President Donald Trump asked Senate Republicans on Tuesday to focus on several items that are part of his agenda for the rest of the year, including tax reform and confirming judicial nominees.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republican leaders in the chamber gave a brief statement Tuesday afternoon after they held a working lunch with Trump on Capitol Hill.
"Of course, front and center is comprehensive tax reform as my colleagues described," McConnell said after fellow members of GOP leadership spoke. "Try to get the country going again and growing again. That's what we're gonna work on.
"Tax reform is what we are about. If there's anything that unifies Republicans, it's tax reform. We've been looking for the opportunity to do this literally for years. We now have a president who will sign it, who believes in what we're trying to do."
During prepared remarks, McConnell pointed to the Senate's approval of Trump's judicial nominees and an upcoming presidential announcement on the government's battle against opioid abuse as other short-term agenda items.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., spoke about the issue of approving Trump's nominees — which has been slow because of stalling from Democrats, Republicans say.
"The president talked about the issue of confirmation of some of his many nominees," Barrasso said. "At this point [in his presidency], President Obama had twice as many people confirmed as President Trump has to this time. We're going to continue to work to break the obstruction we're seeing from the Democratic Party."
Regarding the ongoing feud between Trump and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., McConnell responded to a question on the topic by calling it "noise" that will not stand in the way of lawmakers getting things accomplished.
"There's a lot of noise out there. We have a commitment in this country," he said. "Everybody gets to express themselves. But what we're concentrating on is the agenda the American people need."
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