The more Republicans on Capitol Hill defy the president’s demands, the more he looks like a faltering lame duck.
After the war powers vote in the House, I started making a list of all the times congressional Republicans have ignored Trump’s wishes in recent weeks.
It quickly became apparent that it wouldn’t fit in a Bluesky post. #LameDuckWatch
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-06-04T12:56:07.200Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-legislative-losing-streak-continues
Democratic opponents of Donald Trump’s war with Iran tried seven times to pass a measure to severely restrict the president’s war powers, and seven times, Republicans balked.
Two weeks ago, however, there was a breakthrough: Four GOP senators broke ranks and helped Democrats advance a war powers resolution through the upper chamber.
This week, in the House, it happened again. MS NOW reported:
More than three months after President Donald Trump first launched an attack on Iran — and, more relevantly, more than 90 days since the war began — the House successfully voted to reassert Congress’ authority over the war.
In a 215-208 vote, the House adopted a war powers resolution on Wednesday, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in support of the legislation. (Reps. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted for the resolution.)
.....But as a political matter, the bipartisan House vote was a stinging setback for
Trump, who condemned the developments with predictable rage, castigating the vote as “unpatriotic” and telling the four GOP members who backed the measure that they “should be ashamed of themselves.”.....
Indeed, Trump’s legislative losing streak is increasingly embarrassing. In recent weeks, Republicans have also:
Rejected public funding for his White House ballroom vanity project
Forced the administration to abandon its $1.766 billion compensation fund (which even some Republicans condemned as a “slush fund”)
Criticized Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence
Ignored Trump’s calls to fire the Senate parliamentarian
Denounced Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton in Texas’ Senate race
Shelved the poorly named SAVE America Act, despite the president’s demands
Rejected the White House’s call for cuts to federal housing programs
Discarded Trump’s calls for a pause to the gas tax.
If the president were at the top of his game, riding high with a strong approval rating, it’s safe to say none of this would have happened. The list is itself evidence of his faltering fortunes.....
But with the president’s approval rating sinking to unusually low levels, polls showing Democrats relatively well positioned ahead of the midterm elections, and some Republicans joining the “YOLO caucus,” with members who are indifferent to the president’s wrath, Trump’s grip is clearly slipping.
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