Trump administration eyes Congressional Black Caucus as potential ally

After Trump failed to move a proposed Obamacare replacement through the House, the president may be eyeing one group of lawmakers as a potential ally.

Republicans hold a majority in both the House and Senate, which in theory would give the GOP a foolproof path to moving their agenda through Congress under the Trump administration. As was evidenced when some 28 conservative Freedom Caucus members in the House made a pact to not commit their vote to the GOP's American Health Care Act before consulting the other members, the preconceived notion of unity within the Republican party is clearly not the case.

Moving forward, the Trump administration is looking to forge allies within the Democratic party, and Axios reports that some in the president's inner circle see the Congressional Black Caucus as that potential link.

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Trump frequently aimed messages at African American voters while on the 2016 campaign trail, often asking the question "What do you have to lose?" Trump met with the CBC last week, an exchange to which Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond led a handful of Democratic members to the White House and presented Trump a 130-page book bluntly titled "We Have a Lot to Lose."

Richmond says the meeting went well, while Rep. Keith Ellison -- who also serves as deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee -- was less optimistic about a future relationship with Trump.

"I think it's the responsibility of the CBC leadership to try to reach out to the president. I also doubt that, based on his history, he will do anything to help us," Ellison said. "But still, you've got to ask. You don't want him to be able to say, 'Well, they never asked.'"

As Republican lobbyist Sam Geduldig told Axios, a Trump alliance with the CBC could mean a real path to victory in Congress.

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"A coalition of Black Caucus Democrats and Republicans is kryptonite to rich white liberals," said Geduldig. "Imagine a tax and infrastructure bill that provides tax cuts for Republicans and new pipes for Flint, Michigan. How do Stabenow and Peters [Michigan's U.S. Senators] justify voting no?"

As Axios' Jonathan Swan writes, however, "Another lobbyist working on Geduldig's project, Mike Williams of the Williams Group, tells me CBC members are leery of being 'used as a photo op.'" This reason for pause within the CBC could not only an unwillingness to reach across the aisle and work the president from Democratic leadership, but from black lawmakers as well.

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