The party of no
More stories from Nick Robertson
Office of the Speaker/ Wikimedia Commons
President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in February. Since entering office, Trump has pushed for legislation in congress to little avail, as gridlock still plagues Capitol Hill.
For the last eight years, the Republican party has been the “party of no”. They forced President Obama to use executive orders instead of going through Congress, and weakened the Democratic agenda overall.
After the 2016 election, the Republican party became the controller of all three branches of government. Even though they now have the power to get nearly anything passed, they have not made progress on their agenda. Trump has not built a wall. Congress has not repealed Obamacare. There still isn’t an increase in infrastructure spending. Even with a change of party in the White House, the gridlock in Congress has not been relieved.
There are three divisions in the Republican party that prevent any real work from getting done. On the political spectrum, from die-hard democrats on the left to hardcore republicans on the right, traditional conservatives are on the center-right. These are your stereotypical Republicans that have been running the party since the era of President Reagan.
Farther right is the Tea Party. Coming to power in 2010, the Tea Party is the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican party, not afraid to vote against their own party’s bills if they aren’t conservative enough.
Last but not least, on the extreme right side of the political spectrum is the newly dubbed “Alt-right”. This fragment of the Republican party believes in a new sense of nationalism and are President Donald Trump’s closest supporters. They believe in economic protectionism, limited immigration, and the philosophy of “America First” above all else.
These groups are too far apart, preventing compromise. Being against the Democrats was the only thing that kept Republicans together while Obama was in office. Now that the they are in the majority, they can’t agree on anything. Both versions of the Obamacare repeal that went to vote since Trump came into office were killed by Republican senators who were not pleased; they either believed that the bill went too far, or not far enough.
Unless something changes in Congress, there will be no work done on Capitol Hill. The Republican party has been so focused on saying no, that they forgot how to say yes.
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