--- title: John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive' description: John McCain bemoans the state of Congress and criticizes the president in an op-ed, calling Donald Trump "poorly informed" and "impulsive" canonical: https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-01T14:37:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:15:25.124Z article:section: Politics og:title: John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive' og:description: "We are not his subordinates" og:url: https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6163c1e23818487/6988db40bc6cfc62053e2d04/john-mccain-joe-arpaio-pardon-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3943 og:image:height: 2218 og:image:alt: Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive' twitter:description: "We are not his subordinates" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6163c1e23818487/6988db40bc6cfc62053e2d04/john-mccain-joe-arpaio-pardon-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 1, 2017 2:37 PM UTC  Arizona Sen. John McCain looks on while attending the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Aug. 10, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona Sen. John McCain looks on while attending the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Aug. 10, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 1, 2017 2:37 PM UTC John McCain bemoans the state of Congress and criticizes the President in a [new op-ed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-its-time-congress-returns-to-regular-order/2017/08/31/f62a3e0c-8cfb-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.1e35a9e874c2), calling Donald Trump “poorly informed” and “impulsive.” In a piece published in the Washington _Post_ Thursday, days before Congress returns from its [August recess](http://time.com/4855525/august-recess-senate-history/), the Republican Arizona senator says the legislative body has begun to “lurch from one self-created crisis to another.” “We are proving inadequate not only to our most difficult problems but also to routine duties,” he continues. “Our national political campaigns never stop. We seem convinced that majorities exist to impose their will with few concessions and that minorities exist to prevent the party in power from doing anything important.” He argues that Trump’s presidency has made a well-functioning Congress even more necessary. “Congress must govern with a President who has no experience of public office, is often poorly informed and can be impulsive in his speech and conduct,” McCain writes. “We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can, cooperate with him. But we are not his subordinates.” At the end of July, days after being diagnosed with brain cancer, McCain cast a [deciding vote](http://time.com/4877796/health-care-senate-john-mccain-susan-collins-lisa-murkowski/) to sink the Republican health care bill. At the time, he called for a return to regular order in the Senate, which he echoes in this new piece. Read the rest of his op-ed [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-its-time-congress-returns-to-regular-order/2017/08/31/f62a3e0c-8cfb-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.1e35a9e874c2). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/"},"headline":"John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive'","datePublished":"2017-09-01T14:37:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:15:25.124Z","description":"\"We are not his subordinates\"","url":"https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/","keywords":["Congress","John McCain","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6163c1e23818487/6988db40bc6cfc62053e2d04/john-mccain-joe-arpaio-pardon-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6163c1e23818487/6988db40bc6cfc62053e2d04/john-mccain-joe-arpaio-pardon-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks","caption":"Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks","creditText":"Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4924866/john-mccain-congress-trump-op-ed/","name":"John McCain: Trump Is 'Poorly Informed' and 'Impulsive'"}}]}] ```