File photo: US President Donald Trump
TOI correspondent from Washington: For almost a decade during the Trump era, one of the enduring mysteries of American politics has been whether Republican lawmakers still possessed a functioning spine.Some rare sightings have been reported this week on Capitol Hill, where in a series of small but unmistakable acts of rebellion, GOP lawmakers have are voting against the MAGA supremo’s priorities, producing what Congressional observers describe as a rare and little-studied phenomenon: independent thought.The biggest surprise came on Wednesday when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 215-208 to approve a resolution aimed at preventing Trump from continuing the three-month-old war against Iran without congressional authorization.Four Republicans, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Warren Davidson of Ohio, joined Democrats to support the measure.The resolution remains largely symbolic and it must still clear the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority, and even if it passes there, it would almost certainly face a presidential veto. Overriding that veto would require two-thirds majorities in both chambers, making its chances roughly comparable to Iran voluntarily offering to pay America’s war bill. Still, the symbolic rebellion marked the latest congressional setback for a President whose grip on the GOP has been tight.The House vote was particularly striking because Republican leaders had postponed a similar vote weeks ago when it looked likely to pass. Instead of disappearing, opposition grew.Meanwhile, on the Senate side, lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on amendments blocking the Trump administration’s now-aborted plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who Trump claims were wrongfully prosecuted or investigated by the Biden administration.The proposal has been denounced as a potential slush fund and questioned both its legality and political wisdom.Among the Republicans leading the resistance is Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has pushed amendments to ensure the fund cannot be revived, and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, recently nixed by Trump in a Texas primary.Several GOP senators privately fumed that Congress was being asked to bless a politically explosive idea that many viewed as unnecessary and difficult to defend back home.There is, however, an important rule governing Republican independence in the Trump era. The closer a lawmaker gets to retirement, the stronger their principles become.The joke on the Hill is that courage is most abundant among senators who have already announced they are not seeking re-election, which is when they discover constitutional objections, budgetary concerns and deeply held convictions that had apparently been misplaced for several election cycles.That is because Trump retains his most potent political weapon: the primary challenge – the inner party election where he can endorse a loyalist against a dissenter. The president has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to target dissenters, several of whom have been “primaried” and sent to political oblivion.Yet something appears to be changing. The Iran war, rising economic costs, disputes over spending priorities and growing unease about executive power have created pockets of resistance that would have been difficult to imagine even a few months ago.Opposition has surfaced not only on Iran but also on administration spending requests, intelligence appointments and various budget battles.None of this means Trump is losing control of the MAGA-infused GOP; he remains overwhelmingly popular with Republican voters, continues to dominate conservative media and retains the ability to make or break many political careers with a single social media post.But Washington is a city that measures the smallest ripple, and by that standard, recent events qualify as a noticeable tremor.While the votes are still small and the rebellions are limited, some GOP lawmakers are reminding Trump of an inconvenient constitutional detail: Congress is technically a separate branch of government.
