Reuters

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been a staunch ally of President Donald Trump.

By

ChrisEdelson

United States senators do not serve the president — at least, that’s not the way James Madison envisioned it.  Congress has a broad range of tools it can use to rein in the power of an out of control president and defend constitutional democracy. 

The
problem is that members of Congress have to be willing and able to
exercise their power and fulfill their responsibilities. Otherwise, in
Madison’s words, the authority assigned and entrusted to them by the
Constitution, becomes mere “parchment barriers” — empty words on paper.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is proving the wisdom of Madison’s warning. 

McConnell may, as historian Christopher Browning puts it, be seen by future generations as having been the “gravedigger of American democracy”. At every turn, McConnell has prioritized loyalty to President Donald Trump over loyalty to constitutional democracy — whether by blocking public revelation of Russia’s attack on the 2016 election, declining to protect the Mueller investigation, or refusing to back legislation to end the government shutdown unless
it has the president’s support.  It is not hyperbolic to say that,
without Mitch McConnell, there might well be no Trump presidency.

Read: Stock market could feel drag from shutdown by next week, analysts warn 

If Trump were an ordinary president, McConnell’s
deferential enabling would not threaten the foundations of American
democracy.

If
Trump were an ordinary president, McConnell’s deferential enabling
would not threaten the foundations of American democracy. But Trump has
made clear he does not respect the rule of law.  Several
members of his inner circle, including his former lawyer, first
national security advisor, and former campaign chairman, are now
convicted felons.  Every week (sometimes every day) brings new, troubling information about Trump’s legal peril and possible compromise by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A recent profile in the New York Times suggests
that McConnell understands at least some of the danger associated with
Trump’s presidency. When an interviewer asked McConnell whether he
worried about enabling a president who “seem[s], in some ways, very much
inclined to do damage to institutions of American governance”, the
majority leader did not dismiss the premise of the question. Instead of
denying that the president is a threat to government institutions,
McConnell responded that “the ultimate check against any of this is the
ballot box.”  He went on to suggest that last year’s midterm elections
in the House of Representatives showed that “there were plenty of people
who wanted a midcourse correction.”

McConnell seems to think of himself as merely a spectator when it comes to setting limits on President Trump.

That’s a
revealing statement.  McConnell appears to be sympathetic to the idea
that the president — the leader of the Republican Party — is someone who
needs to be checked.  Of course, no president should operate outside of
the constitutional system of checks and balances, but in recent
American history, it is hard to imagine a congressional leader endorsing
or at least condoning the idea that a president of his or her own party
needs reining in.  At the same time, McConnell seems to think of
himself as merely a spectator when it comes to setting limits on
President Trump.  That could well be a mistake, for two reasons.

First, the Times profile reports that McConnell’s friends and allies consistently describe him as a “student of history.” How will history judge McConnell’s passive bystander approach when it comes to Trump’s dangerous presidency?  As the historian Browning suggests, McConnell may ultimately be seen as someone who enabled a would-be authoritarian. 

Second,
McConnell may have to worry about his own political consequences. He
will stand for re-election in 2020, after completing his sixth term in
office.  The majority leader is walking a fine line.  In order to avoid
or withstand apossible primary challenge in Kentucky, a state where Trump’s approval rating stood at 55% - 40% as of December 2018, McConnell will want to avoid crossing the president. That, of course, may explain his failure to stand up to Trump. 

In
the general election, McConnell’s ties to Trump could prompt a serious
Democratic challenger to take on the majority leader. Recent polling
found McConnell to be the third-most unpopular member of
the U.S. Senate.  The only two senators in that poll less-popular than
McConnell: Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who are no
longer in the senate.

Over the next two years, it will be worth
watching to see how far McConnell goes in playing courtier to Trump.  As
of now, polling shows Americans blame the president for
the partial government shutdown.  So far, McConnell has said that he
can only support legislation the president will accept, incorrectly
claiming that “what you need in order to make a law is the presidential signature.” If the shutdown continues, McConnell could be blamed, especially if the standoff continues to roil financial markets.  McConnell could also face unwelcome scrutiny if he stands in the way of holding Trump accountable for malfeasance associated with the Mueller investigation.

If it becomes clear that there are enough votes in the senate to re-open the government over Trump’s veto, blame could fall on McConnell — especially if the shutdown continues to roil financial markets.  McConnell could also face unwelcome scrutiny if he stands in the way of holding Trump accountable for malfeasance associated with the Mueller investigation.

As
he thinks about the 2020 election and his own political future,
McConnell will continue to face the challenge of walking a tightrope
when it comes to the Trump presidency. The majority leader may be
interested in the verdict of future historians, but a more immediate
concern may be the judgment of Kentucky voters.

Chris Edelson is an assistant professor of government in American University’s School of Public Affairs. His book, “ Power Without Constraint: The Post 9/11 Presidency and National Security ,” was published in 2016 by the University of Wisconsin Press.