How Are Republicans Doing in Advancing Their Agenda?

Contributed by Alexis Chapman

Republicans have been in power in the White House and Senate continuously since 2017 and also controlled the House during 2017 and 2018. As 2020 approaches, how should voters assess their success or failure in implementing their 2016 platform? Let’s provide a quick review.

The 2016 Republican Platform is, according to its preamble, “A handbook for returning decision-making to the people. A guide to the constitutional rights of every American. And a manual for the kind of sustained growth that will bring opportunity to all those on the sidelines of our society.” It is divided into six sections; progress on each is scored below.

Restoring the American Dream

This section focuses on economic goals, including tax reduction, trade negotiation, and debt reduction. President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts reformed the tax system and led to lower taxes for many. Efforts on other parts of this section are debatable; the renegotiation of NAFTA and the trade war with China are incomplete and have had negative consequences for many Americans. There has been no progress on reducing the federal debt, as total federal debt now exceeds $22 trillion.

Rebirth of a Constitutional Government

The Republican interpretation of the Constitution is detailed here, with emphasis on presidential overreach, gun rights, marriage, and abortion. Again, the party’s success is mixed. They have made no serious attempt to ban same-sex marriage. While certain states have succeeded in making abortion functionally illegal, federal lawmakers have not changed any laws protecting a woman’s federally protected right to choose. Republicans have been successful in ensuring that Americans continue to have easy access to guns. In the area of presidential overreach, Trump has issued slightly more executive orders than other recent presidents; some have been held up by courts, while others have been blocked.

America’s Natural Resources: Agriculture, Energy, and the Environment

Promoting agriculture, energy production, rebalancing the priority of job creation over the environment, and skepticism of climate change are the focus here. While there were agricultural protections in the Republican-supported Farm Bill, Republicans have also advised the president that the trade war with China has been “very tough on American agriculture.” The administration has been successful in encouraging increased energy and related job creation at the expense of the environment by expanding drilling on federal land, fast-tracking pipeline approvals, rolling back the Clean Power Plan, and rescinding over 300 EPA regulations. The president has also made good on his promise to withdraw from the Paris Accord and ignore climate change.

Government Reform

This section deals with improving several functions of government, such as balancing the budget, reducing regulation, entitlement and immigration reform, advancing term limits, and statehood for Puerto Rico. Deregulation is an area where Republicans have excelled. Although “the wall” remains unbuilt, immigration is another sector where the Republicans have had some success in advancing their agenda. In keeping with the platform, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid remain intact but unreformed. No serious effort has been made to impose term limits, and the federal budget remains in deficit. A bipartisan bill to enable Puerto Rican statehood was introduced this March, but has not moved.

Great American Families, Education, Healthcare, and Criminal Justice

This portion details the Republican interpretation of “American Values,” which includes banning same-sex marriage, work requirements for government aid, education goals, repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), prison reform, and combatting drug abuse. Republicans have failed to repeal and replace the ACA. Attempts to include work requirements for SNAP (food stamps) also failed, though the USDA just created administrative regulations to accomplish that. There has been a noticeable push for school choice from the administration, significant prison reform legislation was passed, and there have been concrete attempts to address the opioid epidemic.

America Resurgent

Defense and international relations goals are outlined here, including increases in defense spending, support for Israel, reform of NATO, and improving conditions for veterans. Some have been met, such as supporting Israel, increased military spending, and pressure on NATO nations to increase their spending. Others have not, like US leadership in Asia Pacific and investing in Africa, and veterans still do not appear to be receiving the support they need. Whether the situation in the Middle East has improved is debatable; renewed peace talks in Afghanistan were announced recently, but the US has been criticized for its role in the war in Yemen and for the abandonment of Kurdish allies in Syria. Relationships with other allies have been strained by the administration.

While there have been several notable Republican successes, there are at least as many misses, including several goals against which there has been no apparent effort. Understanding this scorecard will provide an informative framework for considering the upcoming 2020 platform and campaign.

Alexis Chapman is a freelance political consultant and writer. She holds a Master of International Studies Degree from the Government Department of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Sydney, and a Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Green Mountain College. Alexis specializes in policy analysis, strategic policy analysis, and food legislation at the local, state, national, and international level.