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Sen. Jeff FlakeJeff FlakeMcConnell faces questions, but no test to his leadership Senate Republicans brush off Trump's healthcare demands Flake: Republicans in denial about Trump MORE (R-Ariz.) on Monday saidthe Republican Party is in denial about President Trumps first few months in office, calling for members of the GOP to speak out against some of the leader'srhetoric and policies.

First, we shouldnt hesitate to speak out if the president plays to the base in ways that damage the Republican Partys ability to grow and speak to a larger audience, Flake wrote in an op-ed for Politico Magazinethat quickly gained attention online.

Second, Republicans need to take the long view when it comes to issues like free trade: Populist and protectionist policies might play well in the short term, put they handicap the country in the long term.

Third, Republicans need to stand up for institutions and prerogatives, like the Senate filibuster, that have served us well for more than two centuries, Flake added.

The Arizona senator, who is up for re-election in 2018, reasoned that conservatives are partially responsible for Trumps rise due to their focus on former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaCourt tells EPA to enforce Obama methane pollution rule Flake: Republicans in denial about Trump Overnight Tech: House GOP asks companies for input on net neutrality legislation | Charter declines Sprint deal | Group wants probe into Google shopping tool | Ex-Obama adviser joins Lyft board MORE rather than advancing a conservative policy agenda.

It was we conservatives who, upon Obamas election, stated that our number-one priority was not advancing a conservative policy agenda but making Obama a one-term presidentthe corollary to this binary thinking being that his failure would be our success and the fortunes of the citizenry would presumably be sorted out in the meantime, Flakecontinued.

The Arizona Republicanhas previously criticized Trump -- for his initial travel ban proposal in January for example -- and on Monday again slammed the administration for its rhetoric about Russias election meddling.

Even as our own government was documenting a concerted attack against our democratic processes by an enemy foreign power, our own White House was rejecting the authority of its own intelligence agencies, disclaiming their findings as a Democratic ruse and a hoax, Flake said. Conduct that would have had conservatives up in arms had it been exhibited by our political opponents now had us dumbstruck.

The senator, who recently said Republicans who dont call Trump out are complicit, said the GOP has been in denial this year. Congresshas so far failed to successfully pass healthcare legislation, while the administration has been forced to deal with multiple staff shake-ups and struggled with the rollout of its travel ban.

To carry on in the spring of 2017 as if what was happening was anything approaching normalcy required a determined suspension of critical faculties. And tremendous powers of denial, Flake said.

Flake, who has a new book out, appeared on Fox News Monday night.

"The White House has done some good things," Flake told host Bret Baier, citing the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and regulatory reforms.

"We've got tax reform to go through," he added. "That's going to be a big lift. I don't think its as difficult as healthcare reform, but it is difficult" and will require a "very disciplined administration and Congress" to get it done.

"I think we've about reached the limits of what we can do with one party," on healthcare, he said. "I think we're going to have to involve the other party."

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Flake: Republicans in denial about Trump - The Hill

But Mr. Hayes said that while a strong majority of Republican voters adored Mr. Trump, there are creeping doubts about other administration advisers. Mr. Hayes said that Mr. Scaramuccis interview with The New Yorker magazine, in which he savaged several White House colleagues in sexually graphic terms, had shocked Republicans in his state.

How does that help us get health care and tax reform and rebuilding the military? Mr. Hayes said.

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, a Republican who has been critical of Mr. Trump, echoed that sentiment, saying meaningful policies will emerge from the White House only when the chaos in the administration abates. He said he was uncertain whether the shake-up of the senior staff would have that effect.

Youll have optimism within the White House when they start having stability, Mr. Kasich said.

Among the presidents legislative allies in Washington, too, there is a deepening sense of dread that presidential tweets like the out-of-the-blue ban on transgender people serving in the military and continuing chaos inside the West Wing will get in the way of efforts to lower taxes, crack down on immigration, overhaul trade policies and rethink the countrys foreign policy.

The administration is having a hard time getting out of its own way, said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which was angry about the presidents criticism of Mr. Sessions. The seeming disarray in the White House obviously makes it hard for the administration to carry out its policies.

Joseph A. Trillo, a former Republican National Committee member from Rhode Island who was chairman of Mr. Trumps campaign in the state, faulted others for the White House disarray and chalked up any missteps to Mr. Trumps newcomer status in Washington.

Hes made some mistakes, Mr. Trillo said of Mr. Trump. He didnt have political experience, and I think some of the biggest mistakes are some of the people he has surrounded himself with.

The turbulent phase appears to have taken its toll on Mr. Trumps popularity, even among those in his own party. Though Republicans are strongly supportive of him over all, public polls have shown dissatisfaction on the right with his personal demeanor and Twitter habits. On Friday, a Gallup tracking poll found Mr. Trumps job approval rating was 39 percent.

Inside Washington, the reservations run even deeper. Some veteran Republican lobbyists are increasingly skeptical that the president has built a team capable of making good on his promises. At the end of a week in which the party failed in its promise to repeal former President Barack Obamas health care law, one Washington lobbyist, who did not want to be identified as being critical of the president, said he and others were frustrated, appalled and scared.

The concern, the lobbyist said, is that without sustained White House leadership the kind that is in short order complicated legislation like a tax overhaul or rolling back banking regulations will not be accomplished.

Andrew Roth, the chief lobbyist for the Club for Growth, a group that fiercely advocates lower taxes, expressed optimism that Republicans would succeed, and he said that some of Mr. Trumps economic advisers were working effectively in spite of the chaos.

But Mr. Roth acknowledged that two things could get in the way: Distractions being caused by a White House that is still in a transitional phase and a dysfunctional Republican Party in Congress that includes too many liberals.

It is well past time that people recognize that there are far too many Democrats in the Republican Party, Mr. Roth said.

Republicans are hardly despondent across the board about the seemingly listless pace of change in Washington. In addition to the confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice, Neil M. Gorsuch, they take heart from the list of business regulations Mr. Trump has voided, and from his administrations aggressive enforcement of immigration laws.

Jay Timmons, the president and chief executive of the National Association of Manufacturers, a powerful business lobby, said he was optimistic Republicans would enact major legislation around taxes, infrastructure investment and more.

Theres a lot going on that has been beneficial to the business community, Mr. Timmons said, acknowledging that there had also been distractions from the partys main agenda. That doesnt mean that progress and success is still not occurring.

Still, Republican activists and party officials described the Senate health care vote, held in the early hours of Friday morning, as a bitter disappointment, and several spoke in caustic language about the three Republican lawmakers who blocked the bill Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

The sharpest frustration, however, came from Trump loyalists who described Congress as having failed to accommodate Mr. Trump and his agenda more broadly or even as taking a deliberately oppositional posture toward a president of their own party.

I blame everything on Congress, and most of the people I talk to feel the same way, said Rex Early, an Indiana businessman who led Mr. Trumps campaign in the state. Id like to see him take on Congress, but I think he feels that he has to get along with them, and hes probably right.

Mr. Trump has occasionally berated Republican members of Congress, and on Wednesday rebuked Ms. Murkowski on Twitter for having let the Republicans, and our country, down with her position on health care. On Friday, Mr. Trump stopped short of criticizing the health care holdouts by name, but lamented in a speech on Long Island that the swamp had prevailed over his agenda, for now.

But some of his supporters would like to see Mr. Trump go further, and a number of activists and Republican candidates called on Mr. Trump to take a harder line with members of his own party.

Corey Stewart, a conservative immigration activist in Virginia who nearly captured the partys nomination for governor this year, encouraged Mr. Trump to take the fight more aggressively to intransigent Republicans.

Hes been remarkably patient, said Mr. Stewart, who has announced that he will run for Senate in 2018. I think he needs to play a little bit more rough with the Republican establishment in the House and Senate.

Mr. Stewart, too, said that there were aspects of the presidents conduct that appeared unproductive, like his public feud with Mr. Sessions.

This stuff would be better solved behind closed doors, Mr. Stewart said.

But other supporters said that after six months with Mr. Trump in office, they do not expect a change in his behavior and many do not want one.

Pam Bondi, the attorney general of Florida and a strong Trump supporter, suggested the onus was on Congress to catch up with Mr. Trump. President Trump is ready and waiting for them to act, Ms. Bondi said, referring to the health care issue.

Congress should beware, she added, our president will not give up on doing whats right for the American people.

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Republicans Worry That White House Disarray Is Undermining Trump - New York Times

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Sunday goaded Republican senators to stick with trying to pass a healthcare bill, after the lawmakers failed spectacularly last week to muster the votes to end Obamacare.

For the second day running, the Republican president tweeted his impatience with Congress' inability to deliver on his party's seven-year promise to replace the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare bill commonly known as Obamacare. Members of his administration took to the airwaves to try to compel lawmakers to take action.

But it was unclear whether the White House admonishments would have any impact on Capitol Hill, where Republicans who control both houses signaled last week that it was time to move on to other issues.

Republicans' zeal to repeal and replace Obamacare was met with both intra-party divisions between moderates and conservatives and also the increasing approval of a law that raised the number of insured Americans by 20 million.

Polling indicates a majority of Americans are ready to move on from healthcare at this point. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Saturday, 64 percent of 1,136 people surveyed on Friday and Saturday said they wanted to keep Obamacare, either "entirely as is" or after fixing "problem areas." That is up from 54 percent in January.

With the U.S. legislative branch spinning its wheels, the executive branch pledged to look at rewriting Obamacare regulations. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told ABC's "This Week" that he would change those regulations that drive up costs or "hurt" patients.

Price sidestepped questions about whether there were administration plans to waive Obamacare's mandate that individuals have health insurance, saying "all things are on the table to try to help patients."

But Price also told NBC he would implement Obamacare because it is the "law of the land."

That Obamacare was still law clearly angered Trump, who has no major legislative accomplishments to show for his first half-year in office. "Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace ..." the president said in a tweet on Sunday morning.

On Friday, Senate Republicans failed to collect enough votes to repeal even a few parts of Obamacare. That capped a week of failed Senate votes on whether to simply repeal, or repeal and replace, the 2010 law, while Trump repeatedly berated lawmakers in a late attempt to influence the legislation.

"The president will not accept those who said, quote, 'its time to move on,'" Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to Trump, said on Fox News Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, had made exactly that comment before dawn on Friday morning after the failed healthcare vote.

The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said on Sunday lawmakers should stay in session to get something done on healthcare - even if this means postponing votes on other issues such as raising the debt ceiling.

"So yes. They need to stay. They need to work. They need to pass something," Mulvaney said on CNN.

The House of Representatives has already gone home for its August break and the Senate is expected to do the same by mid-August.

Mulvaney also said Trump was seriously considering carrying out threats he tweeted about on Saturday, when the president said that "if a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!"

That tweet appeared to be referring to the approximately $8 billion in cost-sharing reduction subsidies the federal government pays to insurers to lower the price of health coverage for low-income Americans.

The Saturday tweet also appeared to be a threat to end the employer contribution for members of Congress and their staffs, who were moved from the normal federal employee healthcare benefits program onto the Obamacare insurance exchanges as part of the 2010 healthcare law.

"What hes saying is, look, if Obamacare is hurting the American people and it is then why shouldnt it hurt insurance companies and more importantly, perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress?" Mulvaney said on Sunday on CNN.

Some Republicans have said they are trying to find a way forward on healthcare. Senate Republican Susan Collins, one of three Republicans who voted against repealing parts of Obamacare on Friday, told NBC that Congress should produce a series of bills with bipartisan input on healthcare, including appropriating the cost-sharing subsidies.

The Senate has one vote scheduled when it reconvenes on Monday afternoon: whether to confirm a U.S. circuit court judge. Senate aides said they had no guidance for the agenda beyond that vote.

Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Roberta Rampton, and Caren Bohan; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Mary Milliken

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Trump tells Republicans to get back on healthcare bill - Reuters

New York Times

Party in peril? Republicans reel after Obamacare failure Sacramento Bee Republicans have controlled this town for seven months. They have virtually nothing to show for it. Returning home this week to face voters for the first time since the party failed to get an Obamacare repeal through a Senate where it had a majority ... On Health, Republicans Find They Cannot Beat Something With NothingNew York Times The Republicans Are Not Going to Compromise on Health CareSlate Magazine Republicans' failure to 'repeal and replace' Obamacare may cost them at the ballot boxWashington Post Fox News -Washington Examiner -Politico all 7,744 news articles »

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Party in peril? Republicans reel after Obamacare failure - Sacramento Bee

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on Sunday urged President Donald Trump's new chief of staff John Kelly to rein in the chaos within the White House on Monday but said the retired Marine Corps general will be challenged to assert control.

In his first six months in office, Trump has upended White House convention with a loose decision-making style and an open-door policy to his Oval Office for advisers, both internal and external. Infighting among his senior staff has become bitter and public.

"He's going to have to reduce the drama, reduce both the sniping within and reduce the leaks, and bring some discipline to the relationships," Karl Rove, a Republican strategist and former White House adviser to George W. Bush, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Trump announced Kelly would replace his embattled chief of staff Reince Priebus at the end of a particularly chaotic week that saw his first legislative effort - healthcare reform - fail in Congress.

"He (Trump) is in a lot of trouble. This week was the most tumultuous week weve seen in a tumultuous presidency," Rove said.

On top of the healthcare debacle, Trump came under fire for banning transgender people from the military, and was pilloried for politicizing a speech he made to the Boy Scouts.

Adding fuel to the fire, his new communications director Anthony Scaramucci unleashed a string of profane criticism about Priebus and Trump strategist Steven Bannon to a New Yorker magazine reporter.

Republicans welcomed Trump's decision to bring in Kelly, who starts on Monday.

"I think he will bring some order and discipline to the West Wing," said Republican Senator Susan Collins and Trump critic on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The last week heightened concerns in Trump's party that the distractions and West Wing dysfunction would derail other legislative priorities, including tax reform and debt ceiling negotiations.

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said he thought Priebus had been effective "but was probably a little bit more laid back in the way he ran the office.

"I think the president wants to go in a different direction, wants a little bit more discipline, a little more structure in there," said Mulvaney, who reports to the chief of staff.

It is not yet clear whether all of Trump's senior staff will answer to Kelly. Some members, including Scaramucci and senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, report directly to Trump, a structure which gives them more power.

"I will do whatever the president and our new chief of staff General Kelly ask me to do," Conway told Fox News' "Fox News Sunday."

Kelly should be empowered to be the gatekeeper to the Oval Office, said Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor of Arkansas, whose daughter Sarah Sanders is Trump's spokeswoman.

"That's what needs to happen, but that's going to be up to the president," Huckabee said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

"The president has a very different style, he's very open, the door is open, he invites people to just come on it to a meeting," Huckabee said.

To be effective, Kelly needs to find a way to work within Trump's untraditional style, said Corey Lewandowski, who was a former campaign manager to Trump, and remains close to the president.

"The thing that General Kelly should do is not try to change Donald Trump," Lewandowski said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Anybody who thinks they're going to change Donald Trump doesn't know Donald Trump," Lewandowski said.

Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Sarah N. Lynch, and Caren Bohan; Editing by Mary Milliken

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Republicans call on new Trump chief of staff to fix White House chaos - Reuters