When President-elect Trump won and Republicans took Congress, people were acting as if America had suddenly transformed into parliamentary system, and that as the head of his party, he would be able to get whatever he wanted.

Last night provided an early lesson that he would not, as a spending bill paired with a debt ceiling hike that was endorsed by President-elect Trump failed, with 38 House Republicans voting “no.”

Trump wanted Republicans to scrap or pass a long-term extension of the debt ceiling under President Biden’s watch so that it isn’t something he’ll have to deal with during the early months of his presidency. But it turns out that there are still a few dozen Republicans who don’t want to raise the debt ceiling without spending cuts. And they aren’t simply going to change because Trump sends out a few social media posts. Trump’s presence does not alter the math that bedeviled former speaker Kevin McCarthy and that is causing problems for Speaker Mike Johnson.

The reality that Trump will be facing when he takes office is that there is a razor thin Republican majority in the House, and it will take less than a handful of Republicans to sink anything Trump wants to do as long as Democrats are united in opposition. In the upper chamber, Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Mitch McConnell are clearly willing to oppose Trump on a number of issues, and when that happens, he won’t be able to lose a single additional vote. There’s a reason why the Matt Gaetz nomination had to be pulled.

It’s unclear where the current fight ends (my bet would be that we get some sort of short-term spending bill that averts a shutdown for a few weeks so that members can get home for Christmas). But what is clear is that the Republican Congress won’t be a rubber stamp for Trump.