GOP is accustomed to saying "no" to Trump

GOP lawmakers are finding it increasingly difficult to say "no" to President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump: "I do not need a summit" with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. A New York man arrested for uttering death threats against the fencing of Omar Border, labeled that the first section of the Trump Wall had been approved by Obama: PLUS report.

Whether it's demolishing ObamaCare or closing the border, Republicans criticize Trump when they feel his strategies are counterproductive – and hurt their own hopes of retain the White House and win Congressional seats in 2020.

In foreign policy, a minority of Republicans joined the Democrats to cut off US support for Saudi Arabia during the civil war in Yemen. They also thwarted Trump's plan to completely withdraw US troops from Syria and halve US force in Afghanistan.

The GOP legislators were furious with the budget cuts proposed for the Special Olympics, which Trump had canceled.

Republicans are also showing less deference to Trump.

Sen. Chuck GrassleyCharles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyTest at the fight back – Mnuchin's loyalty to Trump Iowa's Republican on Trump's statement: If the sound of the windmill was causing cancer, I would have the cancer of The Church Bell The Hill's 12:30 Report – Presented by Kidney Care Partners NY Times on Mueller Reporting MORE (R-Iowa), the oldest Republican in the Senate, told local reporters that Trump's claims that wind turbines causing cancer were "idiotic".

Sen. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyTrump announced that he was considering appointing Herman Cain at the Fed's DNC 2020 conference in Milwaukee, which will turn against McConnell: we will not repeal or replace ObamaCare PLUS (R-Utah) mocked Trump's planned choice for the Federal Reserve, Herman Cain, for the simplistic 9-9-9 tax plan he put in place during the 2012 Republican Presidential Election, which Romney had finally won.

Trump remains the leader of the party and Republicans still fear his involvement in the party primaries, where the president could torpedo the chances of the legislator in place by supporting his main opponent.

But Trump does not seem to instill the same level of fear among GOP lawmakers as he did.

A Republican senator closely allied to Trump said that the GOP leadership feels more and more comfortable exposing its conflicts with the president publicly.

This senator also said that there have been more twists than expected.

"There were more last year than was sometimes reported," said legislator, who requested anonymity to discuss leadership dynamics with Trump.

"I think everyone is getting used to it, especially at the management level. Mitch and the president feel more comfortable. They understand that they are part of the same team and go in the same direction, even if they do not follow the same route, "said the legislator, referring to the leader of the majority in the Senate Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellThe new green deal is an opportunity for GOP to resume the climate debate. The Hill's 12:30 Report – Presented by Kidney Care Partners – Biden says "no sorry" for past actions. Warren expressed his support for the elimination of systematic obstruction. MORE (R-Ky.).

Brian Darling, a Republican strategist and former Senate advisor, said Republicans learned that Trump respected people who showed a backbone, even if he did not agree with them.

"What many Republicans understand is that they can exert some influence over the president by backtracking and being aggressive. The president respects the people who defend themselves and he can be hard sometimes but he respects that, "Darling said.

But Darling said that in the end, Trump was trying his luck.

"He makes calls on the policies that will be adopted because he will be at the top of the list. He will lead the charge on the issues he wants to lead, the Congress is condemned, "he said.

Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulNight Defense: Lawmakers urge Trump not to veto Yemen resolution | Pentagon recognizes for the first time the deaths of civilians in Somalia | Pompeo "confident" at North Korea's third summit Legislators urge Trump not to veto Yemen's resolution Night Defense: Parliament decides to end US support for war in Yemen | Vote should force Trump's second veto to the presidency | More Russian troops could visit Venezuela | The first Space Force hearing is scheduled for next week MORE (R-Ky.) Described a recent episode in which he stated that a group of Republican senators came to the White House and tried to "brutalize" the president so that he abandoned his plan of withdrawal from Syria.

"I think most of them continue to retreat," Paul said of his Republican colleagues' contempt for Trump's wish to withdraw from Syria. "I was at the White House three or four weeks ago and six of them showed up to try to tell him why he had to stay.

"Five or six of them had asked for a meeting with him to try to make him stay in Syria and he told them what he had said to everyone: they go out", Paul said, describing the interaction with the president, but refusing to name the colleagues intimidation.

A similar episode unfolded shortly before 12 Republican senators voted last month in favor of a Democrats-backed resolution to disapprove Trump's statement of a state of affairs. national emergency at the border.

Meaning. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamDems is under pressure from the left to intensify the legal fight against Hillicon Valley's "blue bulletins" – Presented by CTIA and the US wireless sector – Prosecutors have used FISA warrant to obtain information on Huawei | Study reveals discrimination in Facebook ads | Bezos retains voting control over Amazon's shares of ex-wife Rand Paul blocks resolution calling for publication of Mueller report PLUS (R-S.C..) Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzHillicon Valley – Presented by CTIA and the US wireless industry – A legislator sees the political fallout in the fight for a measure "deepfakes" | Technology giants will testify at the hearing on allegations of "censorship" | Wendy Davis plans to run for the Texas convention headquarters, Facebook, Twitter and Google, to testify at the Senate hearing on the "censorship" of PLUS technologies (R-Texas) and Ben SasseBenjamin (Ben) Eric SasseSenate GOP proposes a constitutional amendment to maintain the 9-seat Supreme Court. Trump approves Nebraska disaster declaration Nebraska legislators urge Nebraska to approve disaster financing (R-Neb.) Is crushed a private dinner that Trump had with the first lady Melania TrumpMelania TrumpThe Morning's Morning Report – Washington is preparing for the end of the game Mueller Schwarzenegger tells Trump to listen to the first lady before attacking McCain The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump escalates attacks on McCain PLUS The night before the vote, in a bold attempt to change Trump's view of his emergency statement at the border, according to the Washington Post.

The lack of deference did not escape the president who reprimanded senators for interrupting his uninvited evening and wasting his time, according to The Post.

On the subject of health care, McConnell bluntly said on Monday in Trump on a phone call that the Senate would not be looking at comprehensive health care legislation, which the president had enthusiastically presented them with less from a week earlier at a meeting with the entire Senate conference.

Trump then gave up the idea and now says it will be an immediate action by 2021, assuming he is re-elected.

Sen. John CornynJohn CornynWendy Davis plans to run for a seat in the Texas Congress Kudlow states that the Trump government is opposed to the government's intervention in the 5G Texas Dems, creating "Cornyn War Room", which will spend millions of dollars to overthrow the outgoing president: report Read more (R-Texas), a member of McConnell's management team, called Trump on Tuesday night to tell him that closing the border would be a "terrible mistake" and McConnell warned earlier the same day that it would be "catastrophic".

Republicans also rejected an effort to dramatically increase funding for the military through a special account of contingency operations abroad, which would have avoided the expenditure ceilings.

Sen. James LankfordJames Paul LankfordGOP goes nuclear with modified rules for appointments to Trump This week: GOP Senate is preparing to change the rules applicable to Trump's nominees at Night Defense: the House votes to condemn the military ban on transgender | 5 Republicans vote against the ban | A Senate bill would prevent Turkey from getting the F-35 agreement over Russia (R-Okla.) Said GOP legislators have a responsibility to defend the interests of their constituents when they disagree with Trump's latest ideas. He noted the GOP's frequent criticism of Trump's trade actions.

"Republicans in the Senate have decided on tariffs, on Syrian politics," he said. "I have the responsibility to represent four million people."

Lankford said that closing the border would have a "dramatic" impact on Oklahoma.

"This is our second largest trading partner, Mexico," he said. "The parts, the supplies, the agriculture, all that would be [impacted] quite dramatic. "

Before the mid-session last year, Republicans have clearly avoided clashes with Trump, fearing their turnout will decrease.

The GOP leaders admitted last year that this was the reason they did not want to argue with the president about its pricing policy, even though there had been overwhelming opposition in the conference Senate Republicans.

In June, GOP leaders canceled the vote on a proposal sponsored by Sen. Bob CorkerRobert (Bob) Phillips Corker: Democrats Introduce Legislation to Limit Trump's Tariffs. Trump closely controls the GOP Brexit and gets out: a transatlantic comparison MORE (R-Tenn.), One of the main opponents of Trump, to restrict the power of the president to impose tariffs.

Cornyn, who was then the majority Senate whip, said, "This is not the time to argue with the president in the run-up to the mid-term elections."

McConnell personally felt the spur of falling on the wrong side of Trump in 2017 when the president repeatedly excoriated him on Twitter for failing to pass a bill to repeal and replace the law on affordable care. Trump even hinted that McConnell's days as a GOP leader in the Senate could be counted in case of failure of tax reform.

Sen. Mike RoundsMarion (Mike) Michael RoundsOn Money: Wells Fargo CEO Resigns | Trump promises to maintain funding for Special Olympics | House committee approves marijuana banking bill | The controversial choice of the Fed wins the support of the Senate The controversial choice of the Fed wins the support of the Obama Senate Surprise GdP Obama's decision on health care puts the GOP in trouble MORE (R-S.D.) Stated that his colleagues sought reciprocity in their relations with the President, noting that McConnell had spent most of the Senate calendar this year on the confirmation of executive power and Trump's judicial candidates.

This week again, the Senate GOP became "nuclear" by changing the rules of the Senate to speed up the confirmation of Trump's nominees.

Rounds said the Republicans would do everything in their power for the president, whenever it was feasible, asserting that Trump's idea of ​​moving to a major push for comprehensive health care reform was just not the right thing to do at the moment.

"We are doing something about his request to re-apply," he said. "As we say, we want this president to succeed. There are some things we can do and others that we can not do. Health care that we can not do.

"It's a difficult task because we do not think the Democrats in the House will support us," he said.