Graham and Flake may believe that, but they're wrong: As long as Republicans control Congress, Trump can do what he wants. The end will begin only at the ballot box.
More than a year into Trump's presidency, there's nothing to suggest Republicans will hinder Trump from firing Mueller and/or ending the Russia probe.
Indeed, Flake and Graham's GOP colleagues offered little to suggest Congress could or would block the President.
Asked how he would respond to Mueller's firing, Senator Rand Paul, (R), told Tapper, "Well, I have said all along I don't like special prosecutors."
On "Fox News Sunday," Congressman Trey Gowdy, (R), did advise the President not to shut down the investigation but also pointed out that "I'm not sure the House can do a lot" to stop Trump from doing that.
On ABC, Senator James Lankford, (R), was similarly unable to name anything Senate Republicans could do to stop Trump's attacks on the probe or a potential shutdown.
The GOP's supine behaviour should not surprise anyone.
When Trump's term began, some Republicans still feared that he would work with Democrats and push policies that the GOP couldn't support. With tariffs being the lone exception, Trump has proved to be reliably Republican, and he remains overwhelmingly popular with the party's base.
As long as the President keeps signing tax cuts, slashing regulations and appointing conservative justices and judges, there's little reason for most Republicans to push back against him.
Furthermore, while Flake, Graham and others have verbally criticised the President, they have yet to vote against the President and the party in crucial moments.
Assuming that pattern holds, if Trump fired Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and replaced him with a GOP stalwart (say, Scott Pruitt, now administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency), these senators would likely criticise the firing before voting for the President's choice anyway.
The historical record also suggests a Republican majority will leave the President essentially unrestrained. When Democrats wanted an investigation into President Richard Nixon's White House and the break-in at the Watergate Hotel, Republicans dismissed the allegations. They even suggested probes instead look into the 1964 and 1968 elections, misdirection similar to modern Republicans' calls for a probe into the FBI.
The difference? Democrats, not Republicans, controlled the House and the Senate. They forced Nixon to greenlight appointment of an independent prosecutor, and they were the party that held Nixon accountable.
Even in July 1974, one month before Nixon's resignation, a majority of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted against every article of impeachment. Only one Republican voted for all three approved articles: Maryland Congressman Lawrence Hogan - and he lost the GOP primary for Maryland governor because of that courageous stand.
As Watergate shows, what Trump does about Mueller or the probe doesn't matter unless Democrats retake at least one of the House or the Senate.
Then, Democrats will be able to use the committees' tremendous powers and their leverage over the legislative agenda to hold the President accountable. Whatever "end" the Trump presidency comes to, the road to it starts at the midterms.
After Trump's tweetstorm subsided, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted that Trump is "testing what Hill [Republicans] will let him get away with" regarding Mueller.
She added, "This does not mean he will fire Mueller - but it raises increasing prospects that he orders/pushes Rosenstein/Sessions to do so."
Graham and Flake may believe doing so would cost the President - but all the evidence suggests their hope remains foolish.
- James Downie is the Washington Post's Digital Opinions Editor. He previously wrote for the New Republic and Foreign Policy magazine.
