In a conference room near his office last Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan gave conservative activists some unwelcome news: He wanted the Senate, House and White House on the same page before a tax reform bill was introduced, according to people present — and that would likely be after Labor Day.
Senate Republicans are also nowhere near a solution on health care legislation, according to senators and several people familiar with their talks. “I don’t see a comprehensive health care plan this year,” Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, said Thursday in a local TV interview.
As for the promised $1 trillion infrastructure plan, the president’s aides have begun talking about shaping a proposal, but that is “a ways off,” one senior White House official said.
In other words, as the special prosecutor probe into potential Russian collusion heats up, White House officials fear it could be a long, hot summer — with few tangible accomplishments to tout. And they worry how an antsy president, who wants things done immediately and has a rudimentary understanding of the legislative process, will handle it — particularly if the investigation dominates news media coverage.
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