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This article first appeared on The Daily Signal.

When the 115th Congress arrived January 3, the majority had an ambitious agenda. With Republicans in control of the House and Senate, and soon the White House, it was the first time in 10 years they could advance their policy agenda unobstructed by Democrats.

Yet a month later, the GOP-led Congress has produced just three bills for President Donald Trump to sign: a waiver allowing retired Marine GeneralJames Mattis to serve as defense secretary, a joint resolution repealing the Obama administrations stream protection rule and another resolution reversing a Securities and Exchange Commission rule pertaining to energy companies.

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Republicans have delayed action on campaign promises such as repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood.

In the Senate, Republicans are struggling to overcome Democrat delays in confirming Trumps Cabinet nominees.

Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) during a luncheon at the Congress of Tomorrow Republican Member Retreat January 26, 2017 in Philadelphia. Rachel del Guidice writes that there is growing frustration among conservatives that the GOP isnt moving quickly enough to capitalize on Trumps first 100 days and the limited window of opportunity in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said those delays have made the Senates job unnecessarily difficult. In a statement provided to The Daily Signal, the Kentucky Republican said:

Democrat obstruction has reached such extreme levels that the smallest number of Cabinet officials have been confirmed in modern history at this point in a presidency. Its a historic break in tradition, a departure from how newly elected presidents of both parties have been treated in decades past.

The result is growing frustration among conservatives that the GOP isnt moving quickly enough to capitalize on Trumps first 100 days and the limited window of opportunity in Washington.

Related: Trump's National Security Handover Chaotic, Officials Say

This week, for instance, the House will work just two days due to a Democrat retreat. Last month, Republicans decamped for three days for their own retreat in Philadelphia.

Last year, when House Speaker Paul Ryan outlined his A Better Way agenda, the Wisconsin Republican billed it as the GOPs blueprint for the coming year.

This is our game plan for 2017, Ryan told reporters in October.

A month later, after Trumps victory in November, a jubilant Ryan boasted about the forthcoming dawn of a new unified Republican government.

If we are going to put our country back on the right track, we have got to be bold and we have to go big. This country is expecting absolutely no less, Ryan said in November. We want to make sure we hit the ground running in January, so we can deliver on the new presidents agenda.

In December, Ryan told CBS Newss 60 Minutes that the first bill were going to be working on is our Obamacare legislation.

And while the House took the first step January 13 by approving a resolution establishing the framework for repeal, lawmakers missed their January 27 deadline to draft the Obamacare repeal legislation.

A senior congressional aide told The Daily Signal that Republicans are determined to provide Obamacare relief for struggling Americans.

The Senate began consideration the first day of the new congressional session, the aide said of the drive to repeal and replace Obamacare, adding:

After [the Senate passed] that resolution, which is the start of the repeal process, the House passed the resolution immediately upon receiving it. House committees are now writing the reconciliation [bill] to repeal and potentially even include some replace.

Ryan also said defunding Planned Parenthood would be included in the budget reconciliation package, just as it was in a 2015 bill the Republicans passed and President Barack Obama vetoed early in 2016.

The latest timeline, according an internal House schedule leaked last week, suggests the reconciliation bill could be considered in Marchalthough it could slip until April.

Congresss lack of progress on the Obamacare repeal and Planned Parenthood defunding stand in contrast to the activity of the 111th Congress during Obamas first weeks in office.

In 2009, Obama signed into law three significant bills passed by the Democrat-led Congress. They included the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion economic stimulus package; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which proponents said would end pay discrimination against women; and the Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, which provided states with new funding and programming for childrens health care coverage through Medicaid.

Congress introduced each bill either right before or soon after Obama was sworn into office; Obama signed them within his first 36 days.

Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter bill January 27, the childrens health bill February4and the stimulus package February 13.

So far in the 115th Congress, lawmakers passed the Mattis waiver, approved a resolution undoing requirements for coal mining operations, and approved another resolution loosening restrictions on the extraction of natural resources.

In his first two weeks as president, Trump has kept busy despite the lack of congressional activity. He signed eight executive orders, including one that begins the process of dismantling Obamacare.

The budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress in 2015 repealed Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood. Although that bill could not repeal the entirety of Obamacare due to Senate rules, it could dismantle a large portion.

Rachel Bovard, a former Senate aide who is director of policy services at The Heritage Foundation, said Congress could have presented a repeal bill to Trump on January20, the day he took the oath of office.

Congress has been a disappointment so far, considering the fact that there is unified control of the government, Bovard told The Daily Signal. Congress could have had an Obamacare repeal bill on Trumps desk at 12:01 p.m. on Inauguration Day, especially if theyd used the 2015 repeal bill that passed both Houses.

There is no excuse for the lack of action, she added. And, indeed, by delaying it, theyve allowed the debate to get muddled, slowed the momentum considerably, and in doing so made the task that much harder.

With midterm elections coming November6, 2018, some conservatives argue that Republicans have no place to hide.

The Washington, D.C., Republicans are out of excuses, Drew Ryun, national director of the Madison Project, a conservative political action committee, said in an email to The Daily Signal. Ryun added:

There are no more electoral goal posts to move. They have the House, the Senateand with Trump in the White House. For years they have campaigned on the promises of repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately for them, their inaction is proving two things: They may really be a party without ideas as well as one that pays lip service to its base with no intent of action. This is a dangerous position for them to be in, with midterms just around the corner.

Rachel del Guidice is a reporter for The Daily Signal.

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Democrats Reduce Republican Reforms to a Trickle - Newsweek

Rich McKinless, a card-carrying Republican who voted for neither Hillary nor Bill Clinton, nor Barack Obama, has made a habit of opening his doors to those in need of shelter. And, of late, that group often has included Muslim refugees.

"My parents are no bleeding-heart liberals. You will not find them protesting at Dulles (airport)," she wrote. "But they are Christians, and they love the United States."

Also joining Baldwin on "CNN Newsroom," the younger McKinless offered a glimpse into what she described as an enriched upbringing.

"I learned welcoming the stranger is not a burden. It's really a joy, an opportunity to learn about people who are differentfrom you and to create lifelong friendships."

Within his Manassas community, which lies roughly 30 miles west of Washington, D.C., McKinless notes that he's been met with nothing short of support from neighbors and friends alike.

"Everybody saw it as an opportunity to jump in and welcome new Americans," he said.

Though the McKinless family has made a practice of hosting those needing refuge for years, it was Ashley's article and video -- published online last week in response to the President's executive order barring travel for people from certain countries -- that shined a light on their own open-door policy.

Writing about her time living at home, Ashley noted that she could "scarcely remember a time growing up when we did not have a cousin or a friend of a friend or a complete stranger living in the guest room."

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Republican family opens home to Muslims seeking refuge - CNN

On Feb. 1, Priority Healthcare Group sealed the deal to buy the license to operate Golden LivingCenter-York Terrace in Pottsville, Michael Fragin, a spokesman for Priority Healthcare, said Monday. Priority Healthcare, Long Island, New York, bought the rig (read more)

NEW PHILADELPHIA Still waiting for word that financing for the Blythe Recycling And Demolition Site has been secured, the Blythe Township Solid Waste Authority voted Monday to start research on insurances. So that everything is done in an orderly fashi (read more)

Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill S. Jackson Street To Gerard and Angela Hughes Higgins, Mount Carmel, a daughter, Jan. 17. To Jaime Falu and Bridgette Normando, Pottsville, a daughter, Jan. 28. Pinnacle Health, Harrisburg To Joshua and Angela Cairns Choa (read more)

Deeds Pine Grove Frederick M. and Kristin A. Hinchman to Susan Monasco; 14 E. Pottsville St.; $1. (read more)

Enjoy a selection of some of our staff photographers' favorite photos from 2016. (read more)

As we did two years ago for the World War II veterans and last year with Korean War veterans, we have assembled stories, photographs and facts about local veterans of the Vietnam War that can be saved as a piece of our history. (read more)

Click to see the latest edition of Schuylkill Living Magazine. (read more)

Our copy Editor Katie Campomizzi-Clews explores the unique challenges of balancing work and parenting, as well as looking at issues affecting parents and children. She is the working mom of a middle-schooler and an elementary student. (read more)

NEW! Our book blogger will tell you about some of the great books she's been reading, introduce you to some authors, share some book lovers' news and even give away a few books. A must-read blog for book lovers! (read more)

A photo blog featuring images by The Republican-Herald photo staff. These photos place emphasis on the imagination and creativity of each of the contributing photographers. (read more)

Click here to see who signed our 2017 Distracted Driving Pledge. (read more)

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Republican Herald - Pottsville news, sports, obituaries, and ...

Members of a storied Manhattan Republican club were booted during a heated meeting at its Upper East Side headquarters because of their support for President Trump, sources told The Post.

Tensions at the Metropolitan Republican Club on East 83rd Street which counts state Republican Committee chief Ed Cox and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg as members had been festering for months over Trumps ascent to the presidency.

After his surprise victory in November, sources said, the clubs old guard launched a campaign to cleanse Trump supporters.

They hate Donald Trump, and they were really pissed when he won, said expelled executive board member Sandra Chase.

Club President Debbie Coughlin, former club President Peter Hein, Bob Morgan III and Ian Reilly colluded to boot Trump backers and flagrantly violated longstanding bylaws in doing so, the sources allege. Dismissed members likened the move to a Soviet political purge.

One ousted member, Allan Stevo, said he was shocked to find a security guard stationed at the meeting last week.

He was there to be a show of force and intimidation, he said.

During the primary campaign, Coughlin, Reilly and Morgan gave then-Trump rival Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife, Heidi, the keys to the club, said ousted member Michael Javelos.

Stevo said many rank-and-file members were concerned that the club was being used to materially back a specific candidate, rather than the GOP nominee.

I was frustrated by how many people were Never Trump on the board of the club, he said. The general membership was a different story. There were ardent Trump supporters.

Chase said the purge was enabled by violations of the clubs bylaws, including failing to give 30 days written notice to members marked for removal.

At the end of the meeting, Javelos, Georgia Palmieri, Alain Palmieri, Stevo and Chase were removed from the committee. Georgia had been on the committee since 1998, she said. Coughlin did not return requests for comment.

The Met Club replaced its board members according to its bylaws. It was simply the replacing of the old guard by younger blood, something that happens in any organization, said club Chairwoman Adele Malpass. This had absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump.

Why were outraged

Allan Stevo, 37, has been a member of the Met Club for five years and served on the board for one:

The cronyism of the Met Club board, like similar county and state boards, is a perfect example of a swamp that needs draining.

Met Club members should be outraged because a small group of extremists have created needless discord in their club and have taken over their board, removing dedicated members who demanded change and called for more accountability in the club and in our country.

On Jan. 31, I was thrown off the board of the Metropolitan Republican Club, along with four other Donald Trump supporters.

While no one can be certain what another person thinks, the reason we were thrown off a Republican board appears to be our support for Trump.

The low level of support for Trump among some that remain on the board, and the high enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton well into the fall of 2016, was disappointing.

One of the people who helped throw us off, club President Deborah Coughlin, according to federal records has donated four times to Friends of Schumer in amounts over $1,000.

Whatever happened to politely agreeing to disagree?

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Trump supporters not welcome at elite Republican club - New York Post

After watching his interview on Fox News this weekend, it's worth asking whether President Donald Trump is now the leader of the Code Pink Republicans.

This is the term coined by the conservative author and radio host Mark Levin to describe those on the right who valorize Russian President Vladimir Putin. Like Code Pink, the sign-waving hollerers known for disrupting congressional hearings to demonstrate against alleged U.S. aggression, the current president does not appear to believe America is a morally exceptional nation.

How else to explain these remarks to Bill O'Reilly that aired before the Super Bowl? When asked why Trump says he respects Putin, given that Putin is a killer, Trump responds: "There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers, what? You think our country's so innocent?" Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin couldn't have said it better.

And yes, while it's true that the U.S. government has certainly killed its enemies before, there is no comparison to Russia.

The U.S. conducts drone strikes against terrorists. Putin poisons, disappears and exiles his domestic political opposition.

The U.S. since the late 1970s openly funds non-governmental organizations that push for the rule of law and democratic elections. Putin authorizes cyber-thefts and disinformation campaigns on behalf of far right and far left political parties in Europe and his near abroad.

The U.S. broadcasts news into foreign countries in several languages through Voice of America. Russia funds media that promote conspiracy theories like the 9/11 truth movement.

It's also true that Trump is not the first president to engage in this kind of moral relativism. When President Barack Obama was selling the Iran nuclear deal, he was fond of comparing Iran's hardliners with U.S. Republicans, an analogy that both demonized his political opponents and burnished the image of Iran's rulers.

Trump's moral equivalency toward Russia is part of a pattern. In December 2015, he was asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" about Putin's killing of journalists. Trump responded: "Our country does plenty of killing also."

During the Republican convention, Trump's surrogates stripped language from the Republican platform calling for the arming of Ukraine against Russia.

After winning the election, Trump appeared to begin to walk things back. He made it clear in interviews that he thought the NATO alliance was important, though he also said he believed it was obsolete. (Code Pink agrees on that last point, for what it's worth.)

Trump's choices for key cabinet posts also indicated he was moderating his views on Russia. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in his confirmation hearings last month said he would not support recognition of Russian claims to Crimea without the agreement of Ukraine. Last week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, condemned Russian-backed separatists for the recent uptick in fighting in eastern Ukraine. She said: "Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine."

That's good news. But it's also insufficient. Haley referred only to the specific sanctions related to Crimea. There are still sanctions on Russian officials for their role in the murder and torture of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who discovered a huge tax fraud scheme inside the country's interior ministry. There are also separate sanctions against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, independent of those levied in regard to its annexation of Crimea.

What's more, it's not clear whether Haley was speaking for the Trump administration. When asked about sanctions on Russia on Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Vice President Mike Pence was inconclusive: "If we have opportunities to work together, I think the president is looking for an opportunity to begin that relationship anew. But, make no mistake about it, those decisions will await action. And they'll be very dependent on how the Russians respond in the days ahead."

As Trump might tweet: Sad! Pence distinguished himself in October during the vice presidential debate by taking a tough line on Putin. He called him a "small and bullying man," and promised a Trump administration would be tougher on Putin than Hillary Clinton would be.

Pence's position on Putin was in line with that of most of his party. On Sunday, Republican congressional leaders would not defend Trump's comments on Putin to O'Reilly. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Putin a "thug" on CNN on Sunday, and said there was no moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia.

Trump's remarks were closer to those of Republicans like Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, who is an occasional guest of the Kremlin. These days this former cold warrior devotes his energies in Washington to the fight against Russia sanctions. Last summer, Rohrabacher entered into the congressional record an account of the Magnitsky case that claimed the whistle-blower was a thief, borrowing the same alternative facts pumped out by Russia's numerous propaganda outlets.

For years, because of Rohrabacher's pro-Putin sentiments, the leaders of his party treated him like a crazy uncle. But Trump's the party leader now. And the Code Pink Republicans appear to have one of their own in the Oval Office.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Gray at philipgray@bloomberg.net

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On Russia, Trump Is a Code Pink Republican - Bloomberg