WASHINGTON (AP) — There wasn’t a dramatic break or an exact moment it happened. But little by little, Senate Republicans are turning their backs on President Donald Trump.
They defeated an Obamacare repeal bill despite his pleas. They’re ignoring his Twitter demands that they get back to work on it. They dissed the White House budget director, defended the attorney general against the president’s attacks and passed veto-proof sanctions on Russia over his administration’s objections.
And they’ve ignored White House spending priorities, reasserting their own independence, which had looked sorely diminished in the aftermath of Trump’s surprise election win.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina says, “We work for the American people. We don’t work for the president.”