FIVE POINTS: The Three Phases of the 115th Congress
mattglassman.substack.com
1. The third phase of the 115th Congress is almost upon us. My broad take on the 115th Congress is that it will ultimately have three phases. The first phase was the partisan phase, in which the GOP took advantage of the unified government that emerged from the 2016 election and attempted to pass major legislation that reflected longstanding party priorities, namely the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. With each of those policies---tax reform and health care reform---leadership could have pursued a bipartisan approach, but instead chose to use the budget reconciliation process in an attempt to pass party-line legislation. That's a totally reasonable strategy for a unified government, perhaps even one demanded by their wider party network, and also well in line with how previous recent unified governments have operated (such as the Democrats in 2009-2010). This phase ran from the beginning of the 115th through the end of 2017.
FIVE POINTS: The Three Phases of the 115th Congress
FIVE POINTS: The Three Phases of the 115th…
FIVE POINTS: The Three Phases of the 115th Congress
1. The third phase of the 115th Congress is almost upon us. My broad take on the 115th Congress is that it will ultimately have three phases. The first phase was the partisan phase, in which the GOP took advantage of the unified government that emerged from the 2016 election and attempted to pass major legislation that reflected longstanding party priorities, namely the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. With each of those policies---tax reform and health care reform---leadership could have pursued a bipartisan approach, but instead chose to use the budget reconciliation process in an attempt to pass party-line legislation. That's a totally reasonable strategy for a unified government, perhaps even one demanded by their wider party network, and also well in line with how previous recent unified governments have operated (such as the Democrats in 2009-2010). This phase ran from the beginning of the 115th through the end of 2017.