Trump has claimed his victory was a mandate. Washington's realities are already challenging that
(CNN)
Donald Trump has yet to arrive in Washington, but he is already confronting the limitations of his electoral mandate.
Trumps eleventh-hour attempt to blow up a carefully negotiated bill to keep the government funded into March did not achieve the outcome he had sought: clearing a debt ceiling battle looming early in his next presidency.
It did, however, expose a lingering rift among House Republicans that had been hiding behind the GOPs post-election euphoria and made clear Trumps sway over his own party remains far from absolute. In a stunning turn, 38 Republicans defied the president-elect on Thursday. By early Saturday morning 48 hours after Trump threatened primary challenges for anyone who supported funding the government without eliminating the debt limit 170 House Republicans and dozens of GOP senators voted for just that.
The chaotic episode one month before Trump returns to the White House served as a reminder that governing has foiled plenty of successful politicians, and it foreshadowed the challenges ahead for Trump as he navigates a narrow House majority and a Senate full of people who expect to outlast the president-elects four years in Washington.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/21/politics/trump-mandate-washington-challenges/index.html