Sen. John McCain rebuked "poorly informed" and "impulsive" President Donald Trump, writing Friday that Congress "are not his subordinates," in The Washington Post.
"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," McCain wrote in an op-ed.
"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," he added.
"We must be diligent in discharging our responsibility to serve as a check on his power. And we should value our identity as members of Congress more than our partisan affiliation."
Trump has repeatedly criticized Congress — and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in particular — for not doing enough to pass conservative policies like the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. McCain was one of only three Republicans to vote against the final version of the GOP plan.
"We might not like the compromises regular order requires, but we can and must live with them if we are to find real and lasting solutions," McCain wrote Friday. "And all of us in Congress have the duty, in this sharply polarized atmosphere, to defend the necessity of compromise before the American public."
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