"While we watch (Trump), we have to watch our Congress. "I watched the senators head for the bedroom the other day after it all broke out, reporters saying: what do you have to say, what do you mean? "They had nothing to say. They would not react. "And so we are not just a country of president. We have a congress. We have a Supreme Court. Most importantly, we have the people of the United States, those who vote, those who vote and those who vote. " Make no mistake about what Powell is doing here: he's calling - and coming out - Republican lawmakers for their total surrender to all of Trump's whims. He tries to remind them that the founders of the country envisioned three equal parts of government - not a legislative branch that lived in fear of the executive and did everything it said.
This is what the Republican Party of Washington has done in the past three years. While Trump was the choice of almost none of the top Republican leaders in Washington during the 2016 campaign, it became clear from his march towards the GOP nomination and his sweeping victory over Hillary Clinton that he would force them to make a very clear choice: Are you with me or against me?
Trump's political world view did not allow nuance or differentiation. Either you agreed with him - at least publicly - 100% of the time, or you were his enemy - and, therefore, someone he would try to destroy. (And yes, it's an incredibly simplistic way to see politics and the world.)
So, very early in Trump's presidency, Republican leaders had to make a choice: you completely align yourself with Trump (and get some of your top priorities like more conservative judges, tax cuts, etc.) or Are you asserting your independence as a legislative body and risking a tense relationship with the Director General which could compromise these priorities?
They chose the first option. And it paid significant political dividends. A massive tax reduction. Two confirmed judges of the Supreme Court. Almost 200 federal judges confirmed in lower courts.
But these political victories also had a high political price. The 2018 midterm elections, in which the Democrats regained control of the House, were largely motivated by a revolt of suburban women against Trump's party. The political landscape before the 2020 election looks increasingly perilous for Republicans - in the House and in the Senate - as Trump's numbers continue to waver; his approval rate in a CNN poll released Monday morning was 38%, the lowest ebb for him since January 2019.
Even in the midst of these disturbing signs, however, very few Republicans are likely to heed Powell's call to defend himself - and against the president.
Following criticism of President James Mattis by former Defense Secretary late last week, mom was speaking among Republicans in Congress, with some notable exceptions, such as Lisa Murkowski's senses (R- Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). .
"This is General Mattis' opinion, he is free to express it," Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson told CNN.
"It's just politically fashionable to blame Trump for everything - and I'm not buying it," said South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.
When Trump delivered a speech in response to growing protests after the death of George Floyd - then evacuated a group of protesters so that he could leave the White House and conduct a photo op at St. John's Church - Republican leaders, again, said nothing.
"I will not criticize the performance of others," said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).
"I didn't follow, I'm sorry," said Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy.
This silence (or that head in the sand) is what Trump bought with the political proposals he pushed. The unspoken agreement reached by Republicans in Congress was that they would use Trump to gain long-desired conservative priorities in exchange for flawless political loyalty to a man who, up to a few years before deciding to stand for election Presidential in 2016, was not even a Republican and one who, on a variety of issues ranging from trade to deficits, has views directly opposite to those adopted by the GOP establishment just a few years ago.
No one knew what the price of this silent loyalty would be at the start of 2017. To date, this could well lead to a Democratic President and a Democrat-controlled congress in January 2021. And even beyond that, the total embrace Trump's reluctance to offer real criticism of policies and statements that are far beyond any traditional definition of "conservative" may well roll back the GOP brand for much longer than a single election.
The question that every Republican will have to ask himself, perhaps sooner than later, is this: Was it worth it?
