President Barack Obama's deal for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his executive order on power plant emissions are eroding trust further among congressional Republicans, making it unlikely that other proposals will go forward this year,
The New York Times reported.
"Clearly, the president’s own actions on a range of issues continue to undermine the American people’s trust in him," Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the Times.
Boehner has said that he wants to advance immigration reform, but conservative House Republicans do not trust Obama to enforce new restrictions that could come as a compromise.
On Tuesday, Boehner said
in a statement that the trade of five Taliban prisoners for Bergdahl has "has invited serious questions into how this exchange went down and the calculations the White House and relevant agencies made in moving forward without consulting Congress, despite assurances it would re-engage with members on both sides of the aisle."
New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, who has been discussing immigration policy with Republicans, said, according to the Times, that Democrats can "meet their objections completely and totally by setting the first day of implementation as Jan. 20, 2017, and President Obama will have nothing to do with implementation."
Schumer said an immigration overhaul should not be delayed because of trust issues, and that the Republicans "excuse" should not stand in the way.
In addition, Democrats are threatening House Republicans with another possibility: that Obama could use his executive power to reduce the number of deportations, the Times reported.
Democrats are also dismayed by Obama's failure to notify Congress about the deal for Bergdahl,
The White House
has apologized to some lawmakers about its "oversight" in contacting them.
Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that she received one of the apology calls from Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken.
"It’s very disappointing that there was not a level of trust sufficient to justify alerting us," the California Democrat said,
according to Politico. "The White House is pretty unilateral about what they want to do, and when they want to do it. But I think the notification to us is important."
While Republicans are angered over the Obama administration's use of executive power on healthcare, the environment, and other policies, however, many Democrats appear happy with the growing trend.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a statement urging supporters to get behind Obama on his new emissions regulations, declaring that "climate change-denying Republicans have met their match," according to the Times.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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