Dem
47
GOP
53
We have wondered many times if Donald Trump would eventually push things too far, causing congressional Republicans to find a little courage, and behave as if they are, you know, part of a co-equal branch of the government. They may not be there quite yet, but the last few days HAVE seen a well-above-average amount of pushback from the legislative branch (and, more specifically, the upper chamber of the legislative branch). To wit:
De Plane, De Plane: The Republican members of the Senate are very clearly unhappy with the scheme by which the Qatari government gives Donald Trump a luxury airplane for his use, both as the president, and afterwards as the former president. The latest prominent member of the upper chamber to speak up is Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who said: "It would be like the United States moving into the Qatari embassy. I'm not sure how quickly the Qatari aircraft can be retooled."
Wicker thus joins a long list of Republicans who are usually willing to look the other way with Trump, but who have been critical of the plane plan: Majority Leader John Thune (SD), Ted Cruz (TX), Josh Hawley (MO), Rand Paul (KY) and Rick Scott (FL) among them. As we have already noted, the clear message here is: "Don't try it, Donald." If the President ignores these signals, it's now evident that the Senate will take action. And remember, it only takes a few Republican votes.
The Library of Congress: The GOP members of Congress were OK with it while DOGE ran roughshod over many and varied departments of the executive branch. But when Trump deigned to make personnel decisions for the Library of Congress, he may have crossed a line. Senate Republicans are apparently willing to accept the terminations of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, but they are not amenable to Trump choosing replacements, particularly when those replacements are Trump flunkies. If he insists, he could be cruising for another bruising.
The Budget: Trump has many things he wants to accomplish with his "big, beautiful" budget bill. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is trying to make those things happen, while also keeping at least 216/219ths of his conference happy. Yesterday, it was a different Republican Johnson, namely Sen. Ron (WI), who was on TV to warn Trump that he's at risk of getting schlonged. The Wisconsinite, and several of his colleagues, wish to live in a magical world where the deficit stays steady, spending is slashed, and Medicaid and spending on clean energy are kept intact. The senators are willing to forego tax cuts in order to achieve all of this, but even that is not likely enough to make all these moving parts work together. In any event, if Johnson does get a big, beautiful bill through the House, it looks like it's going to run into a big, beautiful buzz saw in the Senate.
Again, we would not want to draw too many conclusions from what is still limited resistance to Trump from his fellow Republicans. Nonetheless, they are already getting many earsful from constituents, and unlike him, most of them have to think about getting reelected, possibly as soon as next year. Also remember the lesson of The Emperor's New Clothes: Once one or two members get away with rebelling against Trump, it gets vastly easier for others to follow. (Z)