The conventional wisdom in many political circles is that Donald Trump’s hold on congressional Republicans is complete and ruthless. Out of some combination of fear, partisan allegiance, loyalty and ideological consensus, the president issues orders and Republican members of Congress on Capitol Hill obey.
While Trump’s power in Republican politics is clearly considerable, that wisdom isn’t always correct. In fact, Thursday was arguably the current president’s worst day since returning to power nearly a year ago.
One setback came in the Republican-led House, where Democrats voted 230 to 196 to approve a petition to restore and extend Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies. A total of 17 House Republicans sided with the Democratic minority – more than members of both parties expected – in a sign of bipartisan concerns about Medicare benefits that Republicans let expire on Jan. 1.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where a series of separate negotiations are underway to find a possible compromise.
Speaking of the upper chamber, another of Trump’s more dramatic setbacks occurred in the Senate on Thursday afternoon. My MS NOW colleague Mychael Schnell reports:
In a rare bipartisan rebuke of President Donald Trump, the Senate narrowly advanced a war powers resolution on Thursday aimed at curbing U.S. military action in Venezuela — an early sign that Trump may not get the congressional support he expected to extend a military presence in the country.
Senators voted 52-47 to begin debate on Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution, which, if successful, would “direct the withdrawal of United States armed forces from hostilities in or against Venezuela without congressional authorization.”
As the dust settled, many observers were surprised to see five Senate Republicans join the Democratic minority in voting for the bipartisan legislation.
Senate Democrats, led primarily by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, have repeatedly tried to advance a war powers resolution in 2025 but failed amid Republican opposition. This time, however, the effort succeeded when Trump pursued a legally dubious and highly controversial course of action in Venezuela.
The breakthrough is stunning, but in reality, the impact is likely to be limited: Republican leaders are likely to ignore the measure even if it reaches the House, and the president could veto it if it manages to reach the White House.
But as the MS NOW report noted, Thursday’s vote still marked “a clear warning against Trump’s military escalation in Venezuela.”
In fact, the president has made no secret of his disgust, posting a post on his social media platform in which he said the five Senate Republicans who voted for the resolution — Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Todd Young of Indiana — “should never be reelected.”
In other words, according to Trump, five Republican senators are openly defying the White House, which means they must lose their jobs, even for as inconsequential and symbolic a vote as this one.
A Politico report noted that in assessing the larger context, “A group of congressional Republicans delivered a major defeat to President Donald Trump on Thursday — a series of accusations that showed how his iron grip on Capitol Hill is eroding at the start of a critical election year.”
I think that’s the right way to look at the situation. The point is not that the unpopular and failed president suddenly became impotent. He hasn’t, as evidenced by Thursday’s failed House vote to override his latest veto.
Rather, the point is that his control is slipping in ways he’s not used to and clearly doesn’t like. That was evident in the fall, when Republicans rejected some of Trump’s ridiculous nominees and voted to denounce his trade agenda, and it’s even more evident this week.
As this year’s midterm elections approach and members of the Republican Party look for ways to save their careers, it seems likely that this dynamic in the White House will get worse before it gets better.
This article updates our Related early reports. In addition, details of the legislative process in paragraph 10 have been corrected.
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