If Republicans want to be in the majority, its not a question of sticking from Trump, its a question of accomplishing things, Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, said in a phone interview, driving away from a town hall-style forum this week in Ada, Okla. And most of those things require a presidential signature.
By the time Mr. Cole hung up, Mr. Trump had reverted to blaming both sides for the violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
The remarkable exchange with reporters at Mr. Trumps Manhattan tower has renewed pleas, from corners of both major parties, for Republicans to break with the president in a more permanent way.
And Mr. Trump seems to be all but daring them, using his ritual Twitter unburdening on Thursday morning to lash out at two Republican senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (publicity seeking) and Jeff Flake of Arizona (Flake Jeff Flake) who have criticized his recent leadership.
There is no doubt that Republicans have collectively amended their approach to the Trump problem in recent months, at least slightly: Finger-wagging counter-tweets and one-off statements of disapproval have often supplanted willful public ignorance. (Many had long retained a habit of telling reporters they had not seen the presidents latest objectionable flourish, no matter how ubiquitous.)
But it is not clear what a meaningful, sustainable divorce from Mr. Trump could even look like.
The most extreme remedies, like impeachment, remain nonstarters in Republican circles. The party has likewise declined to embrace any formalized censure against the president, an option pushed Wednesday by House Democrats though last months sanctions on Russia, passed against the administrations wishes, were a notable bit of bipartisan defiance.
Among Republicans, though, the next steps are complicated by the presidents ramshackle legislative strategy: The White House has effectively outsourced its agenda to its partners in Congress.
Abandoning Mr. Trump is abandoning themselves.
Are Republicans to set aside plans to overhaul the tax code, a party priority long before Mr. Trump arrived? Should they really refuse to consider the presidents broadly conservative nominees?
At least some have arrived at a disquieting conclusion: It is time for the party to dream small, for now anyway.
We cant get an agenda through, Mr. Flake said in an interview on Wednesday, noting the 60-vote threshold for most major legislation. The notion youre going to get all the Republicans, let alone any Democrats, to agree given his standing in the polls and when hes making these kinds of statements is just absurd.
Mr. Flake called it laughable to think that the Republicans signature effort, repealing the Affordable Care Act, could be revived successfully in this political moment.
The most striking appraisal came on Thursday from Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and a frequent administration ally this year. He said that Mr. Trump had not demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation.
I do think there need to be some radical changes, Mr. Corker told reporters back home. The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful.
Still, with few exceptions, most Republicans have appeared inclined to slog on.
A Gallup poll this week placed Mr. Trumps approval among Republicans in the high 70s a comedown from his postelection standing but still a large majority to consider, especially for lawmakers in safe districts whose most serious electoral threats often come in a primary election.
The Charlottesville episode has made plain how desperate Republicans are for Mr. Trump to steady himself.
You tell me what he needs to say so we can move beyond this, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked of reporters in his home state.
Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them, Mr. Graham said of the president on Wednesday, two days after issuing an instant backslap on Twitter Well done Mr. President when Mr. Trump gritted through the more explicit denunciation of white supremacists that he seemed to regret hours later.
Some Republicans have taken care to avoid using Mr. Trumps name even as they back away from his remarks, using we as a sort of euphemism for the president they have in mind.
We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred, Mr. McConnell said in a statement on Wednesday.
We must be clear, Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday on Twitter. White supremacy is repulsive.
Democrats appear eager to convince voters that Mr. Trumps character and his partys agenda cannot be disentangled. With an eye toward next years midterm elections, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is already pressing the argument that House Republicans have helped pave the way for President Trumps racially charged presidency.
But it is legislative failure, more than any connection to Mr. Trump, that Republicans seem to view as the more menacing electoral iceberg.
House members are not afforded the luxury of the Senates six-year terms, which supply a longer runway for congressional accomplishment and can embolden some in the upper chamber to defy Mr. Trump more freely.
In the Senate, most of those guys arent up next cycle, said Mr. Cole, the Oklahoma congressman and a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Its easier to break when your names not on the ballot.
The partys priority, he said, must be to move legislation on the big three: health care, taxes and infrastructure.
If we get to the end of the year and we havent done any of the big three, then you worry about political trouble, he said.
From many sides.
Jonathan Martin contributed reporting from Birmingham, Ala.
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Republicans in Congress May Be Stuck in a Relationship With Trump - New York Times