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Congressional Republicans are pushing back against Trump, and he is becoming a lame duck even before the midterms. Here are some of the items of pushback:
Mike Johnson recessed the House a day early on September 16 to avoid a vote on Thomas Massie's resolution to impeach SecWar Pete Hegseth. The House would likely have impeached Hegseth because enough Republicans would have joined all the Democrats to pass impeachment. It could have been an embarrassing defeat for Trump, or at least it would have forced Republicans to take awkward votes on impeaching a Trump cabinet member.
On September 15, the House voted 220-204 to pass a War Powers Resolution limiting Trump's power to fight Iran. Seven Republicans voted with the entire opposition. The Senate failed to pass it 49-50, but four Republicans were in favor. Though voted down, both chambers have a group of Republicans willing to buck the president.
On October 11th six senators, including four Republicans, wrote a letter to Trump demanding he immediately reverse the deal to purchase diesel from Russia. They pointed out that this deal violates a 2022 law that makes it illegal for any US person to purchase petroleum from Russia.
John Barasso, the Senate majority whip, announced that there will be an investigation of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece (and Don Jr.'s ex-fiancée), for ethics violations. She is accused of accepting lavish gifts, including $100,000 to pay off a credit card debt ahead of her Senate confirmation hearings in September 2025. There is a push for Trump to fire Guilfoyle.
After it was reported that Don Jr. had repaid the wedding funding that he got from a Russian oligarch, Sen. John Kennedy demanded proof that it had been repaid. As far as I can tell, no proof was forthcoming. The episode shows that Kennedy didn't believe it had actually been repaid and was willing to say so publicly.
Bottom line: If the midterms go well for the Republicans, it will stave off Trump's lame duck status for a while. But if there is a blue wave, Republicans will come out with increasing force against Trump. There will be a scramble as Republicans position themselves for what will come after Trump.
The president does not take well to even gentle criticism from his own side, so we can expect fireworks. The post-Trump era is nearly upon us.
Discussion (84)
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I guess we must wait to see.
Hegseth is fodder for jokes, for pundit analysis of how remarkably identical his stance when talking to our troops resembles that of a preacher. This is when the attacks are light weight in nature. In heavy duty attacks, a more foreboding comparison is made.
Trump already is a lame duck office holder. It is rumored that he wants out of Iran. If we get out now, we just might save our economy from the perils of a society without diesel fuel.
But just as we saw in the lead up to Feb 28th, someone else holds control over what Trump may or may not do.
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Congressional Republicans have a long history of working against the Republican president.
It's not like the term "RiNO" began with Trump.
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Kim and Don Jr. were never married. They dated, there are reports of them being engaged (I don't know...), but Don Jr. is married to Bettina Anderson.
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But it's not just RINOs. John Kennedy and John Barasso are hardly RINOs.
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Regardless... My point is that congressional Republicans have a long history of working against the Republican president, while congressional Democrats have a long history of rubber-stamping the Democrat president.
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