Fearful of Trump’s wrath, Congress abdicates its authority

The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration have brought an unprecedented expansion of presidential power. They've also brought an unprecedented abdication of congressional authority. Fearful of incurring Trump’s wrath — and perhaps primary opposition — Republican lawmakers have voted to confirm unqualified nominees, and rubber-stamped Medicaid cuts they acknowledged would hurt their constituents, often after proclaiming publicly they would never do so. Oversight committees, which are supposed to police the executive branch's management of legislation, are ignoring the administration’s unconstitutional dismantling of statutory agencies and programmes — and complaining about the federal judges who are seeking to protect them.

- Carl P. Leubsdorf, Tribune News Service

Some members who represent swing districts or states with thousands of Medicaid recipients may face the wrath of voters next year. All of them should. There’s no question which member of Congress put on the year's most hypocritical legislative performance. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri spent two months righteously condemning pending GOP proposals to cut Medicaid, noting it serves over one million Missourians. For Republicans “to build our 'big, beautiful bill' around slashing health insurance for the working poor,” he wrote in The New York Times, “is both morally wrong and politically suicidal.” He then voted for it, citing a modest addition funding rural hospitals. Then, he introduced a bill to repeal some of the Medicaid cuts, an empty gesture destined never to see the light of day — or the Senate calendar.

Hawley was not the only GOP senator casting a damaging vote while expressing reservations. Sen. Lisa Murkowski gained some concessions for her Alaska constituents, then voted for the Trump package while expressing doubts about what she was doing.