With the GOP fundamentally reshaped, the legislative branch is poised to fuel, not fight, Trump's desires should he win

[Celerity]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-gop-lawmakers-are-already-preparing-for-trumps-return



As he campaigns to return to the White House, Donald Trump has nothing but lofty promises for a second term. At rallies and in interviews, Trump has declared he’ll fix the border and radically transform citizenship laws, curb inflation, dramatically increase oil production, enact new trade deals, and protect entitlements—all while somehow cutting taxes. But in the same breath, Trump will often outline an entirely different set of promises for a second term—ones that read more like threats. Vowing to be the “retribution” of his followers and carrying years of political grievances, Trump and his campaign have detailed plans to “dismantle the deep state,” investigate federal law enforcement and prosecutors who have investigated or censored him and his allies, all with flotillas of subpoenas issued promptly to back them up.



Caught in the middle of this split-screen vision for a second Trump term is the institution with the power to make or break his vision: Congress. While there has been close scrutiny of the Trump team’s policy plans and how his allies are mobilizing for January 2025, there has thus far been little attention paid to the role GOP lawmakers might play. Of course, it’s up in the air whether Republicans would have majorities in the House and Senate next year, and it’s entirely possible Democrats control at least one of the chambers, providing a major check on Trump. But without the active support of Republican lawmakers, Trump’s power to reshape the country will be far more limited—just as it was during his first term, when his efforts to undo the Affordable Care Act were stalled and, in general, his worst impulses were reined in by a skeptical congressional GOP.



Now, many of the Republicans who thwarted Trump’s most aggressive priorities are gone, replaced by Trump loyalists. And in surveying Republican lawmakers, aides, and Trumpworld sources to piece together Capitol Hill’s role in a Trump second term, one thing became clear last week: instead of containing Trump, a Republican Congress would march in lockstep behind him in MAGA harmony. Many of these Republicans, for instance, mentioned addressing the border as the top priority and would likely push Trump to make good on his radical immigration promises. Cracking down on immigration, said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), is “the No. 1 issue to the American people.” “Not just to Republicans, it’s a major issue for Democrats too and it shows up in polling,” Greene told The Daily Beast. “It’s something he talks about every single rally, every single press conference, every single speech. He talks about border security.”



But for all that GOP lawmakers talked up their eagerness to move forward with Trump’s agenda on the economy, immigration, and other topics, a great many of them are just as eager—if not more so—to tap into Trump’s grievance agenda. The most important goal of a Trump second term, said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH)—a staunch Trump ally—would be to “prevent the Department of Justice from being weaponized against future American citizens and administrations,” and they would do that without a “partisan spin to it.” “There's going to be a lot going on. I think there’s going to be a pretty aggressive effort to try to curtail some of the abuses of the administrative state, especially the DOJ bureaucracy,” Vance said. “I think all these things can be pretty much on the table.” That vision is widely shared. “A key priority will be reining in the federal bureaucracy that has operated with impunity for far too long,” a senior GOP aide told The Daily Beast. “A Republican House and Senate will be crucial to accomplishing that goal.”

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