From golf course, President Trump tells Mitch McConnell to 'get back to work' on his agenda

Eliza Collins | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump escalates feud with the most important Republican President Trump is doubling down on his feud with Mitch McConnell, but he could be playing a dangerous game.

WASHINGTON — President Trump wants Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the rest of the GOP-majority Congress to “get back to work” on passing his agenda, an edict he issued amid his 17-day vacation at his golf club in New Jersey.

Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2017

Trump’s tweet is the third directed at McConnell in two days and follows one from his aide Dan Scavino Jr. accusing the Kentucky Republican of “more excuses” as to why the GOP-controlled Senate was not able to pass a repeal of Obamacare.

“I say very simply, where is repeal and replace? Now I want tax reform and tax cuts … and I want a very big infrastructure bill," Trump told reporters at a press briefing Thursday afternoon in New Jersey. "I said, Mitch, get to work and let’s get it done.

Trump was also asked whether McConnell should consider stepping down.

“If he doesn’t get repeal and replace done and if he doesn’t get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn’t get a very easy one to get done — infrastructure," Trump said. "If he doesn’t get them done, then you can ask me that question.”

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of Senate leadership, defended McConnell as "the best leader we've had in my time in the Senate." Hatch was first elected to the Senate in 1976.

"@SenateMajLdr has been the best leader we’ve had in my time in the Senate, through very tough challenges. I fully support him." -Hatch pic.twitter.com/3vD5nFgE36 — Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 10, 2017

Earlier this week, McConnell blamed Trump's "excessive expectations" as the reason the GOP agenda was in limbo, an accusation that the president denied.

“Part of the reason I think is that the storyline is that we haven’t done much is because, in part, the president and others have set these early timelines about things need to be done by a certain point,” McConnell said in Florence, Ky., on Tuesday. “Our new president has of course not been in this line of work before. And I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the Democratic process.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed a New York Times report that Trump and McConnell spoke by phone earlier this week. "Health care was certainly discussed,” she said, but she provided no further details.

The Senate broke for their monthlong recess after Republicans narrowly failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act late last month. Following the vote, McConnell said it was “time to move on” from their party-line repeal effort and look instead toward tax reform and other priorities.

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee announced it would be taking a bipartisan approach to attempt to stabilize markets in the short term to try to keep premiums from skyrocketing.

But Trump and some conservatives are not ready to give up on repealing Obamacare, though it is not clear what the president has in mind for reviving the legislation.

Details on how Congress plans to tackle tax reform remain vague, but a group of top GOP congressional leaders and administration officials released a joint statement late last month outlining their intent to move forward, which included a few key principles.

McConnell has also said that the Senate will use a legislative procedure for the tax bill that allows Republicans to pass a bill with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes normally required. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the Senate, 52-48, which theoretically gives them enough votes to pass legislation under these rules, but that did not prove to be enough on health care.

Some skeptics wonder whether there will be enough time to come to an agreement on major legislation in the remaining days of the year.

When lawmakers return to Washington next month, the Senate's legislative calendar has about 60 workdays slated for the rest of the year, and the first priority will likely be passing a spending bill to keep the government running after the current fiscal year expires Sept. 30.