The GOP Senate revolts against Donald Trump, and Mitch McConnell gets caught in the crossfire
On Thursday, six GOP Senators voted for a Democratic Party bill to reopen the federal government without any funding for Donald Trump’s wall. It was a clear sign that the Republican Senate was revolting against Trump, and defying Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the process. Now it turns out the revolt is much uglier behind the scenes.
It all began when The Hill reported that various Republican Senators privately read Mike Pence the “riot act” over Donald Trump’s ongoing insistence at holding the nation hostage over his imaginary border wall. But that was just the beginning of the trouble. When GOP Senators had lunch with Mitch McConnell, the Washington Post is reporting that Senator Ron Johnson yelled “This is your fault!” at McConnell. So what’s about to give here?
It’s clear that Republican Senators aren’t merely venting about this; they’re staking themselves to voting against Donald Trump’s wishes, in increasing numbers. This will only become more of a problem for the GOP in the coming hours and days. There are only two possible outcomes. One is that Mitch McConnell caves to his own Senators by backing a bill to reopen the government without wall funding. The other is that the GOP Senators oust McConnell and move forward without him.
We’ll see what happens next. But one way or the other, this is looking increasingly tricky for Mitch McConnell, and increasingly a no-win situation for Donald Trump. Republican Senators ultimately care more about their own reelection prospects than they do about Trump’s fragile ego, so they’re going to selfishly do what they think is best for themselves.
