‘We are not his subordinates,’ John McCain says of Trump in guest column

PHOENIX — Arizona Sen. John McCain called for Congress to return to “regular order” in an op-ed featured in the Washington Post this past week.

In the piece, the Republican leader denounced the violence and “hate-driven racism” in Charlottesville that killed one. Before Congress returns from recess this coming week, he also admitted his peers and he have proved “inadequate not only to our most difficult problems but also to routine duties.”

The crux of McCain’s column: That the political atmosphere meant for checks and balances — and built on compromise — has become polarizing, especially under President Donald Trump.

That has never been truer than today, when Congress must govern with a president who has no experience of public office, is often poorly informed and can be impulsive in his speech and conduct.

We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can, cooperate with him. But we are not his subordinates. We don’t answer to him. We answer to the American people.

The senator said his colleagues and he must work to check the president and do so by valuing themselves as Congressmen rather than Democrats or Republicans.

McCain wants a return to regular order, where committees create law and the Senate does the heavy-lifting to amend those laws across party lines.

We seem convinced that majorities exist to impose their will with few concessions and that minorities exist to prevent the party in power from doing anything important.

…

We can fight like hell for our ideas to prevail. But we have to respect each other or at least respect the fact that we need each other.

The long-time Arizona leader cited priorities across partisan lines includes national defense, immigration and tax reform as key issues that can be improved with less polarized attitudes in Washington D.C.

It’s hardly the first time McCain has criticized the president.

He made the same requests in July, when he pleaded in front of Congress to stop listening to the “bombastic loudmouths” in the media who he believes have helped build the party divisions in government.

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