The emerging bipartisan effort represents a remarkable vote of no confidence in Trump’s ability to weather the F.B.I. investigation without attempting to obstruct justice. And it suggests that Republicans, who long defended the indefensible on Trump’s behalf, may have found their own red line. Perhaps most important, the shifting tone on Capitol Hill comes as the president’s popularity has continued to sag, threatening the party’s hold on Congress. Six months into his term, Trump has no substantive legislative accomplishments to speak of and his approval rating is as low as 36 percent. And while Trump has retained the support of his Fox News base, the G.O.P.’s various health-care bills were all widely unpopular. Another recent poll found that 64 percent of voters believe Mueller will conduct a fair investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government.
Republicans used to be afraid of Trump. Now, they’re mostly ignoring him. The administration’s ham-handed attempts to coerce Senators Dean Heller and Lisa Murkowski to vote “yes” on Obamacare repeal were met with sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers. And Trump’s threats in the aftermath of the failed health-care vote last week fell on deaf ears. “If that’s what he wants to do, he ought to just do it,” Senator Bob Corker said of Trump’s call to stop insurance payments to members of Congress. “[As] probably he’s learned over the last couple of weeks, threats don’t really go over particularly well. My advice would be to either do it or don’t do it.”
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