Watershed week in US politics

Republican senators in the US who joined Democrats in a rare New Year’s Day session of congress to reject Donald Trump’s efforts to veto bipartisan defence legislation delivered him a timely reality check. While Mr Trump persists with his uphill and almost certainly doomed battle to stay in the White House, Joe Biden’s victory is set to be formally certified by both Houses on Thursday AEST. The unprecedented 83-13 vote against the President showed how his influence is fading among Republicans.

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate. In a telling departure from the deference normally shown to Mr Trump, in the vote on the $US741bn defence bill, just seven backed his attempt to scupper the legislation. They were joined in defeat by five Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders, though for different reasons.

Mr Trump’s opposition was based largely on the mandate it gives the Pentagon to change the names of military installations commemorating Confederate leaders in the American Civil War. He also opposed the restriction it places on how much of the US military’s construction budget can be diverted into building his border wall with Mexico, and the President’s ability to draw down US troops in Afghanistan, South Korea and Germany. One of Mr Trump’s strongest supporters, Senator Tom Cotton, denounced the bill as “stiff-arming” the President. But that did not stop even the powerful Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, rejecting Mr Trump’s veto.

At any time, the Senate’s overwhelming rebuke of a president would be of major importance. Ahead of congress’ formal certification of Mr Biden’s victory and crucial run-off elections on Wednesday AEST in Georgia for two Senate seats that will decide which party controls the Senate, the vote was highly significant. A hard core of diehard Trump supporters in the House and Senate, taking their cue from his embittered refusal to accept that he lost the election and unmoved by the rejection by court after court of his claims of fraud, will try to use the certification process in a last-ditch effort to overturn Mr Biden’s victory. With Democrats holding a solid majority in the House, and Republican Senate leaders acknowledging Mr Biden won, the chances of them succeeding are remote. Even Vice-President Mike Pence has rejected attempts to inveigle him into the process.

Mr Trump’s embittered response to his defeat is doing his legacy no good and could, polls suggest, help Democrats win the Georgia run-offs. That would be a major boost for Mr Biden.