Moderates hope Trump’s deal with Dems means new bipartisanship

The fiscal deal cut this week between President Trump and Democratic leaders has Capitol Hill centrists hoping that an era of bipartisan comity may descend on Washington.

Congressional moderates believe that Trump has finally realized that a purely partisan approach — even with a unified GOP government — won’t work in Washington. Instead, they say the deal could show the president is willing to go in a different direction. 

“This sends a signal: The president’s willing to cut a deal. … That’s a New Yorker trait,” said Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).

Top legislative priorities like tax reform, stabilizing the health care system and revitalizing the nation’s infrastructure could be openings for Trump and Republicans to more realistically attract Democratic support, compared to the party-line ObamaCare repeal that consumed more than six months without success.

“At the end of the day,” Reed said, “we need to be cutting more deals around here to get things done for the American people.” 

Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), another member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, said it’s preferable to move legislation with bipartisan support. He pointed to a compromise proposal floated by the bipartisan caucus to help stabilize health insurance markets as something the White House, GOP leaders and Democrats should consider. 

“I think the best chance of success is through bipartisan cooperation,” Lance told The Hill. 

With GOP divisions on the Hill preventing Trump from scoring any major legislative victories, lawmakers acknowledged the president may have discovered a more effective strategy.

“I mean, the president has to be concerned about getting things done. So, if the president has calculated that working in a bipartisan manner is going to help get things done in the aggregate, I think that’s fine,” said Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.). 

Even conservatives less inclined to cross the aisle are recognizing the new reality.

“He’s tired of zero results,” said one conservative Trump ally in the House. “You drop a bucket down the well enough times and the rope keeps breaking, eventually you’re gonna try another rope.” 

Trump rejected a strategy outlined by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and even his own Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday to raise the debt limit. 

GOP leaders initially pushed to raise the debt ceiling for 18 months so that Republicans wouldn’t have to deal with the toxic issue again until after the 2018 midterm elections. But Trump ultimately dismissed their arguments and went with Democrats’ initial offer of a three-month extension.

Republicans eager to embrace compromise reiterated that Trump shouldn’t abandon their party altogether if he wants to make truly bipartisan deals.

“I obviously would like our leadership to be involved,” Lance said. “But I certainly favor bipartisan cooperation to the greatest extent possible.”

Trump has taken notice of the positive headlines from the bipartisan deal. In a phone call with Pelosi on Thursday morning, Trump told the San Francisco liberal, “The press has been incredible,” according to a source familiar with the call.

Still, the deep animosity among Democrats toward Trump that’s festered since the divisive 2016 campaign will make it hard to build a truly collaborative relationship on many issues.

{mosads}Pelosi expressed cautious optimism after achieving the unexpected victory in Wednesday’s talks.

When asked at a Capitol news conference on Thursday if the deal is heralding a “new day of cooperation,” Pelosi replied, “I don’t know that.”

Pelosi also made clear that some things aren’t negotiable for Democrats. 

“Let’s hope that this is a sign of something to come. But you never know where your shared interest might be. But one thing is for sure: We will not — in terms of what they’re proposing on the tax cut — is severely detrimental to everything that we would care about in a budget in a bipartisan way,” Pelosi said.

Despite her policy agreements with President George W. Bush when she served as Speaker, Pelosi has said they still had a good personal relationship. But Pelosi hasn’t tried to hide her distaste for Trump: as recently as May, she joked that it’s still hard to say the words “President Trump.” 

Yet Democrats hope that they can reach a deal with the president in the coming months to protect young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children after the Trump administration announced this week it is phasing out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Trump acquiesced with a tweet after Pelosi asked him in a phone call on Thursday morning to reassure DACA recipients that they won’t be deported over the next six months. 

“For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about – No action!” Trump tweeted. 

Even then, Pelosi appeared uncertain of Trump’s commitment to help DACA recipients, often referred to as “Dreamers.”

“I am praying that the president really cares about the Dreamers, or knows that he should care about the Dreamers, and that we’re going to pass this bill,” she said.