After the election stunner that handed Republicans control of Washington, the congressional GOP and President-elect Donald Trump’s team are working furiously to mesh their agendas and line up policy goals, hoping to build up a head of steam for 2017.

But while the party appears mostly unified — and top leaders in the House and Senate got unanimous support to stay in power in the new Congress — major hurdles remain as Republicans shift from an opposition party to one looking to govern.

“We are committed to having a truly unified Republican government, not just in name but we are committed to doing it in practice,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday after his conference met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. “Working hand in glove from the start, during this transition. If we are going to go big, we have got to hit the ground running.”

The priorities for both the incoming administration and Republicans on Capitol Hill are, at least at the outset, in sync, particularly when it comes to repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans are already laying out a framework where they can pass a budget for the current fiscal year — something they failed to do last spring because of intra-party disagreements — and use the procedure of budget reconciliation to dismantle the health-care law in the first weeks of 2017. They could then use a second budget, passed along the regular timeline a few months later, to lay out a replacement for the law.

Because of budget reconciliation rules and Republican majorities in both chambers, they can pass sweeping legislation with just 51 votes in the Senate, bypassing any Democratic opposition. Those budget procedures could also be used for major tax reform packages and, as some Republicans — including Ryan — are beginning to discuss, significant changes to entitlement programs, including Medicare.

They’re also mostly in sync on immigration, with many Republicans lauding Trump’s calls for more border security, although they shy away from the idea that a literal wall on the Mexican border, one of Trump’s most consistent campaign promises, will get built. They’re also calling for Trump to roll back major regulations and executive actions imposed by the Obama administration, and Rep. Mark Meadows (pictured) said his office is helping prepare a list of hundreds of regulations that could be undone.

But this may be a high-water mark for Republican unity. While they are clearly in line on major issues and Ryan, who clashed with Trump during the campaign, is working closely with the incoming leader to bring their agendas together, there are fights ahead that could quickly complicate the realities of governing. Republicans — in deference to Trump — are moving to pass a continuing resolution by Dec. 9 to fund the government at current levels only until March, rather than pass appropriations extending until October 2017. That means that after working to confirm Cabinet appointments, fill a Supreme Court vacancy and undo major Democratic programs, Republicans will face a fight over funding the government and potentially raising the debt ceiling just several months into the new administration. They’re likely to face major opposition from Democrats who, despite some calls to work with Trump on areas of agreement, have been vocal in their frustration with some of his earliest decisions as president-elect.

“Very upbeat, but also very realistic that there’s a tough job ahead,” Rep. Peter King said earlier this week when asked about the mood of House Republicans. “Not euphoria at all.”

Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who criticized Trump during the campaign but has vowed to work with him, said the incoming president might run into significant roadblocks in getting his agenda through Congress despite unified GOP control. Asked if Trump understood the realities of working with Congress, he replied, “I don’t know, but he will soon enough.”

While all Republicans appear to agree that they should move swiftly to repeal Obamacare, disagreements are already surfacing over how quickly to act on a replacement plan. Meadows, a leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he wants a replacement plan to pass within 14 legislative days of repealing the law in early January.

“We’ve been talking about it for four years, so if it’s not a quick time frame, shame on us,” the North Carolina lawmaker said. “We should be prepared to do it.”

Others have laid out a timeline to replace the law next summer or later, after perhaps six to eight months of evaluating options. Rep. Raul Labrador, another Freedom Caucus member, cautioned against moving too quickly to fill the void that will be left after repealing the ACA. He said he expects Republicans to go through a full committee process to evaluate different replacement plans, saying that GOP lawmakers “need to be really careful that we don’t make the same mistakes that the Democrats made, that they ram-rodded something through the House.”

Other major differences could also divide different factions of congressional Republicans and their incoming president. Ryan suggested making changes to Medicare at the same time as replacing the Affordable Care Act, but Trump campaigned on protecting entitlement programs. Meadows, who agreed with Ryan that there needed to be significant changes to save Medicare, said it would take a “herculean effort” to do so at the same time as replacing Obamacare.

And Trump has talked about a massive infrastructure program early in his administration — something Democrats say they are eager to work with him on, hoping to drive a wedge between Trump and Republicans in Congress. Many conservatives are wary about such undertakings unless they are fully paid for, and new infrastructure spending without significant cuts elsewhere or increased taxes could drive up the deficit.

There are also questions about trade, Trump’s most consistent policy position. Though many Republicans came around to share his frustration with NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the campaign, the GOP orthodoxy of supporting free trade agreements is out of step with the president-elect.

“It’s a conversation,” Sen. John Cornyn said when asked this week about such issues. “Nobody gets to set the agenda unilaterally around here because of the separation of powers.”

But despite some of the remaining differences and potential upcoming disagreements, Republicans are projecting a unified front. Most GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill — even those who didn’t support Trump during his campaign — are defending the president-elect against reports of a chaotic start to the transition process, and are speaking in deference to his early administration selections despite overwhelming criticism from Democrats on his more controversial choices.

Republicans have largely avoided speaking out on his appointment of Steve Bannon, the former head of controversial Breitbart News, which has provided a platform for nationalist, anti-immigrant alt-right views. They’ve spoken supportively of some of his early personnel choices, including their colleague Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, despite some Democratic objections.

There has been intra-party opposition, however. Sen. Rand Paul said earlier this week he would likely oppose either former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton from being confirmed as secretary of state, though they are believed to be Trump’s top options for that post.

Sen. David Perdue, a major Trump supporter during the general election, defended the president-elect’s first days transitioning into his administration, calling it a “monumental task.”

“[It’s] like changing a flat tire on a car at 60 miles per hour,” Perdue said. “It’s a daunting task. I think they’re doing a remarkable job.”

Sen. Thom Tillis called for caution when it comes to enacting an agenda early next year, and said the process has to be “methodical.”

“Anybody here who all of the sudden thinks we’re going to do anything at once is either naive or lazy,” Tillis said.

Sen. Jeff Flake, a vocal critic of Trump during the campaign, said, “Give them time,” when asked about some of the early difficulties of Trump’s post-election moves.

“It’s tough under any circumstances to stand up a new administration, but with somebody who came in with very few expecting they would be here at this point, it’s doubly difficult,” Flake said. “Give them time and space. The comments that President-elect Trump made right after the election were heartening, that he was reaching out. And we will take him at his word and hope for the best.”

Asked if Trump should speak out again to reassure the public after negative reports about his transition process, Flake reiterated: “Give him time.”

Congressional GOP and Trump Are in Sync — for Now

James Arkin

Real Clear Politics      November 21, 2016