The cracks widen

This week, in a remarkable series of bipartisan rebukes to the president, Congress pushed back.

On Wednesday, with seven Republicans breaking ranks, the Senate joined the Democrat-led House in voting to end American military aid to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen in protest over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post. On Thursday morning, the House voted unanimously on a nonbinding resolution to make public the findings of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

And on Thursday afternoon, 12 Republican senators abandoned the president to pass legislation, already adopted by the House, that would block Mr. Trump from declaring a national emergency to build his border wall — an act of defiance that he has vowed to overturn with the first veto of his presidency.

  NYT

Some may be wobbly, not having used their spines for two years.

“We’re saying today, ‘No, we do not acquiesce to this,’” Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said after voting to block the emergency declaration. “We do not agree that the president should be able to come in and go against the express intention of the Congress when it comes to these appropriated funds” for his wall.

Anybody want to guess what his nickname for Lisa will be?

“We have an issue that has been litigated and adjudicated through Congress. I mean, what was more litigated than this very question? We had a government shutdown for crying out loud,” said Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, referring to funding for the border wall, which Mr. Trump is trying to secure with an emergency declaration that would circumvent Congress.

“It’s about separation of powers,” Mr. Toomey said. “It’s about respecting the principles of the Constitution.”

Nasty nickname for Toomey?

“We don’t often have great votes about great questions around here about separation of powers,” said Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, adding, “I don’t think you can overstate how important it is that for the first time in the history of the country, the full Congress voted to tell the president that we can’t be in a war.”

For Rand?

“He feels good,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, a close ally of Mr. Trump who talked to the president shortly after the vote. “He said, ‘My veto will be sustained?’ I said, ‘Yeah, overwhelmingly.’ He feels like his commitment to build the wall is moving forward.”

Smarmy Lindsey is really an asskisser. I wish his compatriots would prove him wrong. But how telling it is that Trump needed reassurance before he'd actually veto the bill.

[T]he rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans could bolster legal challenges to the emergency declaration that could tie up wall funding indefinitely.

And it's highly unlikely that "he feels good." No matter what Lindsey says. He has to be feeling nervous about losing the grip he had on them.  Three times in one week.  While Manafort and Stone and Cohen are in the headlines for crimes in conjunction with the Trump campaign.  And New York's AG opening up an investigation into the Trump organization.  And increased scrutiny on Jared.  Getting closer to the moment when Junior gets indicted. Whitaker called back in to testify.  The noose is tightening.

“There are moments where you see a partisan rebuke” of the president by Congress, said William G. Howell, a political scientist at the University of Chicago and the author of “Power Without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action.” “They are really pretty infrequent, and when you do observe them it speaks to real tumult in the party.”

[...]

House Republicans, who joined Democrats in voting to call for Mr. Mueller’s report to be made public, insist there was no tumult.

[...]

[T]he fight over wall funding may incite yet another round of congressional muscle-flexing. A number of Republicans are pushing legislation to claw back the powers that Congress gave the president in the National Emergencies Act, which Mr. Trump invoked to declare an emergency along the southwestern border.

“The Senate’s waking up a little bit to our responsibilities,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee.

It's about fucking time. And I'll still remain skeptical until I see it happening some more.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Another blow.



This is the Summer Zervos case.  She's the woman who is suing Trump for defamation.