Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

WASHINGTON — After a resounding election victoryand deliver what the president-elect is Donald Trump and the Republicans mention a “mandate” to governan uncomfortable political question arises: Will there be any room for dissent in the US Congress?

Trump is already laying down a gauntlet before taking office challenge the Senatein particular, to dare to challenge him about the nominations of Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other controversial choices for him Cabinet and board positions.

The promise of unified governmentwith the capture of the White House by the Republican Party and Republican majorities in the House and Senateis giving way to a more complicated political reality as congressional leaders once again confront what it means to align themselves with Trump’s agenda.

“This will be an alarming moment for American democracy,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on CNN after Trump tapped Gaetz as attorney general.

Trump returns to the White House height of his political power, after winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote for his party for the first time in decades. The trifecta in Washington presents a tantalizing political opportunity for Republicans to open up a universe of political and policy priorities — from tax cuts to mass deportations to gutting the regulatory and federal bureaucracy, along with Trump’s vows to seek vengeance and prosecution against his perceived enemies and pardon those who attacked the Capitol January 6, 2021.

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

“One of the possible futures for Congress is that it becomes a rubber stamp,” said Phillip Wallach, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute who writes extensively about Congress.

Wallach said the threat to Congress is on his mind, but he also believes it would be greater if Republicans had won a larger majority. The House of Representatives could actually end up with smaller numbers, and the Senate’s advantage of 53 seats, while more than a simple majority is needed to confirm nominees, can hardly be seen as a mandate.

Plus, “They’re not wimps,” he said of elected lawmakers. “There is no reason for them to turn themselves into a doormat.”

It is a changed Washington compared to Trump’s first term. Congress has been purged of its strongest critics. At the same time, the Supreme Court has shifted dramatically to the right, with three justices appointed by Trump and a majority decision over the summer authorizing the president broad immunity of persecution.

Trump’s Cabinet picks pose the biggest early test for Congress.

While Trump’s choice for Senator. Marco RubioR-Fla., because the secretary of state is expected to receive somewhat broad support, including from Democrats, others like Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Piet Hegseth as Minister of Defense require more attention.

The choice of Gaetz, a fierce Trump loyalist who speaks of widespread unrest at the Justice Department, is all the more troubling for senators because of a Ethics investigation in the House of Representatives for alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. He denies the allegations but submitted his resignation from Congress as soon as he was nominated, effectively halting the investigation.

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

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

Other Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate stood behind Gaetz and supported his effort to crack down on the Justice Department over what they see as perceived bias, especially over Trump’s prosecutions for trying to overturn the 2020 election prior to the attack on the Capitol and for hoarding classified documents.

“I know the Democrats are clutching their pearls right now, and they’re very, very angry about everything,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said on Fox News.

“But considering how they have weaponized the DOJ, this is a situation that needs serious reform,” he said. “It is President Trump’s prerogative to choose who to nominate.”

Incoming Senate GOP leader John Thune said confirmation of Trump’s nominations will be a priority next year and that senators should “expect an aggressive schedule until his nominees are confirmed.”

Complicating matters for senators is the Trump campaign’s decision not to participate in the traditional transition process so far, as they have refused to sign agreements with the federal government that would, among other things, initiate FBI background checks on nominees , among other standard steps prior to confirmation hearings.

Senators may be forced to consider nominees who have not been vetted in the traditional manner.

Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, worried that Americans would remain in the dark about their top officials. “People have the right to know who is in charge of critical aspects of their government,” he said.

Trump intensified his demands on the Senate, suggesting it should consider this break appointments of his nominees – a highly unorthodox request that essentially asks the Senate to abandon its constitutional advisory and consent role and allow its nominees to be installed without a vote.

Wallach said if senators chose that route, 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.

One of the most significant confrontations of that earlier Trump era occurred over the promised border wall, as the White House attempted to siphon off congressionally approved military base construction funds and repurpose them for the US-Mexico wall .

Congress largely won that round, after long battles, 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 ally, said he typically confirms a president’s nominees, regardless of party, and plans to give another yes vote.

“I consider this matter closed,” he said.

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