First, we shouldn’t hesitate to speak out if the president “plays to the base” in ways that damage the Republican Party’s ability to grow and speak to a larger audience. Second, Republicans need to take the long view when it comes to issues like free trade: Populist and protectionist policies might play well in the short term, but they handicap the country in the long term. Third, Republicans need to stand up for institutions and prerogatives, like the Senate filibuster, that have served us well for more than two centuries.

Let’s look more closely at these three responses.

As for calling out the president, members of Congress should denounce the president’s recent abhorrent rhetoric, including his call for police brutality. (The White House now claims this was a joke; even if true, that’s hardly an excuse for the head of the executive branch.) They should not remain silent in the face, for example, of Trump’s untrue accusations about a crime wave caused by illegal immigrants; they should defend the 10th Amendment and override his threats to federal funding in locales that Trump likes to call “sanctuary cities.” And Congress should move to reassure transgender military personnel serving honorably that they will not be summarily drummed out of the military.

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Moving on to his principled defense of free markets, we have long argued against the nonsensical, economically illiterate affection for trade protectionism, but Congress can legislate in this area — and should. It might start with oversight hearings explaining the counterproductive nature of “Buy American” directives, and then move to block regulations that the administration might propound.

As for the filibuster and defense of institutions, a more specific description of the problem illuminates the solution. When Flake calls out the hyper-partisanship of the Obama years and the disrespect for institutional safeguards, it is hard not to think of the unified effort to deny Judge Merrick Garland a hearing (let alone a vote) for the Supreme Court and then to strip away the filibuster for the high court. Democrats bear their own responsibility for ending the filibuster for executive-branch employees and lower-court judges. If Flake wants to set a better course, he should, along with his colleagues, repudiate that approach and reinstate the filibuster for all judges and executive-branch nominees. The latter would be a fine deterrent to Trump nominating more people who lack experience, temperament, knowledge and common sense. That’s tough medicine for Republicans, but if Flake means what he says, that would be an impressive move. The party in the majority has to do this, and now it’s up to Republicans.

In that same vein, Republicans need to confront Trump’s efforts to intimidate and delegitimize the press. No president has attempted to demonize the media as this president has, and given Republicans’ own complicity in constructing the Fox News monster and unhinged attacks that went well beyond specific concerns about media bias, they have a special obligation to push back. Presumably Flake and his colleagues really do care about the First Amendment; if so, they should denounce attempts to limit press access and/or to label every critical story as “fake.” Congress needs to speak with one voice in defending judicial independence, the credibility of the Congressional Budget Office and the role of inspectors general who provide a check within the executive branch. And of course, Congress must make crystal clear that firing special prosecutor Robert S. Mueller III would be an impeachable offense.

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In addition to these steps, Flake and others should rebut their leadership’s attempt, for example, on tax reform to try to pass a bill with 51 votes. The GOP cannot block bipartisan legislation unless members who understand the need to work across the aisle allow it. That’s what renouncing all-or-nothing tribalism would look like in practice. Flake and others need to be the skunks at the garden party; with just 52 Republicans in the Senate, they hold enormous leverage.

And finally, if the GOP really wanted to regain its credibility, cease groveling to the president and enforce institutional norms, they would take up rampant conflicts of interest in the White House, serial violations of the emoluments clause (which by its terms requires Congress to approve a president’s receipt of monies from foreign governments) and Trump’s refusal to produce his tax returns. All of these are in keeping with stated commitments to transparent, constitutional government.

If this seems far-fetched or impossible, one then has to ask what Flake’s indictment really means. If it is to be more than words on issues that matter, courage to rise above partisanship is needed. After all, we are talking about restoring the filibuster, protecting independent sources of information and checks on judicial power, denouncing economic quackery, and enforcing the letter of the Constitution. Isn’t that the essence of Flake’s brand of conservativism?

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