lpetrich
Contributor
Trump asserts his power over Republicans | TheHill
Then his attacking Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from an investigation into Trump's Russia connections. He is running for US Senate in Alabama, where he was once a Senator, and Trump has endorsed a rival, Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville (Auburn U is in Auburn, AL).Trump flexed his muscle on Capitol Hill last week by scuttling bipartisan legislation to extend the intelligence surveillance powers that had passed the Senate easily and was expected to pass the House.
Once Trump threatened on Wednesday to veto the measure, Republican support in the lower chamber fell away quickly, forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to pull the bill from the schedule.
“It’s not a Washington phenomenon, it’s a grass-roots phenomenon,” Weber said. “His support is out in the countryside, in the Republican Party, and I think if not for that there would be at least some brake on the president’s actions in Washington. But there’s not because [lawmakers] go back home and find the party wants to back the president almost without restraint."
“I think that’s going to be become more the case, not less the case, as we go forward,” he added.
...
Despite many signs that Trump is strengthening his grip on the party, there’s evidence that a sizable minority of Republicans continue to have doubts about his leadership style.
...
Yet Trump has received little to no criticism from Republicans in Congress as he has moved to oust watchdogs within his administration who have pointed out or threatened to point out mistakes.