Going into the November election with Donald Trump all but assured of being the Republican Party's presidential nominee, GOP lawmakers are increasingly having to run any ideas they have for legislation by the former president before bringing it to the floor.
And that has some legislators fuming about his interference.
According to a report from Politico, any effort by Republicans to get new legislation on the docket needs Trump's approval first lest he step in, like he has on the dying border deal hammered out by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), and kill it by using his proxies in Congress.
According to the report, "With every day that Trump draws closer to the GOP’s presidential nomination, his voice carries more weight within the party. The former president, who holds no elected office, arguably can exert more influence over the Republican agenda than either the party’s speaker or Senate GOP leader.
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That has drawn the ire of one senator who wants the former president to butt out.
With Politico reporting "a sizable number of lawmakers are chafing at the idea that Trump can single-handedly tie their hands," Sen. Kevin Kramer (R-ND) fumed, "I just think it’s unfortunate that we can’t, as individual United States senators, take the time and the effort and intellectual honesty to study something on your own and make a decision. Donald Trump has an opinion too. That’s great, but ours should be our opinion.”
The report adds that GOP members of the House, who face a new election every two years, are the most susceptible to having to bend the knee when it comes to Trump interference, adding, "a constant threat to [House Speaker Mike] Johnson’s job make it politically perilous to diverge from Trump."
You can read more here.