Trump Goes After House Freedom Caucus Members By Name: ‘Get On Board’

“The Freedom Caucus didn’t care”.

The earl-morning tweet from President Trump highlighted the growing schism in a Republican party that controls the White House and both branches of Congress yet appears to be teetering on the precipice of a civil war. By Thursday, he had changed his mind.

“I understand the frustration, I share the frustration”, Ryan said when asked to respond to Trump’s threat to campaign against fellow Republicans.

“Now in my opinion, it’s not the Freedom Caucus that’s responsible for the GOP failure in this case to repeal and replace Obamacare”, Hannity said.

The real estate magnate, who touted his skills as a deal-maker in his 1987 book The Art Of The Deal, has accused Freedom Caucus lawmakers of snatching “defeat from the jaws of victory” with their rejection of the White House-backed healthcare Bill to replace former president Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform Bill.

“I think it’s going to happen because we’ve all been promising – Democrat, Republican – we’ve all been promising that to the American people”, he said.

While he was far from the only Republican to break with the White House on Trumpcare, Sanford is one of only two GOP Representatives to sign a letter calling on Trump to release his tax returns.

But Gonzales said the caucus’ vote on the American Health Care Act “proved that they still have influence and power, and I don’t think we can know for sure whether that was the end until the next fight comes onto the table”.

The president’s most potent tool to corral an insurgency within his own party is to sponsor challengers in primary elections, but this is a practice with little historical success.

President Trump brought his own arsenal this week to a familiar fray in Washington: the Republican Party’s circular firing squad. “He’s suggested as much”.

Speaking to reporters later Thursday, Ryan amplified Trump’s comments.

The White House gambled that the Freedom Caucus would compromise on the measure because it’s hard to defy a president of your party on his first major vote. Or is picking Twitter fights just his sneaky way to avoid having to actually read the legislation he wants them to vote for? In that event, Democrats will be integral to the process because of the 60-vote hurdle to do most of the legislating in the Senate.

SHAPIRO: There is another option here, which is that President Trump could try to work with Democrats.

“It’s constructive in fifth grade – and it may allow a child to get his way – but that’s not how our government works”, Amash said.

“Our duty to the American people is to improve upon the current healthcare mess. Maybe”, said Rep. Jim Himes, chairman of the centrist New Democrat Coalition. But Himes hasn’t heard from the president. It wasn’t clear how relevant the caucus would be with a Republican in the White House. “We’re totally willing to engage in that, provided that it’s consistent with our values”.

Needham and other leaders sought to toss the blame back toward GOP leadership, the moderates and Trump. “Look, these guys run the show now”.

All House seats and a third of U.S. Senate seats will be on the 2018 ballot. Congress must pass a spending bill by April 28 to avert a government shutdown, but the path ahead is narrow and filled with obstacles.

More than a dozen leaders of the conservative movement were in attendance. They have also taken a stand knowing that while President Trump is popular in their districts, they are equally so.

But he had also publicly blamed congressional Democrats, despite never reaching out to them.