Sasse: Schumer ‘wrote the art of the steal’ in faux aid deal

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pulled off the “art of the steal” with President Trump in their high-profile meeting Wednesday, said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.

Thursday, Sasse slammed the president for capitulating to Democrats on key fiscal issues and introduced legislation rejecting the deal negotiated by Trump and Democratic leaders Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Defying the “Pelosi-Schumer-Trump agreement,” Sasse wants to put a “clean” aid package for Hurricane Harvey relief on Trump’s desk, without all the unrelated pork and political interests tied to it.

We should fund emergency hurricane relief. We shouldn't spend other $ pretending it's emergency hurricane relief. https://t.co/N7D022fHct pic.twitter.com/a3btdSfKwq

— Senator Ben Sasse (@SenSasse) September 7, 2017

“Yesterday we saw Washington’s swamp continue to rise: Chuck Schumer wrote the art of the steal by taking hurricane relief hostage to guarantee a December showdown that favors Democratic spending priorities,” Sasse said in his statement.

Speaking from the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, Sasse called the Harvey bill “an embarrassment” for conservatives. He observed that Chuck Schumer “just made himself the most powerful man in America in December,” referring to the next time the debt limit will come up again, as Schumer and Pelosi “have most of the cards” in future negotiations.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also publicly rejected Trump’s shaky fiscal plan for a short-term debt ceiling increase as “ridiculous and disgraceful.”

Conservative Review’s Chris Pandolfo described the deal as a “total capitulation” to the Democrats.

“By agreeing to this plan, he’s ceded leverage to the Democrats on DACA negotiations, government funding, and every other pet project liberals want to tie to the ‘must-pass’ debt limit,” Pandolfo wrote.

President Trump’s blossoming relationship with Democratic leadership continued into Thursday, as he reportedly called Pelosi and agreed to send a DACA-related tweet she asked for. Pelosi bragged about the conversation to reporters: “I was telling my colleagues, ‘This is what I asked the president to do,' and boom boom boom, the tweet appeared."

House and Senate conservatives overwhelmingly reject the president’s Democrat-led fiscal initiatives. From the moderate Republican Study Committee to the conservative Freedom Caucus, Republicans in Congress have voiced their displeasure with the lack of conservative input and options for the debt ceiling and spending initiatives.

"Members are super pissed,” a senior GOP aide told the Washington Examiner, “and many who backed [Sen. Ted] Cruz and railed against Trump as not conservative are pulling the 'I told you so' routine." On the Republican primary campaign trail, Sen. Cruz predicted that a President Trump would “cut deals” with Pelosi and Schumer.