GOP/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Republicans are finally reaching their breaking point with President Donald Trump on trade. One faction of GOP senators is pushing Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-Tenn.) legislation that would allow Congress to block Trump’s tariffs — which Trump is trying to kill before it comes to the Senate floor. Another group is holding private meetings with Trump, hoping they can convince him via backchannel negotiations to back off a brewing trade war with U.S. allies before Congress steps in. However this episode ends, Trump’s decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico, Canada and Europe has brought a long-simmering conflict with congressional Republicans to a head. And the party is now fretting that Trump’s policies could hurt the economy and divide the GOP just five months before the midterm elections. Most Republicans agree with Johnson and Corker that the tariffs hitting allies are too broad…But there is a sharp split in the caucus over whether to antagonize the president, and some congressional Republicans could back off if Trump throws them a bone by exempting Canada for now. They think it would counterproductive to attach Corker’s bill as an amendment to the national defense bill, which could halt the must-pass legislation and undermine Trump’s negotiating position while he tries to forge a new NAFTA deal.”
-Burgess Everett, ” Republicans wage trade war against Trump,” Politico, June 6, 2018 1:05 pm