The Thin Line Between Loyalty and Self-Preservation

Before we all move on from the Ronny Jackson fiasco, there are two more points worth making.

One is that the failed nomination for secretary of Veterans Affairs was an unusually good demonstration of how little influence President Donald Trump has with Republicans, especially those in Congress. It is of course true that almost all Republican senators vote for almost all of Trump's nominees, and in general they've been slow to criticize scandal-plagued administration officials. In most cases, however, it's impossible to distinguish whether what we're seeing is loyalty to Trump or just the policy preferences of Republicans. For example, rallying around embattled Environment Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt might be due to fear of presidential tweets, or it might just be because Pruitt is implementing policies Republicans like.