As we have been noting over the past few weeks, there has been a bit of a dustup between Donald Trump and several members of Congress.
Some of Trump’s moves are not sitting well with these individuals, and they are starting to speak up and push back.
Trump finally met his breaking point, and he unleashed, but that is not sitting well with everyone.
I generally do not like statement legislation, and that is what Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) put on the floor this week.
The resolution was to block Trump from being able to use military force against Venezuela in the future.
Five GOP senators joined Democrats to have the resolution pass, 52-47.
Among the Republicans to support the measure was Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
Sen. Hawley, who has generally supported Trump, is not doing so now, but he also wanted to explain why he voted for the resolution.
He stated, “With regard to Venezuela, my read of the Constitution is that if the President feels the need to put boots on the ground there in the future, Congress would need to vote on it.”
He continued, “That’s why I voted yes on this morning’s Senate resolution.”
The formal measure will hit the floor next week, then it will have to go to the House, and finally to Trump’s desk, where it will be vetoed, if it manages to make it that far.
Trump went nuclear on Truth Social over the legislation, stating, “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again.”
Trump has never taken to the idea that it is okay to have members of your party not agree with you all the time, as he usually tries to have anyone going up against him removed from office. Usually, the party looks the other way, but not this time.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) responded, “I would encourage the people around the president to understand what’s at stake in this election. We’ve got several seats in play. We’ve got even more so in the House. This is a time for Republicans to put their differences behind closed doors and support each other.”
There were numerous other responses, all backing Collins, with everyone in agreement that in a moderate state like Maine, the best chance we have of holding that seat is to keep Collins in the game. When she decides to step down, we likely lose that seat to Democrats. So, do you want the majority and continue to control the power, or do you want to turn the Senate back over to Democrats… that is the question Trump needs to ask himself before launching into these tirades.