Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7 June 2026
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932
The checks are coming
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – Trouble is coming, and in an unexpected manner to the president. There are checks and balances, and the checks are coming.
A Republican-controlled Congress mainly known for doing whatever President Trump wants is finally flexing some of its Article Two constitutional powers as an equal branch of government. Four Republicans joined all Democrats in passing a War Powers Resolution in the House chamber that would end the war with Iran.
It is a powerful statement but only the beginning of a long process that would likely end with Trump’s veto.
Speaker Johnson warned lawmakers that the resolution would undermine Trump’s ability to negotiate, but that is not the issue. The 1973 War Powers Act states that any military conflict that exceeds more than 60 days must be brought to Congress for a yea or nay vote.
A real revolt is brewing on the Senate side as well with lawmakers furious about the administration’s attempt to win congressional approval for a White House ballroom by framing it as a national security imperative with a “drone port” on the roof.
Under pressure from Congress, the White House scrapped an “anti-weaponization fund” that would funnel money to 1/6 rioters as part of a tax settlement Trump arranged for himself.
Now that the Republican Congress is showing signs of life, it is fair to ask what more can they do? Can these lawmakers assert themselves in Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian government?
Congress has the power of the purse, and they are denying some of Trump’s priorities, notably the ballroom and the slush fund.
Congress can make or break treaties with its votes. When Trump’s tariffs were declared illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, analysts noted that Trump could just go to Congress and ask for the power to tariff.
He chose instead to go it alone, and now he has lost enough goodwill in Congress that he probably couldn’t get anything through.
Congressional war-making power gets a lot of media attention, but it is not clear that Congress has an off switch no matter how many votes are compiled. Secretary of State Rubio told a congressional committee the Iran war is over because major hostilities have ceased. Presidents have a way to get around any restrictions. Harry Truman notably called the war in Korea a “police action.”
The primary way we will see the Senate assert itself in the coming months is in the confirmation process. It takes 50 votes in the Senate with the vice president breaking any tie to confirm judges and executive branch appointees.
Trump has alienated two more mainstream Republicans, Texas Senator Cornyn and Louisiana Senator Cassidy, who have strong incentives to vote their conscience and vote against, for example, Todd Blanche, the president’s personal lawyer, to become Attorney General. Trump ended their political careers by endorsing their rivals in last month’s primaries because they were not sufficiently loyal to him in his view.
There has been talk about Justice Alito retiring from the Supreme Court. Trump’s instinct would be to appoint a known loyalist and until recently the Republican Senate was compliant enough that it would wave just about anybody through, just like they did with Trump’s Cabinet picks.
No more, Trump has alienated his own base on Capitol Hill with his defiant remarks about the midterms. He says he does not care about them, that his focus is on making sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon. He dismisses concerns about rising inflation and says voter concern about affordability is a Democratic hoax.
Trump does not recognize Congress as a co-equal branch, treating it as an inconvenient obstacle to be overcome or threatened into submission. Because his party has controlled both chambers, he has experienced little serious oversight by congressional committees. That will change if the Democrats gain control of the House in November, which seems likely.
For now, though, serious pushback to Trump’s agenda has come mainly from the lower courts. And many judicial rulings, while laudable, arrive after the damage has been done. That is why it is so important to our way of government for Congress to do its job and stand up to an executive who in real time is running roughshod over the rules and traditions and norms that make us who we are.
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
© 2026 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc
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END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND