Jonathan Easley writes at The Hill that conservatives are worried that Trump’s debt and spending deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi this week could start a pattern of caving to the Democrats, including on the issue of immigration:
Trump’s surprise move embarrassed GOP leaders and angered rank-and-file Republicans, but seemingly left him feeling positive.
The president has been frustrated by the GOP Congress’s inability to get things done, and Trump vowed this week that he would have a “different relationship” with lawmakers going forward.
He also said the agreement with Democrats marked a new era of “dialogue” in Washington.
In a Friday morning tweet, Trump tweaked the GOP for failing to act on ObamaCare and urged it to step up its work on tax reform.
Immigration hawks are particularly alarmed by Trump’s rhetoric, worried it could preview a turn on their issue.
[…]
“Selling out to the Democrats on nonimmigration issues isn’t likely to hurt Trump much with his voters, since they hate [Speaker Paul] Ryan [R-Wis] and [Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] even more than he does,” [Mark] Krikorian [executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies] said. “But if he sells out on immigration … then he’ll be in big trouble. The blame will initially rest on Jared and Ivanka, but every day that he doesn’t fire them will move him closer to becoming Amnesty Donald.”
You can read the rest of the story here.