Heading into his big Monday meeting with Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell got a nice shout out from his nemesis Steve Bannon. The Associated Press writes:
Steve Bannon, back at Breitbart News after helping Trump win the presidency and serving in the West Wing, is committed to dumping McConnell, R-Ky. In a speech to religious conservatives Saturday, Bannon put on notice some of those incumbents who are at risk of a challenge from his flank of the party. He said the lawmakers possibly can avoid that wrath if they disavow McConnell and meet other conditions.
“This is our war,” Bannon said. “The establishment started it. ...You all are gonna finish it.”
The White House wasn't offering much pre-meeting love either.
The senators’ weeklong recess also drew criticism from the White House: “They’re on another vacation right now. I think that we would all be a lot better off if the Senate would stop taking vacations, and start staying here until we actually get some real things accomplished,” Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders had said.
Trump piled on the misery of Senate Republicans at a Monday morning cabinet meeting, saying pointedly, "They're not getting the job done." But by Monday afternoon, he gave a whiplash performance alongside McConnell in the Rose Garden, assuring reporters that he was totally lockstep with Senate Republicans.
Still, actions speak louder than words and Trump has consistently proven that he has little interest in tying himself to the fate of GOP lawmakers. In fact, one of his few successes as pr*sident has been to turn his base of supporters against congressional Republicans. That puts him in the catbird seat. If they fail, it's all on them; but if they succeed, he'll surely take credit for it.
As one might guess, a certain sense of foreboding is starting to settle in among GOP lawmakers.
Senate Republicans had been upbeat about adding to their 52-48 edge in the chamber, especially with Democrats defending more seats next year — 10 in states Trump won in last year’s presidential election. But the Bannon challenge could cost them, leaving incumbents on the losing end in primaries or GOP candidates roughed up for the general election.