US Establishment Forming Bipartisan Bloc Against Trump Getting Along With Putin

A group of United States congressmen have submitted to Congress legislation that would hinder President Donald Trump’s ability to lift sanctions against Russia.

According to Senator Bob Corker, the bill will soon get a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The restrictions provisioned by the legislation first of all relate to sanctions imposed by President’s executive orders or by departments. They are the majority of sanctions imposed in the last months of Barack Obama’s presidency. According to the law, they can be overturned.

If passed, the new legislation will turn Obama’s executive orders on anti-Russian sanctions into bills. Thus, President Trump will not be able to remove or ease sanctions without approval from Congress.

The document requires a 120-day revising period. If the president fails to provide the reasons for sanctions being removed or eased Congress can pass a vetoing resolution on the matter.

The initiative is led by Lindsey Graham and Ben Cardin, and supported by John McCain, Marco Rubio, Claire McCaskill, Sherrod Brown.

'Manchurian Candidate'

After his inauguration, Trump took to carrying out his electoral to-do list, including the repeal of Obamacare, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and illegal migration.

There is no doubt that the Trump team is also considering the possibility of removing sanctions imposed by Obama, according to Evgeniy Minchenko, director of the International Institute for Political Analysis.

Such legislation indicates that Trump’s opponents are trying to portray him as a "Manchurian candidate," the expert said.

"They want Trump to have an image of some kind of a Manchurian candidate, i.e. a politician protecting some others’ interests, in the current situation Russia’s interests. Currently, an anti-Trump coalition is in the making, including both Democrats and Trump opponents from the Republican Party," Minchenko told Sputnik.

The expert also pointed to the fact that Congress is initiating a probe into Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. Minchenko suggested that the entire situation increasingly looks preparation  for Trump’s impeachment.

Against Trump and Putin

The fact that a bipartisan bloc of Trump’s opponents is being formed in Washington indicates an intense political struggle between the branches of power, with the judicial and legislative powers opposing the President, according to Alexander Orlov, director of the Institute for International Studies, at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

"Traditional political opponents are now uniting against a common enemy, rather than on a common ideological platform. In the current situation, they are becoming friends against Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. In the basis, there is an image of a common enemy, Russia," Orlov said.

He also noted that all allegations against Russia, including on its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis and its attempts to interfere with the US election, are groundless since "no single piece of evidence has been provided."

"The US political system is eroding by American politicians themselves. They are discrediting the US presidential power and the will of the people who voted for Donald Trump," Orlov concluded.