Is the GOP Trying to Distance Itself From Trump

Are there some cracks showing in President Trump’s MAGA armor? His voting base is clearly still with him, but what about Congress?

Several recent votes in both the House and Senate seemed to have rejected the President’s positions. In the final analysis, the immediate impact of what went on in the upper and lower chambers last week will be limited. But considered over a larger timeline, what might it really mean and why is it happening now?

Let’s take a closer look.

We’ll start in the Senate, where five Republicans crossed over to support a war powers resolution that would block any funding for military operations in Venezuela. This is the first of what will likely be several war powers resolutions over other threatened nations and territories like Greenland, Cuba, and Colombia. The final vote was 52-47, with Republican Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) joining all Democrats. While this was a procedural vote, it ensures a final vote for passage to block the funding.

The House followed suit on Thursday with their own breaks with Trump. First, a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies passed by a count of 230-196. Seventeen Republicans supported it, nearly double the nine who voted to advance the bill in a procedural vote on Wednesday. This wasn’t even supposed to be on the House floor, but a discharge petition went around the Republican leadership when four Republican rank-and-file members moved to support it. A straight extension is probably not getting past a Republican filibuster in the Senate. But it puts pressure on the Senate to come up with their own solution.

What Does this All Mean?

So, what do these apparent breaks by the GOP from Trump really mean? Not much, despite what the left would have you believe.

As to the War Powers Resolution, The House isn’t likely to pass an actual Resolution; it narrowly rejected two similar measures in December. Even if that has changed as reflected by the procedural vote last week, Donald Trump would certainly veto the passage of any such Resoltion, and there isn’t a two-thirds majority available to override that.

Regarding the ACA extension, this wasn’t even supposed to be on the House floor, but a discharge petition went around the Republican leadership when four Republican rank-and-file members moved to support it. A straight extension is probably not getting past a Republican filibuster in the Senate. But it puts pressure on the Senate to come up with their own solution.

Is there more pushback against Trump by the GOP rank and file than the has ever been? Yes. But ultimately, this is just a snapshot in time. Trump has more than three years left in office, and modern presidents have a terrifying amount of power at their disposal, and he has displayed a willingness to use it unlike any before him.