NATION/WORLD
Thursday, August 24, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Trump-McConnell feud threatens agenda
WASHINGTON
(AP)
— President Donald Trump
can’t enact his agenda
without Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell may not have
a majority to lead without
Trump’s help. It’s simple,
and still so complicated.
The strangest bedfellows
in Washington are locked in
an increasingly public and
personal feud that defi es
conventional wisdom. The
escalating tension between
the two men is threatening the
GOP’s re-election prospects
and its ability to govern. It
has erupted at a high-stakes
moment for the Republican
Party, which is facing the
prospect of a government
shutdown — and the possi-
bility it may fail to enact any
major legislation during its
fi rst year in complete control
of Washington.
The dispute is a reminder
of the unconventional politics
that have gripped the GOP in
the Trump era. While Trump
and McConnell ostensibly
share the same philosophy,
legislative agenda, voters
and political opponents, they
increasingly act more like
adversaries than allies — a
reminder of just how divisive
the president remains within
his own party.
“He’s
now
actively
attacking people who can
help his agenda,” veteran
Republican operative Doug
Heye said of Trump, who
has mobilized his avid
supporters against GOP
senators since the party’s
embarrassing failure to
overhaul the nation’s health
care system. “It seems to be
really a one-man spiral to the
bottom.”
Divisions have deepened
in recent weeks.
McConnell, like other
leading Republicans, is
particularly upset by Trump’s
consistent attacks against
vulnerable
Republican
senators who need his
help, according to a person
familiar with the Kentucky
Republican’s thinking who
spoke on the condition of
anonymity to share private
conversations. The person
Russian offi cial
says U.S. and
Russia aren’t in
new Cold War
MOSCOW (AP) —
Russia and the United States
aren’t in a new Cold War
despite spiraling tensions,
a senior Russian diplomat
said in remarks released
Wednesday.
Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov denounced
U.S. sanctions against
Russia, but emphasized that
the current tension “isn’t
equivalent to confrontation
that may spill into open
confl ict.” He added,
however, that Russia and the
U.S. need to refresh their
agreements on preventing
incidents at sea and in the
air.
Speaking to Japanese and
Chinese media in remarks
released by his ministry,
Ryabkov said: “I don’t think
that such confrontation is
possible.” He added that
decades of experience
have taught Moscow and
Washington caution.
“I don’t think that we
are in a state of a new Cold
War because there are no
grounds for a Cold War in
the old meaning of the word,
meaning a confrontation
between systems and
ideologies, ideological
rivalry,” Ryabkov said.
Russia-U.S. relations
have plunged to post-Cold
War lows over the Ukrainian
crisis, the war in Syria and
the accusations of Russian
meddling in last year’s U.S.
presidential vote.
Ryabkov said that about
400 Russian entities and
some 200 Russian citizens
have been targeted by
the U.S. sanctions. He
reaffi rmed Moscow’s denial
of interference in the U.S.
election, dismissing the
accusations as “collective
madness.”
He argued that Russia’s
response to the U.S.
sanctions has been “quite
restrained and modest,”
adding that Moscow
doesn’t view relations with
Washington as a zero-sum
game.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
In this June 6 fi le photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell of Ky. listens as President Donald Trump,
speaks in the White House in Washington.
“(Trump) is now actively attacking
people who can help his agenda.”
— Doug Heye, Republican operative
said McConnell questions
whether Trump is capable
of righting his struggling
presidency.
The concerns were exac-
erbated by Trump’s recent
description of some partici-
pants in a white supremacist
rally as “very fi ne people,”
remarks that were broadly
condemned by Republicans
and Democrats.
The intra-party feuding
threatens nearly all of
Trump’s priorities, including
his near-daily campaign trail
pledge to build a wall along
the U.S.-Mexican border.
While Trump threatened
Tuesday to force a federal
shutdown unless Congress
provides funds for the
massive
project,
many
GOP lawmakers, especially
moderates, lack his passion
for the proposal. They may
be harder to win over given
the current rancorous atmo-
sphere.
Republicans who feel
wounded by Trump also
could be less likely to defend
him amid numerous investi-
gations into his campaign’s
ties to Russia. And it could
complicate the task of
rallying Republicans around
complicated tax legislation,
where lawmakers can have
divergent priorities.
“In politics, it’s a mistake
to
personalize
things,
particularly if it’s a member
of your own team,” veteran
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.,
said Wednesday. “The reality
is you’re going to need them
down the road.”
Trump and McConnell
“remain united on many
shared priorities” and they
and other top offi cials will
hold “previously scheduled
meetings” after Congress
returns from its August
recess, White House press
secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said Wednesday in
a statement. She said their
goals include middle-class
tax cuts, building the border
wall and strengthening the
military.
“We have a lot of work
ahead of us, and we are
committed to advancing our
shared agenda together and
anyone who suggests other-
wise is clearly not part of the
conversation,” McConnell
said in his own statement.
Such talks are unlikely
to yield a close relationship
between the two leaders.
At 75 years old, McCo-
nnell is just four years older
than Trump. But he’s spent
decades in Washington
compared with Trump’s
seven months. And stylisti-
cally and substantively, they
are worlds apart.
McConnell, a Kentuckian,
is guarded and gentlemanly,
while Trump fl ashes a New
Yorker’s brash, bombastic
impertinence.
McConnell is an unre-
lenting GOP loyalist who’s
mastered Senate rules and
the legislative process, while
Trump regularly bashes
Republicans and has limited
knowledge of congressional
procedure. McConnell often
seems to think several steps
ahead of others, while Trump
bounces from one subject
to another with little clear
strategic purpose.
The most perplexing of
Trump’s strategies has been
the attacks on sitting Repub-
lican senators when his party
holds control of the Senate
by a narrow margin. Without
his support, the GOP stands
a chance — if somewhat
unlikely — of losing its
Senate majority.
Last week, Trump encour-
aged a former Arizona state
senator to challenge Sen.
Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in a
Republican primary election.
Meanwhile, a super PAC
allied with Trump launched
attack ads against Nevada
Sen. Dean Heller, who is
facing a primary challenge.
On Tuesday, Trump said
his coy refusal to mention
Flake’s name at an Arizona
rally showed “very presiden-
tial” restraint. He abandoned
the restraint by Wednesday,
tweeting that he’s “not a fan
of” Flake, whom he called
“weak on crime & border.”
Publicly and privately,
Republicans tasked with
preserving the GOP’s House
and Senate majorities next
year are outraged.
Some party offi cials, Heye
said, are asking themselves a
diffi cult question: “Is it the
Republican president or the
Republican Senate I want to
protect and work for?”
The divisions are “unprec-
edented,” said Republican
pollster Chris Wilson.
Wilson said it would be
“catastrophic” if Trump and
the Republican-led Congress
fail to enact meaningful
legislation now that they have
total control of Washington.
BRIEFLY
Girl Scouts accuse
Boy Scouts of
recruiting girls
NEW YORK (AP) —
Infl aming a century-old
and mostly cordial rivalry,
the president of the Girl
Scouts of the USA is
accusing the Boy Scouts of
seeking to covertly recruit
girls into their programs
while disparaging the Girl
Scouts’ operations.
“I formally request that
your organization stay
focused on serving the 90
percent of American boys
not currently participating
in Boy Scouts ... and not
consider expanding to
recruit girls,” wrote GSUSA
President Kathy Hopinkah
Hannan in a letter sent this
week to the president of the
Boy Scouts of America.
Sanitary Disposal Transfer
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Elmer’s Irrigation
Jim Purswell’s Pump Co.
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Stratton Insurance Services
Charlottesville covers
Confederate statues
CHARLOTTESVILLE,
Va. (AP) — Workers in
Charlottesville
draped
giant black covers over
two statues of Confederate
generals on Wednesday
to symbolize the city’s
mourning for a woman
killed while protesting a
white nationalist rally.
The work began around
1 p.m. in Emancipation
Park, where a towering
monument of Gen. Robert
E. Lee on horseback stands.
Workers gathered around
the monument with a large
black drape.
Some stood in cher-
ry-pickers and others used
ropes and poles to cover
the statue as onlookers took
photos and video. Some of
the crowd cheered as the
cover was put in place.
“It’s great. It’s a good
start,” said Jamie Dyer, who
spoke a short time later from
nearby Justice Park, where
workers covered a statue of
Gen. Thomas “Stonewall”
Jackson. “They do have
to go, but it is a start, and
I’m glad the city has fi nally
recognized it has to happen
on some level.”
Later Wednesday, local
media reported that a man
with a gun strapped to his
leg approached the Lee
statue and began cutting the
tarp with a knife.
Police asked him to
stop, and he complied.
He addressed reporters
and bystanders, saying he
thought it was illegal under
state law to cover a war
memorial and that doing so
amounted to erasing history.
In front of TV cameras,
the man started arguing
with others at the scene
over what should be done
with the statues and who
was at fault for the violence
that unfolded at the Aug. 12
rally.
The decision to shroud
the statues came at a city
council meeting earlier
this week. Irate residents
packed
the
meeting,
screaming and cursing at
councilors over the city’s
response to the rally. The
event, dubbed “Unite the
Right,” is believed to be the
largest gathering of white
nationalists in a decade.
Neo-Nazis,
KKK
members, skinheads and
members of various white
nationalist factions clashed
violently with counter-pro-
testers in the street adjacent
to Emancipation Park.
The fi ghting went on
largely uninterrupted by
authorities until the event
was declared an unlawful
assembly and the crowd
was forced to disperse.
Later, a car rammed into
a crowd of demonstrators
who
were
marching
through downtown, killing
32-year-old Heather Heyer
and injuring more than two
dozen others.
- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY -
Top leaders of the
two youth organizations,
both struggling to stem
membership declines,
conferred this month
about possibilities for
coordination. But Hopinkah
Hannan said she came away
from that discussion feeling
the Boy Scouts had already
committed to an expansion
of coed programs that would
damage the Girl Scouts.
Thank you to
Hermiston High School’s
Project Graduation
Celebration
Sponsors & Donors
Sound Advantage Hearing
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Fred J Allen
Preferred Realty
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Attorneys
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Reef Properties
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Carolleen Lovell, CPA
Universal Realty
Midway Tavern
Park Terrace Townhouses
Mr. Insulation
Oregon Trail Veterinary
Clinic
A-Plus Connectors
Dr. Irwin DMD
Fourth Street Family Dental
Pioneer Title Insurance Co.
Best Western Hermiston
Hermiston Vet Clinic
Community Bank
AP Photo/Steve Helber
City workers drape a tarp over the statue of Confed-
erate General Robert E. Lee in Emancipation park in
Charlottesville, Va., Wednesday.
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East Oregonian
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... and to all the parents and other
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our party a huge success we say,
“ THANK YOU!”
HHS Project Graduation Committee
& HHS Class of 2017