Ryan reassures donors of GOP agenda: report

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) reportedly reassured GOP donors and lobbyists over the weekend that the Republican Party’s agenda is on track, and laid out a fast-track timeline for some of the party’s most critical policy objectives.

According to Politico Playbook, Ryan said at the Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia that he expects the Senate to pass the GOP healthcare measure ahead of Congress’s July 4 recess.

Tax reform, he added, would be passed by the year’s end, as would a series of bills aimed at repairing and revamping the nation’s infrastructure, the news outlet reported.

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Ryan’s comments, made at his annual “Team Ryan” summer retreat, come amid concerns by some Republicans that the party’s agenda has largely been derailed by ongoing controversies surrounding the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

At least four congressional committees are also probing the matter.

The high-profile investigations, some GOP lawmakers say, have distracted Congress from making inroads on key campaign promises, such as the longstanding vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

House Republicans passed a sweeping healthcare reform measure in April. But that bill has been the target of fierce criticism by Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate, where GOP lawmakers are working to hammer out their own healthcare legislation.

Ahead of his inauguration, President Trump also pegged an infrastructure overhaul as a key objective. And while Democrats backed that call early on, many have since reversed their support, citing disagreements with the president on specific proposals.

Likewise, Trump’s vows to tackle the first comprehensive tax reform in decades has spotlighted political divisions between members of his own party as well as with Democrats.

The Trump administration’s tax proposal has, so far, been short on details. Nevertheless, it has drawn the ire of Democrats and some Republicans, leaving the fate of the plan unclear.