Why a Senate Republican tantrum over Trump's conviction matters [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last edited Tue Jun 4, 2024, 01:33 AM - Edit history (1)

Sen. Mike Lee and nine of his GOP colleagues aren't just furious about Donald Trump being held accountable, they're also throwing an important tantrum.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/senate-republican-tantrum-trumps-conviction-matters-rcna155146

Almost immediately after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape rocked the 2016 presidential campaign, Sen. Mike Lee made headlines with an unexpected reaction to the controversy. In a Facebook video that’s no longer online, the Utah Republican urged Donald Trump to end his candidacy and allow GOP officials to nominate someone else......

At the time, the Utahan still appeared eager to present himself to the public as a serious and principled lawmaker. Eight years later, Lee has adopted a dramatically different partisan posture in the wake of Trump’s criminal conviction. The Associated Press reported:

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, circulated his own letter in which he suggested it was the White House that “made a mockery” of the rule of law and altered politics in “un-American” ways. He and other senators threatened to stall Senate business until Republicans take action. “Those who turned our judicial system into a political cudgel must be held accountable,” Lee said.

It is, by any fair measure, a curious document. The day after a jury of Trump’s peers held him accountable for his crimes, Lee took the lead in circulating this one-paragraph statement. On social media, the GOP senator declared, “Strongly worded statements are not enough. ... We are no longer cooperating with any Democrat [sic] legislative priorities or nominations, and we invite all concerned Senators to join our stand.”.....

The procedural nuances matter. The Senate, on a day-to-day basis, functions in large part by unanimous consent. Yes, the institution often appears slow and sclerotic, but determined members still have the capacity to make matters even worse through tactical delays.

And it appears that Lee and his far-right colleagues intend to do exactly that — not because Senate Democrats have done anything wrong, and not because the White House was responsible for Trump’s prosecution, but because of an imaginary conspiracy that Republicans prefer to treat as true.

Or put another way, Lee and nine other Senate Republicans will deliberately stand in the way of their institution doing the people’s business because local prosecutors held a private citizen accountable for his crimes. These GOP senators apparently believe their job is to elevate Trump’s interests above the nation’s interests.

What’s less clear, however, is the possible remedy. What, exactly, do Lee and his cohorts expect to happen? What ransom do they expect to be paid in order to allow the Senate to function as it should?

If the answer is that federal officials will somehow meddle in a local criminal matter, intervening to free Trump from accountability for his felonies, that isn’t going to happen — because it can’t.