“Courage is when you know you’re going to do something that’s going to anger your base,” Tillis said in an interview in his Senate office.

“The same people who would criticize me for filing this bill would be absolutely angry if I wasn’t pounding the table for this bill if we were dealing with Hillary Clinton,” he argued. “So spare me your righteous indignation.”

The effort has not yet caught fire with most in his party. Many Republicans tell Tillis that the president will never sign it, so his is a fruitless endeavor. Democrats, however, believe it amounts to a stern warning to the president even if the bill never becomes law.