Even for House Republicans this is unhinged
We are about a month into Donald Trump’s new term, and Republicans are hard at work — proving they care far more about the man-child’s ego and the interests of big business than the middle class. Two recent developments exemplify this well, and they serve as yet another reminder of the warped priorities of the current majority party in the United States.
New York Rep. Claudia Tenney recently introduced a bill called Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act, aiming to merge Flag Day with a new federal holiday to honor Trump’s birthday each year on June 14. Calling Trump “the most consequential President in modern American history” and exclaiming that “his impact on the nation is undeniable” in a press release, Tenney will no doubt score points with Trump, even though her bill will probably go nowhere fast. Introduced so early in Trump’s term, the high level of sycophancy underlines the fact that the GOP is a full-blown personality cult. In fact, this story seems so outlandish on its face that Snopes published a fact check on Monday confirming its veracity.
Congressional Republicans are also taking steps to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Overdraft Rule, which protects consumers from predatory bank fees. Under President Joe Biden’s leadership, the CFPB since December had been planning to limit overdraft fees to $5. This cap would save families hundreds of dollars per year. However, Republicans now seek to reverse these protections so that banks could again charge as much as $35 in overdraft fees, according to reporting from Politico. This would add an estimated $5 billion to the banks’ bottom line, rather than offer that level of assistance to low-income and middle-class Americans who need it.
This is what happens when a political party aims to please one man while figuring out ways to tip the scale in favor of the powerful entities that support him, rather than address constituents’ needs. Although they may insist to the contrary, the fact is that neither Trump nor the Republican Party is here to help everyday Americans.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month