Donald Trump suddenly has a whole new Russian sanctions nightmare
While Donald Trump is spending more than a week at one of his golf courses and the House of Representatives is on summer vacation, the Senate is still working away in Washington DC. It seems that Republican Senators are not happy that Trump is keeping them working through their originally planned break. Things are so bad that The Washington Post recently called them the “coalition of the cranky.” The decision by Senate Leader Mitch McConnell to curtail their vacation is directly attributable to Trump’s tweets claiming Democrats were preventing many of his judicial appointments from being confirmed.
It appears Trump’s decision to prevent senators from going home is backfiring on him. Several Republicans are facing crucial reelections in three months and they would much rather be home campaigning instead of wasting their summer in judicial hearings. As Palmer Report has documented, even some of his staunchest supporters are openly defying Trump. If challenging the power of Trump or his cabinet was not enough, they have now hit Trump where it will really hurt. A bipartisan group of Senators has introduced a new set of Russian sanctions, calling it the “bill from hell.” Following the last round of veto-proof sanctions, Trump waited months to implement them in an attempt to appease the one person he fears more than Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Senator Lindsay Graham, who has at times spoken out in favor of Trump, told reporters that his “bill from hell” is necessary to punish Russia. This new bill, created to punish Russia for attacking American democracy and stealing the 2016 election, would “impose stiff new sanctions on Russia and combat cybercrime.” Included in the bill would be new sanctions on top Russian politicians and oligarchs, restrictions on new Russian sovereign debt transactions, and limit energy and oil projects.
While we have yet to see any tweets by Donald Trump with regard to having to again punish the man he most fears, this is certainly on his mind as his tweets become even more unhinged than normal. I would say that maybe Trump will think twice before shortening the Senate’s summer vacation next year, but I doubt he will still be in politics by then.
I’m a ceramic engineer living in Central New York, avid sports fan but find myself more interested in politics lately.