McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Republican leader since 2007, has long been one of Washington’s most cunning political operatives. But a bipartisan bill to strengthen border security and provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, a project with the president’s full support, is unlikely to ease the border crisis before Trump’s November election. I completely collapsed because I said I couldn’t do it.
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D.N.Y.) adjourned the chamber Wednesday “to give my Republican colleagues a night of soul-searching.” What they need is a little self-awareness. With a few exceptions, such as Mitt Romney (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Republican senators don’t want to do anything that might come under fire from President Trump.
Even Mr. McConnell ultimately voted against the border bill he supported. It must have been a humiliating surrender for a man used to being in command.
Trump’s control over the Republican base and right-wing echo chamber is complete. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who helped negotiate the failed package and wrested unprecedented concessions from Democrats on border security in exchange for vital Ukraine aid, has spoken to the Senate about the pressure he’s under. He spoke angrily in the assembly hall.
“There was a popular commentator,” Lankford said Wednesday, “who flatly said to me, before I knew anything about the bill…if you want a bill to solve the border crisis in this presidential year.” If they’re going to pass it, that’s what I’m going to do.” I will do everything I can to destroy you because I don’t want you to solve this problem during the presidential campaign. ”
Passing significant legislation during election periods has long been difficult, but this should have been an exception. Republicans have spent months screaming about the crisis at the border, but Mr. Lankford, one of the most conservative members of the Senate, did exactly what party leaders asked him to do. Which senators will raise their hand the next time McConnell is given a mandate?
The serious question now is how Congress can get even its most basic and important work done with President Trump effectively directing Republicans in both houses of Congress.
How will the government maintain open operations? Current stopgap funding measures are scheduled to expire on March 1st and March 8th. In the House of Commons, Johnson is sure to suffer his usual Sisyphean travails as he argues with MAGA nihilists and fiscal hawks to support a reasonable funding extension. Mr. McConnell has typically been a central figure in negotiations to avert a government shutdown, and has always amassed enough Republican votes to ensure funding bills pass the Senate. But will those votes still exist when he calls for them? Or are Republican senators going to do whatever President Trump wants instead?
McConnell garnered 17 Republican votes Thursday in a procedural vote to advance a standalone foreign aid bill. If ultimately approved, the bill would provide $60 billion to help Ukraine resist a full-scale Russian invasion and $14 billion to Israel in the Gaza war.
Ukraine’s need for assistance is particularly important, and Mr. McConnell has sought to make it a priority. However, President Trump has harshly criticized continued aid to the Kiev government, and Republican senators who support this are at risk of being targeted in a comprehensive article by Truth Social.
And funding for Ukraine faces an even bleaker outlook in the House. Mr Johnson has consistently voted against aid to Ukraine since before he became Speaker, and MAGA’s loudest voices have taken an overestimating attitude towards my corpse. If Prime Minister Johnson allows the Ukraine aid bill to come to a vote, I believe it could pass with a bipartisan majority. But if Mr. Johnson relies on Democratic votes to rebel against the tenets of the Trump cult, he will likely be ousted from the speakership.
No one knows what Republicans in both houses of Congress will do. Perhaps Mr. Johnson and Mr. McConnell should hold a standing conference call with Mr. Trump to find out.