At the first closed-door party lunch since the end of the impeachment trial, there wasnt a single word uttered about Romneys stunning decision to find Trump guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust.
And despite some calls to kick Romney out of the GOP conference and a fusillade of disses from the president himself, Romney was still on the leaderships whip team and on Tuesday said in a brief interview that he had my whip card out to whip another piece of legislation.
In other words, Senate Republicans including Romney have already moved on. And there will be no retribution on Trumps behalf.
The presidents going to do what hes going to do. Thats his MO when it comes to politics and thats not going to change no matter what any of us think or feel, said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). But it wont change [Romneys] standing in the Senate.
Everybody understands that occasions are going to arise invariably where they are going to have to vote their conscience and its going to make them an outlier for the conference. I think we all respect that, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Trump has called Romney a failed presidential candidate and accused him of using his faith as a crutch. On Tuesday, Trump said Romney was a “disgrace” for voting to convict him. Trump has retweeted conspiracy theories about Romneys ties to Hunter Biden and claimed he hurt some very good Republican senators. On Monday, days after being acquitted, Trump couldnt let it go. During a White House event with governors, Trump told Utah Gov. Gary Herbert: you keep him, we don’t want him.
Donald Trump Jr. said Romney should be tossed from the GOP conference, which would narrow the GOPs majority to 52 and ultimately make life harder for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is up for reelection and is running as a close Trump ally, said he was confronted by a constituent about that idea. Tillis asked the person if they remembered who won the Super Bowl rather than the exact final score emphasizing that whats important is that Trump was acquitted not the margin of the victory.
I disagreed with the vote he took last week but if you go back and look at his body of work on judges, on a lot of other policies were moving forward, its pretty solid, Tillis said. Go back and objectively look at Mitts record. Hes been a member in good standing.
Indeed, Romney this week went back to supporting Trumps agenda, helping advance several Trump judges and confirm a record-setting 51st Circuit judge on Tuesday.
With those votes and his refusal to respond to Trumps attacks, Romney made clear that hes not joining the resistance to Trumps agenda even if he believes Trump is no longer fit for office. Romney seems to see little utility to engaging in a war of words with the president, a stance that makes it much easier for his colleagues to move on.
I fully respect that my colleagues voted their conscience. And they respect that I did, Romney said in the interview. And Im honored to be with a group of people that recognize differences but acknowledge that people of character can come to different conclusions.
At the party lunch on Tuesday, which featured Vice President Mike Pence, there was no discussion of the impeachment trial nor of Romney, said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). Instead, Pence talked about the presidential campaign and the presidents agenda moving forward.
And Republicans who had previously expressed dissatisfaction with Romney dialed their frustration way back.
After Romney initially criticized the conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodoymr Zelensky as troubling to the extreme, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Romney had gone down the same path as the Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and that Romney thinks the worst of the president.
But nearly a week after Romneys vote to remove the president, Scott essentially shrugged.
I disagree with it. Im surprised, but I represent Florida, Scott said. He represents Utah. And I dont know if thats what they believe or not.
Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.
