The following article by Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website August 28, 2018:
Senate Republicans willing to counter President Trump on defense and national security are becoming a rarity on Capitol Hill.
The death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) marks the start of the waning of an already small group of GOP senators willing to act as a counterweight to Trump as the president breaks with decades-long Republican policies.
McCain, despite being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in July 2017, remained a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy and national security under the Trump administration with his outspoken opposition to Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA and his support of tougher sanctions against Russia.