The August recess brought a variety of changes to Washington, long needed renovations to the White House, a re-shifting of the Trump's staff and another shift in the Republican Party's support for the President. As Congress tries to recover from the political damage they've taken on during the first seven months of the Trump presidency, they are now reportedly wondering if it's worth it. One report by the New York Times titled: "McConnell, in Private, Doubts if Trump Can Save Presidency" points to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as being at the frontline of a battle between Congressional Republicans and the White House.

Trump targeting Republicans

Trump is already furious about Republicans not being able to pass any bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) otherwise known as Obamacare, much less being able to pass a bill that would repeal the entire law. The President has been consistent in bringing up the fact that the Republican Party had been trying to kill the law for seven years. And before the removal of Steven Bannon, it had been reported that the former chief strategist was making a list of the names of all of the Republican lawmakers who voted against any repeal or replacement bill, a definite sign of the hostility created by the White House.

The New York Times piece also refers to a phone call between President Trump and Mitch McConnell where they were cussing each other out.

The most that has been said about the call was that the President lashed out at the majority leader for failing to pass promises they made and failing to protect him from being investigated for possible collusion with Russian officials. The call took place on August 9, and it's been reported that they haven't spoken since.

Trump's threats against legislators

It was reported that the President's Super PAC has even put out attack ads against Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) which resulted in McConnell and other leaders to push back against the administration over it, claiming that "an attack on one is an attack on them all." But during the President's rally in Phoenix, AZ this Tuesday, he showed that he was energized enough to continue attacking his own party members which according to some sources mentioned in the NY Times article, seems to be forcing McConnell to consider pulling back his party's support for Trump.

Prior to this, another attack that most considered as going too far was when Ryan Zinke of the Department of the Interior threatened Alaskan senators who voted against repealing the ACA, saying the federal government was considering removing funding from the state's energy projects.

McConnell could submit or play 'long game' with Trump

The NY Times article also referred to a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, Al Hoffman, who said that the responsibility of Republican failures fell under Mitch McConnell. But he also added that he wouldn't be surprised if McConnell pulled back his support from the President because of those threats. The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, were also reportedly a turning point for some Republican lawmakers to become bolder in their criticism of the President.

But their support for him still appears to be holding, regardless. This would show that President Trump will only continue to push against Congress and perhaps get them to submit to his agenda before the end of the year. This week, the President threatened to shut down the government if Congress didn't pass a budget bill that included his border wall. In the process, he has threatened to veto everything but. Although, with Mitch McConnell being just as stubborn as Trump -- since he spent two terms of Obama's presidency to play the "long game", also the name of his latest book, and obstructed him in everything -- it's also possible he could outlast Trump or at least give him a serious stand off.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED