Trump has 'emasculated' Senate Republicans so much that they're too scared to govern: Ex-GOP staffer

The United States at the moment is beset by multiple crises including a deadly pandemic, high unemployment, and even service disruptions to the United States Postal Service.

Despite this, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has sent the Senate home until September without any deal to provide relief and support to struggling Americans.

In an interview with Vox's Ezra Klein, a Senate Republican staffer admitted that many GOP senators are more interested in positioning themselves for a presidential run in four years than they are in solving the country's pressing problems.

"You have a whole bunch of people in the Senate posturing for 2024 rather than governing for the crisis we’re in," the staffer explained.

Another aide similarly tells Klein that the GOP at the moment has no legislative agenda other than confirming right-wing judges.

"There hasn’t been a coherent GOP policy on anything for almost five years now," they said. "Other than judges, I don’t think you can point to any united policy priorities."

And Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who previously worked as Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) chief economist, tells Klein that the congressional GOP lives in complete fear of contradicting Trump.

"A lot of the Republicans I talk to seem almost emasculated by the White House," he says. "The president will do what he’s going to do. Any strategy they come up with will be undermined tomorrow by a tweet. Their fate is tied to a president they can’t control or even influence."