CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Monday that given the current makeup of the Republican Party, President-elect Donald Trump will likely be able to pass the bill easily.
Republicans regained control of the Senate in November’s elections, maintained their majority in the House of Representatives, and secured unified control of the federal government for the first two years of President Trump’s upcoming second term. Enten said on CNN News Central that the fact that most of the Republicans who voted to impeach or convict Trump are no longer in Congress suggests the president-elect can accomplish his legislative agenda. (Related article: Bernie Moreno defeats longtime Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio showdown)
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“This is Donald Trump’s party, and in his words, his Republican opponents can cry if they want to.” [deceased singer] Leslie Gore. Look, “Republicans voted to impeach or convict Trump.” “If you go back to January or February of 2021, there were 17 Republicans,” Enten said. “They’re adios amigos, goodbye, see you later most of the time. Only five of them are left in Congress right now. Only two at home. Three in the Senate.”
“Here’s the bottom line: Mr. Trump used to have great control over the Republican Party, and now he has even more control. There are still very few Republicans in Congress who dislike Donald Trump,” he said. continued. “He should be able to force a vote, at least on bills that require Republican votes.”
CNN anchor Sarah Sydner asked Enten how Republican voters feel about Trump right now.
“This is basically the same as what we see in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Now, Republicans on the Trump transition. Go back to January 2017. 80% approved. That’s not bad, but. Well, that’s kind of you. Look where we are now. 96%,” the data reporter replied. “So basically you can’t get anything more universal than 96%. The number of people who disagree would have been 10% in January 2017.”
“Okay, now we’re down to just four… So look, there’s no Republican opposition in the United States Congress. There are almost no Republican voters,” he continued. “This is Trump’s party. [Republican Utah Sen.] Mitt Romney is 100% right about that. People like Romney really don’t exist in Republican districts or in Congress anymore. ”
Romney, a longtime critic of President Trump, praised the president-elect’s success in transforming the Republican Party with his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party of today. If you ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, I think it will be [Vice President-elect] J.D. Vance,” Romney said. “He’s smart. He’s well-spoken. He’s part of the MAGA movement.”
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