obama but also damage Republicans’ ability to demonstrate to voters they are capable of governing. 

The spokesman said Obama would continue to engage with Republican lawmakers on issues ranging from the opioid epidemic to an authorization for use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the Puerto Rican debt crisis.

But the question is whether they will reciprocate, Earnest said.

“At what point do Republicans actually have to start becoming more transparent about what their objectives actually are?” he asked. 

Divisions among Republican lawmakers has dimmed hopes for a vote this year on legislation overhauling the nation’s criminal sentencing laws. 

A broad, bipartisan coalition backs the effort, saying it would make prison sentences more fair for many nonviolent offenders. But some Republicans, including presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), say the legislation could pose a danger to states and cities across the country. 

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has expressed hope for a vote this year, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has remained noncommittal.

“I am hopeful, but I don’t think it’s critical we do it this year,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a supporter of the legislation, told The Associated Press this week. 

Obama is also pushing Congress to ratify the TPP, a central part of his administration’s economic agenda. But McConnell has warned the White House not to send the agreement to Capitol Hill for a vote before November’s elections. 

The White House is urging McConnell to change his tune, in large part because it must rely on Republicans to pass the trade deal. 

Earnest said the president won’t be making a lengthy case for the TPP to congressional Democrats, who are largely skeptical of free trade, during his speech Thursday evening at their annual retreat in Baltimore. 

“I would not expect the focus of the president’s remarks would be on TPP,” he said. “Most Democrats don’t support” the agreement. 

Instead, Obama will continue to argue for the deal in public and try to sway pro-trade Democratic lawmakers in private, Earnest said.