WH tells Senate Republicans to “keep their powder dry†on overturning emergency declarationHot Air, Mar 5, 2019, Ed Morrissey
The White House told Senate Republicans on Monday to “keep their powder dry†ahead of a vote to nullify President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border as the administration worked to limit defections on a measure rebuking the president.
The message was delivered by Zach Parkinson, White House deputy director of government communications, in a meeting Monday morning with Senate Republican communications staffers, according to two people who attended the meeting.
It came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted that the resolution to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration would pass in the Republican-led Senate — but not survive a veto. Over the weekend, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) became the fourth Republican to announce he would vote for the disapproval resolution, ensuring its passage with unified Democratic support.
“Keep your powder dry†is clearly a euphemism for “keep your mouth shut.†Thus far it’s not working with GOP defectors on the emergency declaration, who have all gone public to explain why they’re balking at what they see as an abuse of executive power. One might think that the public statements of Paul and others are intended to get Trump to back down and sign off on the nullification, or withdraw the emergency declaration before it gets that far. If that’s the intent, the “keep [your] powder dry†response is a sure indication that no such retreat will be forthcoming. It’s a warning to dissident Republicans not to get out too far on that limb lest they be on the wrong side of it when it gets cut off.
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