Republican congressional staffers remain hopeful that they’ll enact significant legislation in 2017, but their Democratic counterparts are gaining confidence that they can block the GOP agenda, according to the June Capitol Insiders Survey of Hill aides.

Two-thirds of the Republican respondents expected it’s at least somewhat likely they’ll enact legislation to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law. But only one in five of the Democrats said the same.

The House passed a health care bill in May after Republican leaders worked out differences between conservative and moderate factions. But GOP senators have started over and they, too, face ideological chasms in their caucus.

Blame President Donald Trump, said Steve Elmendorf, a lobbyist who was once a top aide to Richard A. Gephardt when the Missourian was top Democrat in the House. Trump “is at 37 percent favorability in the polls and dropping and no one is scared of him on our side,” Elmendorf said. “It drives people on our side to be unwilling to cooperate on anything.”

http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/survey-optimism-grows-among-democratic-staffers