Republicans in Congress are hesitant to antagonize President Trump ahead of ahead of difficult midterm elections, wary of sparking a backlash from a committed grassroots base more loyal to the White House.
Amid sky-high Democratic enthusiasm and a developing “blue wave,” Republicans can’t afford a war with Trump that depresses GOP turnout. Republicans might be worried about Trump’s attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller, but they are reluctant to push back, much less support legislation to curtail the president’s ability to fire Mueller and sideline the federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and possible collusion to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“The president is, as you know — you’ve seen his numbers among the Republican base — it’s very strong. It’s more than strong, it’s tribal in nature,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who decided to retire when his second term concludes at year’s end, after periodically sparring with Trump.
“People who tell me, who are out on trail, say, look, people don’t ask about issues anymore. They don’t care about issues. They want to know if you’re with Trump or not,” Corker added.
Congressional Republicans were confronted with the issue this week after Trump spent recent days questioning the legitimacy of the Russia probe and, for the first time, cast aspersions on Mueller’s integrity. The president has the authority to direct the Justice Department to relieve the special counsel; Trump’s criticism of Mueller fueled speculation that he could be laying the foundation for his dismissal.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Tuesday batted down those rumors again and said Trump isn’t “considering or discussing” firing Mueller. But in the meantime, Republicans on Capitol Hill faced fresh inquiries about an old proposal from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., to protect Mueller from removal by the president.
Some Trump critics are urging that it be included in the omnibus spending bill that must pass by week’s end to avoid a government shutdown. Republican leaders oppose this maneuver and quickly ruled it out.
The legislation was introduced last summer when Republicans worried Trump might pull the trigger. Seven months later, Tillis and his Republican colleagues have decided the bill is no longer necessary, even after the president escalated his attacks on the Russia probe and its chief investigator. Their reasoning is that Trump knows firing Mueller would be foolish.
Tillis dismissed suggestions that the upcoming midterm elections and a desire to avoid a spat with Trump were behind his decision to table the Special Counsel Integrity Act, co-authored with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
“There are some, present company excluded, that are trying to make it, again, appear like there’s some action that’s imminent on the president’s party, and I don’t by that,” Tillis told the Washington Examiner. “I think that’s another example of where I’m not going to take the bait and try and give fuel to that narrative. I’m here to talk about he economic progress that we’ve made.”
Republicans aren’t capitulating to Trump entirely. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., admonished the president on Tuesday for treating Russian strongman Vladimir Putin with kid gloves — and both he and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., both reiterated support for Mueller and the investigation he is leading on Tuesday.
Perhaps revealing how sensitive the issue is, however, GOP leaders and several rank-and-file Republicans have insisted there is no daylight between them and Trump when it comes to confidence in Mueller and the fairness of the Russia probe. “I’ve received assurances his firing is not even under consideration,” Ryan told reporters during a Tuesday morning news conference.
Trump remains a political asset for Senate Republicans, even as he drags down House Republicans in battleground districts and jeopardizes the party’s 23-seat advantage in that chamber. That’s because the battle for the Senate is largely playing out in red states the president won in 2016 that feature vulnerable Democratic incumbents.
Key to this advantage is the unity that has developed between Trump and Senate Republicans since last fall, when their relationship was riven with infighting that played out in public, as the president expressed frustration for their the failure to advance legislation to repeal Obamacare and they complained about his off-putting behavior.
Since then, Trump has provided crucial support for Republican incumbents, reducing tensions between a distrustful GOP base and incumbents running in the midterm. But that harmony could disintegrate in an instant, if Republicans corner Trump on Russia and he fights back on Twitter.
The only real loser in that fight would be congressional Republicans.
Public polling has consistently shown that most Republican voters are satisfied with Trump’s job performance and trust him over his allies in Washington. Rep. Jim Renacci, who Trump personally recruited to run for Senate in Ohio and must first get through a primary, said Republican voters aren’t interested in seeing the president pressured on Russia.
“The American people, and the people of Ohio, they’re just frustrated with what’s going on down here,” he said. “They want to see things move forward, they want to see the economy move forward, they like what’s going on with the president — the tax bill — they like seeing the economy growing and they’re tired with this bickering back and forth.”
Al Weaver contributed to this report
