In an op-ed published Thursday night in The Washington Post, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took a jab at President Trump as he urged his colleagues to work together when they return from recess next week. Because of Trump, McCain wrote, it's now more important than ever for Congress to embrace "pragmatic problem-solving" and to "respect each other, or at least respect the fact that we need each other":
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. 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. [Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), via The Washington Post]
With "urgent priorities" like passing the budget and raising the debt ceiling on the horizon, McCain once again pushed a "return to regular order," rather than the current "lurch from one self-created crisis to another." "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.
Read McCain's op-ed in full at The Washington Post.