The impending war between the White House and the House Freedom Caucus is apparently on, and Rep. Tom Garrett (VA-05) isn’t wasting any time caging the argument.
To wit? A bill… entitled the President-elect Release of Tax Return Act of 2017. From the press statement:
Upon introduction of the President-elect Release of Tax Return Act of 2017, Garrett issued the following statement:
“Under current law, the President is under no legal obligation to publicly release his tax returns. However, I believe the leader of this nation, regardless of party affiliation, should provide this information to demonstrate a transparent administration. If enacted, this bill would require the release of such information prior to the U.S. Congress’ vote to confirm electoral votes for this office.”
Gee — any wonder who that might be aimed towards?
The Charlottesville Daily Progress has more, and their spin on things is worth a read.
Of course, Garrett’s bill is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution. Article II, Section I makes it very clear what the qualifications for running for president are, ergo a violation of the separation of powers. Which suggests that this bill is more emotive rather than substance (and distantly related to a “question” offered at a mere town hall).
So here’s the $20 billion dollar question.
Is the Trump White House serious about taking on HFC members that voted against (or at least, signaled they would not vote for) the AHA?
One solid indicator will be if/when the Trump White House lowers the boom on Corey Stewart, the putative Virginia gubernatorial candidate who defied the Trump campaign in favor of a grassroots-driven RNC protest last summer.
So here’s the thing: depending on who or what you believe, Trump’s approval ratings stand at anywhere between 36% (according to the folks who got 2016 wrong) and 46% (according to Rasmussen who got 2016 right).
Both Tom Garrett and Dave Brat were very vocal negotiators with the White House, alternating between “let’s cut a deal!” and a firm no. Unlike Rep. Tom Massie and unlike Sen. Rand Paul, there was an indication that a deal was possible… which has infuriated a now-liberated Steve Bannon who was determined to see a health-care deal through so he could move on to the real prize: tax reform and the border adjustment tax.
Something else to consider as well. Trump’s White House is not a monolith. Is vacillates between the nationalist wing under Bannon, Flynn, and Manafort (who were the architects of Trump’s win) and the more strident yet Rockefeller-oriented New York wing under leading lights such as Kushner and McMaster.
Link those two with get-it-done Republican insiders such as Pence and Priebus, and link them further to men such as Tillerson and Mattis… and you have the seeds for a Reaganesque sort of shakeup on the interior, while Bannon and the Breitbart machine continue to pull the Republican Party to the nationalist/traditionalist right.
For one, the shakeup within the White House should not be viewed as a palace coup. Bannon is merely being unshackled to do what he does best — club the enemies of the new traditionalist aristocracy in warrior-monk style.
If that is the new normal, Bannon wasn’t demoted — he was unleashed. If that insight proves to have substance, and if one links it to Garrett opening shot (a wise move if the fight is truly on) and Brat’s bewilderment (who the hell knows what he’s thinking), then we might be seeing the first few weeks of a disciplinary maneuver within the political ranks.
All that’s needed is a scapegoat to heap Trump’s sins upon, then throw as many rocks as you can at the target:
…or at least, a first scapegoat before the others are picked off in a night of the long knives.
Once that is accomplished? The demarcation lines are drawn, and any association with the nationalist right will be branded as anti-Trump, anti-conservative, and the converse of the most prized possession in the Trump-Bannon weltanschauung: loyalty. Bold prediction, perhaps… but it’s coming.
After all, loyalty is stronger than fire. It’s the reason why the Trump White House prizes that quality among all others. Of course, I plagiarized that… but it’s what the new right believes and practices.
In the meantime, Garrett sits on a safe district that, though with vocal opponents, Garrett retains all the advantages of incumbency that would force an uphill climb. Should Trump choose to take a swing, it would be an expensive effort indeed. Alternatively, Brat sits on a pile of sand — elected by Democrats on a nationalist message that will follow Trump long before they follow Brat. If one looks at the stars aligning in the White House… how much longer will Brat last in VA-07?
…meanwhile, liberty movement types are riding pretty tall in the saddle at the moment, while conservatives are making their accomodations with a Trump presidency willing to show surprising resilience in pushing away from nationalism-as-policy, adopting the more business-oriented approaches of the Rockefeller wing — long thought dead, but now miraculously risen from the dead.
Gonna get interesting, to be sure.