#NeverTrump efforts wane in advance of GOP convention Monday

The Republican National Convention is slated to begin Monday in Cleveland, Ohio, and the prospect of an effective effort to avoid officially nominating Donald Trump looks increasingly unlikely.

Most of the plans to disrupt a Trump nomination center on the Rules Committee and parliamentary procedure, aiming to release delegates from the obligation of voting for the candidate their state's primary or caucuses endorsed. "I'm not going to let the Rules Committee think that they're relevant," said Kendal Unruh, a delegate from Colorado who is part of the "Free the Delegates" campaign. "I'm not going to empower them anymore. The power has been and will continue to be in the hands of the delegates."

#NeverTrump plotting will continue through Sunday night, but rebels face an uphill battle now that GOP leadership has aligned with Trump's team and supporters. "This convention is going to be a unifying convention," Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort told The Washington Post. "[T]he distraction of the rules fight and the platform fight were just distractions. They were never threats."

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