Who are the moderate Republicans?

January 10, 2017 8:12 AM

Who are the moderate Republicans in the House and Senate? The ones who might be more susceptible to pressure, phone calls from constituents, etc, during the confirmation hearings and beyond?

No need to tell me not to call reps from outside my district. I understand the arguments in that vein. I would just like to know, if I were to call representatives and senators who are most possible to sway, who might they be?

Officials who sit on important committees especially of interest.

Thanks!

posted by latkes to Law & Government (13 answers total)

Bob Corker of Tennessee, Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska all just pushed back on rushing through a repeal of the ACA. I don't really know what counts as moderate or reasonable, but this seems more rational than the GOP's stated strategy.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:21 AM on January 10, 2017 [9 favorites]

They are a dying breed for sure, but Lindsey Graham for one. He's on the Judiciary Committee, so he's in the hot seat with Sessions right this very moment.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:21 AM on January 10, 2017 [5 favorites]

Report on those wavering on ACA repeal:
Susan Collins
John McCain
Lamar Alexander
Rob Portman
Ron Johnson
Bill Cassidy
Tom Cotton

Also Rand Paul of KY, who is not so much a moderate but a free spirited libertarian.
posted by cushie at 8:30 AM on January 10, 2017 [6 favorites]

Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah. Senator Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska.

But everyone is moderate on different things.
posted by corb at 9:00 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's more useful to think about Republicans who are relatively anti-Trump than moderates. Rand Paul and Justin Amash (in the House) are completely looney-tunes conservatives but consistent and sincere enough to at least have talked smack about Trump.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 AM on January 10, 2017 [6 favorites]

Additionally, research hard-core Republican-run states whose residents might be most harmed by imminent likely changes in public policies and find ways to contact their representatives anyway. People do to talk across state lines to their parents, adult children, friends, relatives, co-workers. As reality sinks in, maybe grassroots voices, can move the needle just a little. Look what happened to the ethics showdown last week--dropped like a hot potato . . . for now anyway.
posted by Elsie at 9:15 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm in Florida, so I don't think we have any, but I think you can still do things. For instance, these two friends of mine got all dressed up and went and met with Yoho. They sat in his office across from him and said right to his face, "Please do not gut healthcare because you will kill people, Yoho."
posted by Don Pepino at 9:27 AM on January 10, 2017 [4 favorites]

Pat Toomey in Penna. has (inconsistently) held moderate views on a few issues, notably gun control.
posted by sixpack at 9:35 AM on January 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

The general term you're looking for is RINO. See, e.g., this slightly out of date but still useful site. See also the American Conservative Union ratings.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:45 AM on January 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is up for reelection in 2018 in an increasingly purple state.
posted by General Malaise at 10:01 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

An important factor to consider is willingness to stand up to pressure from the party's leadership. Because of this, senators like Paul and McCain might be more useful to lobby than say Murkowski or Flake. Of course this assumes that they will listen to you at all, which may well rule out Paul.
posted by Lame_username at 10:29 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

An important factor to consider is willingness to stand up to pressure from the party's leadership. Because of this, senators like Paul and McCain might be more useful to lobby than say Murkowski or Flake. Of course this assumes that they will listen to you at all, which may well rule out Paul.

I can't say I have high hopes that Murkowski will stand up for anything, but as one of her constituents: when I write to ask her to step away from the party line I always make sure that she remembers, and that she knows that I remember, that in 2010 she was successfully primaried by a Tea Party challenger (Joe Miller) who won the party endorsement and ran as the Republican candidate that year. She was returned to the Senate by a coalition of centrist Alaskan voters after running as an independent. She should know better than to trust the party leadership or to discount the support of swing voters in this state.
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:08 PM on January 10, 2017 [4 favorites]

538 had a piece on Nov. 21 rating senators on how likely they were to go against Trump. The top three senators were:
Susan Collins of Maine,
Dean Heller of Nevada,
and John McCain of Arizona.
posted by maurreen at 7:15 PM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]