MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
On Monday, Congress returns to work and a new year navigating its relationship with President Trump. Trump's recent vetoes and his rejection of congressional input on the attacks near and in Venezuela raise questions about what this relationship is going to be going forward. We called Jessica Taylor to talk about this. She's the Senate and governor's editor at the Cook Political Report. Welcome, good morning, and Happy New Year.
JESSICA TAYLOR: Happy New Year, Michel.
MARTIN: So let's start with those two vetoes - that water pipeline project and a measure granting more tribal control in part of the Everglades. What message is the president sending?
TAYLOR: I think he's saying that if you don't bend to my will, then there is retribution in this. He can cite fiscal concerns, but you look at just his post on Truth Social and things, and as the previous reporter outlined, you know, he's upset at the Democratic governor there in Colorado, Jared Polis. He wants Tina Peters, who's a local election official, released. He's tried to pardon her on a federal level, but she's in jail for state crimes related to the 2020 election. She's an election conspiracy theorist. You know, you look at the Florida veto, and they've - this tribe has opposed because they say that the Alligator Alcatraz is on their lands and different things. And so he's saying that, you know, even things that are passed by a voice vote of Congress, to me, the question is whether leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been such a staunch Trump ally, will bring this up for a veto override. Can they...
MARTIN: And that's my question to you. What do you think?
TAYLOR: It would be a notable break by Johnson. You know, we've seen these Epstein files being brought to the floor by a discharge petition when leadership didn't want to bring them up. And so you see members starting to break, but we haven't seen Speaker Johnson break in that same regard. Now, we have seen leaders in the Senate stand up to President Trump. For instance, he's wanted them to do away with the filibuster, and Senate Leader John Thune has said that's a nonstarter because they realize that were they in the minority, then that does away with crucial protections.
So, you know, Trump wants to bend Congress to his will, but there are still - we are seeing members, like Lauren Boebert, there that are staunch allies stand up to him. I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene, that used to be one of his biggest supporters, has come out against him, and now she's leaving Congress as a result.
MARTIN: But - so that's my question, though. So she's, like, I would think the most high-profile person who has been a strong supporter, broke with the president, but now she's leaving. So what's the takeaway for Republicans in Congress? I mean, I also think about Elise Stefanik, the New York congresswoman, who was in leadership. She was supposed to become U.N. ambassador. Her nomination was pulled because the president feared that there was this thin...
TAYLOR: Right.
MARTIN: ...Margin, too thin of a majority. She was supposed to run for governor, and now she's leaving, too. So what's the takeaway here?
TAYLOR: The takeaway is that if you bug President Trump, then he's going to support a primary challenge against you in that regard. That was Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, and Elise Stefanik wasn't getting Trump's endorsement, despite the fac that she transformed from - she used to work for Paul Ryan. She was definitely not a MAGA person at the beginning, but she transformed. Trump's loyalty is a one-way street, really. That's what we see. You know, I'm also looking at people like Thom Tillis in the Senate. You know, he wasn't going to back the One Big Beautiful Bill over a concern for Medicaid. Trump was going to support a primary challenge to him, and he decided to retire instead. And I think, as a result, that seat is much more vulnerable for Republicans right now.
MARTIN: Is there anything that could change the dynamic between lawmakers and the president?
TAYLOR: I think that Trump as we get closer to the midterm election, he seems to be getting more nervous about the very real possibility and I think the likelihood of losing the House, at least, because you see what he's trying to do in redistricting. But again, we see state lawmakers in Indiana that stood up to him that did not pass that bill, that he wants these things as a protection. But there's a very real likelihood, I think, that come this time next year, that there's going to be a Democratic Congress that are going to levy their subpoena power, have investigations and different things. I think the Senate is still much harder. But he wants to sort of bend Congress as much to his will while it's a Republican majority. I think he knows that the last two years of his term could be really difficult if Democrats are in power.
MARTIN: That's Jessica Taylor. She's the Senate and governor's editor with the Cook Political Report. Jessica, thank you.
TAYLOR: Thanks, Michel.
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