White House Pushes Trump Priorities Before Congressional Recess
Fred Lucas /
As some Republicans in Congress are calling on leadership to allow the legislative branch to work through the August recess, the White House touted President Donald Trump’s priorities that Congress should move on.
“We’ll go as quick as Congress wants,” @PressSec says.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer deferred to congressional leadership on scheduling, in response to a question from The Daily Signal about scrapping or shortening the August recess.
“That’s going to be up to the House and the Senate to determine their recess,” Spicer told The Daily Signal during a press briefing Tuesday. “Generally, we don’t get involved in their schedule. I’ll let Speaker [Paul] Ryan and Leader [Mitch] McConnell decide what’s appropriate.”
The Daily Signal followed by asking Spicer if Trump is satisfied with the pace of Congress on issues such as repealing Obamacare and tax reform.
“If we continue to move forward with health care, the way we’ve been told we’re going to, I think we’re great,” Spicer said. “We’ve got our priorities. We want to get health care done. We want to get tax reform done. And obviously, the president has spoken very extensively about infrastructure. If we can get those done, I think we feel really good.”
Pressed further on a timeline, Spicer said, “We’ll go as quick as Congress wants.”
“That’s a little out of our hands. But it’s—as soon as Congress can do it, we’ll do what we can,” Spicer said. “When the House had its bill up, the president worked feverishly to make sure that he did everything he could to get it over the finish line. I think we’ll do the same for all those other scenarios as well.”
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and the caucus support working through the August recess.
The @freedomcaucus is calling on #Congress to work through the August recess and ensure that we follow through on our promises. pic.twitter.com/B2n4ABClYS
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) June 13, 2017
Also, Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Steve Daines of Montana have called on McConnell to keep the Senate in session, The Hill reported.