Democratic Party Senators confirmed they had heard from Donald Trump, who had surprisingly reached out to party members to discuss the affordability crisis.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer have both been in touch with the president, who, Politico reports, reached out to the leading Dem representatives earlier this week. It may mean a mood change in the White House as one official suggested there is a consensus that could be reached between Dems and the Republican Party on housing and drug prices.
Alex Gangitano wrote, "For a president who wants his party to retain control of Congress, it’s a striking – even unexpected – level of outreach to some of the most liberal members on the opposing side. It comes as both parties compete for the mantle of affordability."
Part of the reason for Trump reaching out to Schumer and Warren, the latter saying she "did not recognize the phone number" when the president called, could be to make headway before the midterms.
An anonymous White House official said, "A lot of these proposals have, in part, been put forward by Democrats." They went on to suggest the affordability actions Trump had been in contact with Dem reps about were "more populist-inflected than some of the more classic proposals that had been worked on."
They also noted "pretty marquee issues where the perspective of more standard old-school Republican orthodoxy is not necessarily in step with where Republican voters are" could be worked on between Dems and the GOP.
"Some of these are issues where the Washington GOP consensus and the GOP base consensus are divergent," the source added.
Gangitano added, "While Trump’s outreach is new, enacting policy changes would require a dramatic reversal in the president’s ability to work with Democrats on Capitol Hill.
"During much of his first term as well as last year, that relationship has been deeply toxic — a government funding meeting last year prompted Trump to post a deepfake of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero — and, until now, neither side has shown any appetite to make amends."
But Trump's sudden call to Warren to ask about capping credit card interest rates, a project Warren had been working on for years, is a shift in the Dems' favor. Warren added, "Congress can pass legislation to cap credit card rates if he [Trump] will actually fight for it."