Republicans actually do stand up to Trump

[BloombergOpinion]( [Early Returns]( [Jonathan Bernstein]( I suppose someone has to come to the defense of Republicans in Congress after a series of confused complaints over the past week. As [one headline put it](: “21 British Conservatives put country over party. Why can’t 21 Republicans do the same?” Comparing politicians with very different jobs, in two very different systems, is a losing game already. But if we have to, the easy answer is: Republicans have in fact stood up to President Donald Trump on policy – repeatedly. I listed [seven different revolts]( in one column this summer. That’s not counting the time earlier this year when Senate Republicans undermined the president during the government shutdown. Nor is it counting all the things that Trump has tried to do by executive action because he couldn’t get a Republican Congress to pass what he wanted. So when [a news article says]( that an American analogue to the Tory revolt would need to include Republican senators such as Lamar Alexander and Mitt Romney, I think back to March, when [Alexander, Romney, and 10 other Republican senators]( voted against Trump’s declaration of an emergency over his border wall. Granted, in that case and others Republican dissenters haven’t had the votes to win. But that’s not because they weren’t willing to take a stand. In many cases, Trump is simply doing what congressional Republicans want, not the other way around. That’s true for tax and budget policies, for judges and executive-branch appointments, for guns, abortion, and more. Yes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sometimes says that he’d put a bill on the floor if Trump would agree to sign it. But he can do that safely because he knows that Trump will side with Republican-aligned interest groups on most policy questions. One exception might be Trump’s trade war. But trade simply isn’t a core issue for most Republicans. In fact, one reason the party doesn’t split the way the Conservatives have in Britain is that it isn’t divided on big issues the way that the Tories are divided over Europe. Back when Republicans still had moderate and liberal senators, they split on plenty of things – including, notably, the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. The reason they haven’t split over Trump’s Supreme Court picks isn’t that they’re more loyal to him than they were to Ronald Reagan in 1987. It’s because they sincerely want the kind of justices he’s been nominating. So on less central issues internal conflict doesn’t threaten a more serious rupture. And that leads to the real point: Republican dissent isn’t usually about putting country over party or vice versa; it’s about honest differences of opinion about what’s good for the nation. There is one big exception here: Congressional Republicans have been protecting Trump from accusations of corruption, obstruction of justice and more. They have, for the most part, backed his efforts to block routine oversight of his conflicts of interest and general lawlessness. Some of them may honestly think that his behavior is acceptable and that Congress is overstepping its bounds. But most are probably choosing partisanship over their congressional responsibilities in this case. Even so, it’s unlikely that many of them really think Trump is damaging the nation the way that dissident Tories think a no-deal Brexit would damage the U.K. But overall? Republicans stand up to Trump on policy all the time. That’s not because they’re especially brave or patriotic; it’s just how the U.S. system works. 1. Dave Hopkins on the fate of [favorite sons and daughters in presidential nominations](. 2. Dan Drezner on [China and the trade wars](. 3. Carolyn Holmes at the Monkey Cage on [violence in South Africa](. 4. Seth Masket at Mischiefs of Faction on Republicans [canceling their presidential primaries and caucuses](. 5. Peter Conti-Brown on what would happen [if Trump tries to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell](. 6. Fred Kaplan on [Trump and the Taliban negotiations](. 7. Lizzie O’Leary interviews the [former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett](. 8. And Walter Shapiro is correct that it’s [too early]( to assume that candidates well back in the polls can’t rally by New Hampshire (or Iowa). Although I think it’s going to be extremely difficult for those candidates who won’t be appearing in the September and October debates. Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. [Click here to subscribe](hash=b9b2681361bede0e1069ca238efb1ec2). Also subscribe to [Bloomberg All Access]( and get much, much more. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close. Bloomberg L.P. ● 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Web]( ● [Facebook]( ● [Twitter]( [Feedback]( ● [Unsubscribe](