Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday Republicans need to understand that they are the governing majority and no longer the party of opposition.
“If you’re the governing majority you actually have to think through doing positive things in a positive way,” Mr. Gingrich said on “The Mike Gallagher Show.”
“In a sense, Paul Ryan is governing a House majority that is in transition,” Mr. Gingrich said. “They were the majority for the last six years but they were the opposition.”
The former House speaker also said he would not have made health care the first legislative issue because of it’s size and complications.
“Health care is one-fifth of the economy,” Mr. Gingrich said. “It’s life and death.”
But Mr. Gingrich also said the issue with Republicans failure to pass health care is actually part of a greater, two-fold problem.
One issue is President Trump’s lack of legislative experience, which Mr. Gingrich explained means Mr. Trump has had far less time to develop his stances on complicated issues, unlike experienced lawmakers.
“There is no Trump doctrine. There’s no Trump training academy. There’s no Trump organization,” Mr. Gingrich said.
The second problem is that the legislative branch is not meant to work quickly, Mr. Gingrich said.
“The legislative branch isn’t designed to be rushed,” he said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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