Senate

Trump, GOP huddle to plot strategy after speech

by Jordain Carney - 03/01/17 3:14 PM ET

President Trump huddled with top congressional Republicans at the White House on Wednesday to hash out the path forward on the party’s ambitious agenda.

The closed-door meeting between the president, top administration officials and GOP leadership comes a day after Trump used his first speech to a joint session of Congress to outline a laundry list of policy proposals.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the meeting was a broad discussion about how to make progress on key policy ideas, rather than a detailed strategy session on one issue.

“It was a wide-ranging discussion,” he told reporters. “It was more of a, what’s the process going forward to accomplish the president’s agenda and our agenda? I thought it was very helpful.”

{mosads}Cornyn, as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.); House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip; Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC); and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) attended the meeting with Trump, Vice President Pence and Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen Bannon were also present for the meeting, according to the White House pool report.

Cornyn added that the conversation circled broadly around how to move healthcare and tax reform as well as getting Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, confirmed.

“It was about the agenda for basically — well, through August,” he told reporters.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer echoed Cornyn, saying Wednesday’s meeting “is about charting out the agenda and the timeline.”

The GOP gathering comes after Trump’s first month in office has been plagued by controversy.

The rough start has left key lawmakers out of the loop during the roll-out of major policies, including the executive order targeting immigration from seven Muslim-majority states and refugees.

Cornyn predicted after the sit-down that there would be “a lot greater coordination and much better communication” not only from the Trump administration but among House and Senate Republicans.

“I think [Trump] understands as we do the importance of getting those things done to set the tone for his entire first term. So we are getting organized, getting prepared,” he said.

GOP lawmakers have largely praised Trump for his speech on Tuesday night, arguing he offered a positive vision and put the onus on Democrats to cooperate.

Pence tweeted that lawmakers are working to “put into practice” the agenda Trump discussed during his address.

We welcomed House and Senate leadership to the @WhiteHouse to continue to put into practice the agenda @POTUS laid out at his #JointAddress. pic.twitter.com/r6qByL0koz

— Vice President Pence (@VP) March 1, 2017