Will Republicans turn on Trump?

Mohamed Minshawi-Washington

An agreement to suspend the Turkish military operation against Syrian Kurdish militias against President Donald Trump in Congress did not help, and a House of Representatives vote of 345 to 60 to condemn Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria represented a message confirming the rejection of Trump's foreign policies by a bipartisan majority.

Trump has been widely criticized even by his Republican Party for his stance on withdrawing US troops from northern Syria, and has faced charges of abandoning a Kurdish ally who played a major role in the war against IS.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is close to Trump, called the president's decision a "betrayal" of the Kurds and "the most bad thing Trump has done since he came to power."

The Republican vote on legislation to condemn Trump's decision came as a surprise to experts, with 129 members of the President's party voting against only 60.

Republicans did not care about running in elections after 13 months in which they need the support of Trump, who still enjoys the support of 79% of Republicans, according to a poll conducted by the "ABC" weeks ago.

This was not the first time Republicans in Congress opposed Trump's policies.War Yemen, arms embargo legislation to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a halt to military support for the Arab coalition represented instances in which Trump resorted to vetoes against members of Congress, including Republicans.

The Role of Congress
The resolution opposing the withdrawal of Congress from Syria on the need to stop the Turkish operation, without reference to the need for the return of US forces to their former bases.

It is conceivable that such an approach would be difficult given the already outbreak of hostilities in northern Syria, resulting in the redeployment of armed forces to the parties to the conflict.

The draft resolution seen by Al Jazeera Net included five items:

First, Congress objects to the United States ending its efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

Secondly, demanding the Turkish President for an immediate ceasefire initiated by Turkey unilaterally in northern Syria, and that his country abide by all the agreements signed on Syria.

Third, demanding that the US government support Syrian Kurds through humanitarian support operations involving the displaced.

Fourth, call on the US government to ensure that Turkish military activities cease.

Fifth, demand the White House to present a clear and specific plan to defeat ISIS once and for all.

Three legislations
Congress is working on three fronts in an effort to rein in Trump's Syria policy, with Republican members adopting bills alone or in cooperation with Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters she had coordinated with Republican Sen. Graham on a bill to impose sanctions on Turkey if it did not stop its military operations.

After Graham's criticism of the president, Trump said he should know that he is the president, and that the senator focus on the affairs of his state of South Carolina, but that did not prompt Graham to change his position.

On the other hand, Rep. Mike McCall, the highest Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee, intends to push for sanctions against Turkey, and McCall adopted a draft resolution on sanctions with the support of the Chairman of the Committee Democratic Rep. Elliott Engel.

Graham and Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen are also pushing a separate Senate resolution to impose sanctions on Turkey, while Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is adopting another to impose tough sanctions on Turkey.

The three projects include punishing anyone supporting Turkey's military and energy manufacturing sectors, imposing a ban on the export of any weapons to Turkey, and imposing sanctions on Ankara for buying Russian weapons, although Trump has previously refused to impose binding sanctions on Turkey for buying the Russian S-400 missile system.

Republicans and Trump
Pelosi considered that Trump's anger during their meeting at the White House was due to the strong support of Republicans for the House resolution against the withdrawal from Syria.

Despite deep divisions over the Democrat-led probe to isolate Trump, Republicans have united with them, with no pause in most Republicans rejecting the probe to isolate the president.

In the last three years, Trump has been able to control the Republican Party's power centers.

Experts separate Congress's handling of foreign and domestic policy issues.In the first, Congress does not hesitate to break with the pattern of partisan commitment and breach of the president, but in some cases, as in the case of the Yemen war, the prohibition of arming Saudi Arabia or the withdrawal of troops from northeastern Syria.

But this is quite different when it comes to domestic issues, and this has been evident in Muller's investigation of Russian interference in the presidential election, and in the Republicans' opposition to measures seeking to isolate Trump.

Hence, there are no rival candidates for Trump who have the ability among Republicans to compete for the Republican Party card for the 2020 elections.