Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

WASHINGTON (AP) After a resounding election victory, fulfilling what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans have called their mandate to govern, a delicate political question arises: Will there be room for dissent in the U.S. Congress?

Trump is issuing a challenge even before he takes office by daring the Senate, in particular, to dare defy him on the nominations of Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other controversial picks for his Cabinet posts and of administration.

The promise of a unified government, with the Republican Party winning the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate, is giving way to a more complex political reality as congressional leaders once again face this what it means to align with Trump's agenda.

This is going to be a red alert moment for American democracy, Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said on CNN after Trump nominated Gaetz for attorney general.

Trump returns to the White House at the height of his political power, having won the electoral college and the popular vote for his party for the first time in decades. The trifecta in Washington offers a tantalizing political opportunity for Republicans, opening up a universe of policy priorities ranging from tax cuts to mass evictions to gutting the regulatory and federal bureaucracy, not to mention Trump's promise of revenge and pursue his suspected enemies. and pardon those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

But for Congress, it's also a potentially existential moment, one that tests whether its status as a co-equal branch of the U.S. government can withstand a second Trump administration.

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One possible future for Congress is for it to become a rubber stamp, said Phillip Wallach, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute who writes extensively about Congress.

Wallach said the threat to Congress is on his mind, but he also thinks it would be more pronounced if Republicans had won larger majorities. In fact, the House could end up with fewer seats, and the Senate's 53-seat advantage, while greater than the simple majority needed to confirm nominees, can hardly be considered a mandate.

Besides, they're not wimps, he said of elected lawmakers. There is no reason for them to turn into a doormat.

Washington has changed since Trump's first term. Congress has been purged of its fiercest critics. At the same time, the Supreme Court has shifted sharply to the right, with three justices appointed by Trump and a majority decision this summer that granted the president broad immunity from prosecution.

Trump's Cabinet picks pose the most important first test for Congress.

While Trump's choice of Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, as secretary of state is expected to enjoy broad support, including from Democrats, others like Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense raises more questions. careful examination.

The choice of Gaetz, a fierce Trump loyalist who speaks of the general upheaval of the Justice Department, is all the more troubling for senators because of a House ethics investigation into allegations of sexual and consumer misconduct of illicit drugs. He denies the allegations but tendered his resignation from Congress upon his appointment, thus ending the investigation.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would consider Gaetz's nomination, called on the House to preserve and share its report with the panel.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, said he expects all information about the nominees to be made available.

Other Republicans in the House and Senate have sided with Gaetz, supporting his efforts to go after the Justice Department for what they see as perceived bias, particularly over his prosecutions against Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election before the attack on the Capitol and for hoarding classified information. documents.

I know Democrats are clutching their pearls right now, and they're very, very upset about everything, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said on Fox News.

But if you think about how they've weaponized the DOJ, it's a situation that needs serious reform, he said. It is President Trump's prerogative to choose who he wishes to nominate.

New Senate GOP Leader John Thune said confirming Trump's nominees would be a priority next year and that senators should expect an aggressive schedule until his nominees are confirmed.

The Trump campaign's decision not to engage, thus far, in the traditional transition process complicates the situation for senators, having refused to sign agreements with the federal government that would initiate background checks on nominees by the FBI, among other standard steps before confirmation hearings.

Senators could be forced to consider candidates who were not selected using traditional methods.

Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, worries that Americans are being left in the dark about their top officials. People have a right to know who runs critical aspects of their government, he said.

Stepping up his demands on the Senate, Trump suggested he should consider so-called suspension nominations of his nominees, a highly unorthodox request that essentially asks the Senate to abandon its constitutional role of advice and consent and allow the installation of its candidates without a vote.

Wallach said if senators chose this path, it would be an act of extreme institutional self-sabotage.

Congress has been here before, during the first Trump administration, when the White House tested the limits of its executive power.

Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in a second administration, but his proposals are more complicated than they appear and often lacking in detail.

One of the most significant confrontations of the previous Trump era took place over the border wall promise, when the White House attempted to divert funds approved by Congress for projects to build military bases and reassign them to the wall between the United States and Mexico.

The Congress largely won this victory, after a long struggle, but it is about to be tested in new ways.

Trump plans a series of executive orders on the first day of the new administration to launch his mass deportations and other priorities.

Trump allies, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and influential commentator Charlie Kirk, have warned of consequences in the form of primary challenges for senators who fail to confirm nominees.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Trump's on-again, off-again ally, said he typically confirms the president's nominees, regardless of party, and intends to vote yes again.

I consider this matter closed, he declared.

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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

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