WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday to ensure they’re aligned on their agenda at the start of a critical midterm election year that could alter the course of his final two years in office.
Watch President Donald Trump’s remarks in our video player above.
The Republicans are facing a sudden narrowing of their already-thin majority, with the death of California Rep. Doug LaMalfa, announced Tuesday, and the resignation of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which took effect at midnight.
“You can’t be tough when you have a majority of three, and now, sadly, a little bit less than that,” Trump said to the assembled House Republicans after paying tribute to LaMalfa, noting the challenges that House Speaker Mike Johnson faces in keeping their ranks unified. The president also noted that Rep. Jim Baird, R-Wis., is recovering from a “bad” car accident, further slimming Johnson’s vote margins.
House Republicans are convening as they launch their new year agenda, with health care issues in particular dogging the GOP heading into the midterm elections. Votes on extending expired health insurance subsidies are expected as soon as this week, and it’s unclear whether the president and the party will try to block its passage.
GOP lawmakers are hosting a daylong policy forum at the Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue on the other side of Washington from the Capitol. Its board, which is stacked with Trump loyalists, recently voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, though that move is being challenged in court.
Trump and Johnson are trying to corral Republican lawmakers at a time when rank-and-file lawmakers have felt increasingly emboldened enough to buck Trump and the leadership’s wishes, such as on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The meeting also comes after the Trump administration’s dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, which occurred after a monthslong U.S. campaign to pressure the now-deposed leader by building up American forces in the waters off South America and bombing boats alleged to have been carrying drugs.
The Maduro capture is reigniting the debate about Trump’s powers over Congress to authorize the campaign against Venezuela, though House Republican lawmakers have largely been supportive of the administration’s efforts there.
Among the topics likely to be discussed on Tuesday are promoting and implementing the GOP’s marquee tax-and-border legislation, as well as a broader affordability agenda and midterm politics, according to a Republican official who was involved in the planning of the meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss it. The White House and the GOP are aware they are confronting the traditional headwinds against the party of the president in a midterm year.
“You can win (the presidency) by a lot … but they say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterms,” Trump said to GOP lawmakers Tuesday morning. “I wish you could explain to me what the hell is going on with the mind of the public.”
Republicans are also mulling a potential second tax bill that could be passed with just party line votes while confronting the possibility of a potential partial government shutdown at the end of the month.
It is unclear why House Republicans chose the Kennedy Center venue for their off-campus session. House GOP meetings are generally held in the Capitol or a nearby site off campus if they are discussing political matters. The speaker’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.
AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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