It turns out that the president of the United States reportedly is angry that two of his “key advisers” were absent during the run-up to the historic non-vote on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Donald J. Trump is none too happy about it at that!
The advisers? Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Where were they? They were on a ski vacation. They were absent from the negotiation that took place between Daddy POTUS and his new best friend, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and those stubborn House of Representatives conservatives who torpedoed the legislation.
Here is the Big Question: What on Earth could either of these individuals have done to persuade balky congressmen and women to change their votes? Must anyone remind the president that Ivanka and Jared are political novices, as is the president of the United States himself?
There. I just did remind him. Not that he’ll even see this gentle rhetorical jab, let alone take it to heart.
Ivanka has just acquired a West Wing office, where she’ll work as a sort of unofficial adviser with no specific job description; nor will she draw a federal salary. Kushner already is the president’s point man on U.S.-Israel relations and reportedly plans to play a key role in searching for a comprehensiveĀ peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Are either of them skilled political operatives? Are they experts on health care, on the ACA or on the failed bill to replace it, the American Health Care Act? Do they even have any relationships with congressional naysayers? Umm. Nope.
What could they have done to affect the outcome? Maybe it’s just me, but my hunch is that it would have beenĀ not a damn thing!
So, they took a trip to the mountains to ski and enjoy each other’s company.
Dad didn’t need their “help” in scuttling this bill. He and the speaker did a fine job of it all by themselves.
Oh! And that’s a good thing.