Washington: US Republicans struggling to pass a health care overhaul and tax reform this year have seen their path narrow, as Congress reels from fallout over President Donald Trump’s firing of his FBI director.
The shock dismissal of James Comey — and the White House’s bungling of the aftermath — has triggered distress on Capitol Hill, with Democrats and Republicans increasingly preoccupied with how Trump’s action affects investigations into his team’s possible collusion with Russia.
The resulting chaos has antagonized some moderate Republicans, who had hoped to move on from the cycles of controversy that have marked the administration’s first four months and forge consensus on legislative priorities. Trump campaigned heavily on pledges to repeal and replace Obamacare and reform the tax code.
Both are monumental tasks, and while Congress can act with due speed when it wishes, its chambers are paralysed by gridlock. Seamless bipartisan cooperation is a fantasy on Capitol Hill in 2017, and some say the Comey hue and cry will only make it more difficult to cooperate on big-ticket legislation.
“Certainly there is a case to be made that it will be more polarising and more partisan, not less,” Republican Senator Tim Scott said on Thursday as he contemplated prospects for getting a controversial Obamacare repeal bill through the Senate.
Even staunch conservatives acknowledged that the latest political uproar is cutting into congressional efforts to move forward.
