The White House convinced a Republican senator to block his own Chinese sanctions bill

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) may have been the co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to punish China for attempting to curtail Hong Kong's autonomy, but that didn't stop him from objecting to the bill's passage by unanimous consent last week at the White House's request, Politico reports.

The bill sought to place mandatory sanctions on China, which is on the cusp of passing its own national security law that could have serious consequences for Hong Kong's citizens. Cramer said the Trump administration asked him to consider blocking it 30 minutes before Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked for unanimous consent so the White House and State Department could propose "technical" corrections.

Cramer maintains he wants the bill to pass, but he figured it was worth at least considering the White House's proposal, which he still hasn't seen. "I don't know how dramatic the changes were that they were advocating or whether they hate the whole idea," he told Politico.

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That may well be the case, but Politico notes the incident highlights the difficulty the legislative branch faces in trying to push the Trump administration to challenge China on several issues, namely in relation to accusations of human rights abuses. Read more at Politico.