Trump vs House Republican RightwingNuts…..

Punchbowl News: “To be clear, the HFC is home to some of the Trumpiest members in Washington. Hardline conservatives were only willing to back Mike Johnson for speaker — who they still have reservations about — out of deference to Trump. It took a phone call from the incoming president to flip the remaining two Freedom Caucus holdouts, Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX), into Johnson’s column. Trump should be able to count on the conservative crew to fall in line on nearly all issues.”

“Yet the HFC, which built its brand on being a thorn in the side of House GOP leaders, has also been willing to defy Trump at times. For instance, 38 Republicans, many of them Freedom Caucus members, voted against a Trump-endorsed CR in December that would have also lifted the debt limit because it lacked spending cuts.”

“So it’s clear these hardliners are sometimes comfortable banding together and bucking Trump — at least when they have strength in numbers.”

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“Republicans are publicly and privately acknowledging the enormous task ahead in tying together a sprawling package that includes new immigration laws, energy policies and a complex tax overhaul – along with an increase of the national debt limit and spending cuts to federal programs,” CNN reports.

“Plus, they’ll have to maintain near total unanimity in a narrowly divided Congress, especially in the unruly House where Republicans are already expressing competing views on what the policy should entail.”

“On top of that, the Senate’s complex budget rules could rein in some of the GOP’s most ambitious agenda items, all as Republican leaders in both chambers are already divided over whether to pursue Trump’s agenda as one big bill or divide it up into two smaller ones.”