“Everything else he’s done [in office] has been a complete disaster,” Boehner said during a question-and-answer session at a conference in Houston on Wednesday. “He’s still learning how to be president.”
.. Boehner praised the president for his handling of international affairs and foreign policy, especially his aggressive stance toward the Islamic State... Talk of tax reform, another legislative priority for Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, is just “happy talk,” Boehner said. “I was a little more optimistic about it early in the year; now my odds are 60/40.”
Why is Jason Chaffetz suddenly retiring from Congress? One word: Ambition.
So why is Chaffetz doing so?
The most likely answer, theorize Republican strategists watching this play out, is that Chaffetz is just bored with his job. His job as chairman of the oversight panel is to investigate the government, and it probably would have been a lot more fun for this tea party-leaning Republican to investigate Hillary Clinton’s government than President Trump’s.
.. After Trump was inaugurated, Chaffetz rather provocatively suggested that he planned to remain a national figure because of Clinton, not Trump. That hasn’t really materialized now that Congress is investigating Trump’s potential ties to Russia.
.. And in a town full of overly ambitious people, he is especially known for dripping with ambition.
.. Josh Romney, Mitt Romney’s son, said he’s “strongly considering” running, but that wouldn’t preclude Chaffetz from jumping in.
.. maybe he just decided that his name recognition was high enough to do it from the private sector (where in-the-know members of Congress can make millions)
.. Chaffetz’s district isn’t going to suddenly be competitive for Democrats. It’s one of the most Republican districts in the nation.
.. Chaffetz has never been a traditional politician. He makes political calculations slightly differently than the average lawmaker, and he doesn’t really care if he raises eyebrows doing so.
.. Chaffetz famously set a modern record of flip-flopping on Trump.
.. When John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) resigned last year as House speaker, Chaffetz announced a run for speaker. (He dropped out after Rep. Paul D. Ryan entered the race.)
.. But Chaffetz has clearly decided that speaker is no longer a job he wants.
Donald Trump Gets Rare Bipartisan Backing for Syria Strike
WASHINGTON—For the first time since his inauguration, Donald Trump is being treated like a conventional president.
.. “In the short run, this will clearly benefit him politically,” said Karl Rove, the top political aide to President George W. Bush. “It will cause people to look at him differently, and it will cause our adversaries to see us differently.”
.. Democrats who have stridently opposed Mr. Trump’s agenda praised the airstrikes.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called it “the right thing to do.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California called the military response “a limited, and I think an important strike, and it accomplished its purpose and sent a message.”
.. Large numbers of Republicans have reversed their position on congressional approval for Syrian airstrikes since then-President Barack Obama weighed attacking the country in 2013.At the time, Republicans such as then-House Speaker John Boehner insisted Mr. Obama lay out a fuller plan for action in Syria before launching airstrikes after the Assad regime carried out a suspected chemical attack in Damascus. Scores of Republicans said they would oppose an authorization for the use of military force. No vote was taken... Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch also praised Mr. Trump’s action, though in 2013 he said he had “strong reservations” about authorizing force against Syria.
.. Mr. Rove said Mr. Trump would lose any newfound political goodwill if he didn’t articulate his foreign-policy philosophy “within days.”
.. “He told us he would be the president of America, not ‘the world,’ ” Ann Coulter wrote on Twitter.
.. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said the airstrikes are “illegal, and they’re unconstitutional.” Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), the lone member of Congress to vote against the post-9/11 authorization to use force against Afghanistan, said the airstrikes represent “a dangerous military escalation into the Syrian civil war and are without legal justification.”
.. “It makes people question: If a photo of an incident that has occurred in another nation causes the president to drop 50 or more cruise missiles, is that a real well thought-out strategy, or is this an emotional reaction?”
Former Speaker Boehner: Obamacare Repeal and Replace Won’t Happen
“In the 25 years I served in the United States Congress, Republicans never, ever, one time, agreed on what a healthcare proposal should look like. Not once,”
.. “They’ll fix Obamacare. I shouldn’t call it repeal and replace because that’s not what’s going to happen. They’re basically going to fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it.”