Late last night, Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi triumphantly announced that they had reached an agreement with President Trump over dinner at the White House under which Trump would support legislation shielding the “Dreamers,” immigrants brought unlawfully to the U.S. as children, from deportation in exchange for enhanced border security measures (though not Trump’s famous “wall”). …
There will be plenty written in the days and weeks ahead about how this development reflects Trump’s own unique personality, unsteady command of policy, and strong feelings of resentment towards Republicans in Congress. Stripping away the individual eccentricities of the current incumbent, however, leaves us with a self-identified conservative Republican president cooperating with congressional Democrats to move domestic policy to the left—which is hardly an unprecedented development. Our Asymmetric Politics framework can explain why Republican presidents seek such agreements, and why Democrats in Congress are also open to them. CONT.
David A. Hopkins, Boston College