In an essay for August’s issue of the magazine, Yuval Levin argues that the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress are at risk of significant losses in November’s midterm elections not because the president “is uniquely unpopular, or even because its prospects in the midterms are unusually grave,” but because Republicans in Washington are “adrift” when it comes to policy. While the administration has been aggressive in advancing the president’s signature policies, the GOP’s narrow congressional majorities, Levin observes, have been far less effective in codifying those executive actions into legislation.
I disagree with the idea that Trump’s use of executive actions represents a deliberate choice “not to govern through the structure of our system of government.” Still, it is true that Republicans are struggling with voters. Given Congress’s demonstrated inability to legislate, why should conservatives turn out to reelect their Republican congressman? Why does the GOP deserve two more years in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate?
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