Congress is actually showing some signs of standing up for itself. This is remarkable, since for the past year they have been no more than a rubber stamp, approving anything Donald Trump wants while ignoring anything he does to encroach on their constitutional powers. Today, however, several votes were held which did indeed push back on Trump in notable ways. All of them will likely wind up being merely symbolic, but it is still refreshing to see at least some signs of life from Congress.

There were three such significant votes today, two in the House and one in the Senate. Let's take a look at each of them and what they could mean going forward.

Obamacare subsidies extension passes the House

This happened rather late in the day, so it didn't make as big a splash in the headlines as it probably should have (at least, so far...). The House of Representatives voted to pass a three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies that disappeared on the first of this year. This was a Democratic bill, without any changes to the program at all -- it's just a clean extension, period.

It passed by a vote of 230-196, with 17 Republicans joining Democrats in voting for it. That is notable -- over a dozen Republicans were worried enough about the issue (and how it could be used against them in the midterm elections) to cross the aisle and join the Democrats.

The vote happened because of a discharge petition, which forced Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote that he didn't want to hold. The petition got over 218 signatures at the end of last year, just before the holiday break.

As far as Democrats are concerned, this was the best possible bill to pass. But it is not likely to make it through the Senate in its current form. However, it is a marker that shows that extending the subsidies has substantial bipartisan support, which will hopefully spur the Senate to take action.

There have been ongoing discussions about a compromise bill in the Senate that would make some major changes. In the first place, the subsidies would only be extended for two years, not three. And several Republican priorities would be included, although the tough part has been figuring out which GOP ideas would be acceptable enough for Democrats to also vote for them. Two of these seem unobjectionable enough to Democrats: mandating a minimum monthly premium (of $5, in the latest proposal) to combat possibly-mythical fraud in the system, and an income cap so that very wealthy people can't claim the subsidies. There will also be some sort of language tossed in as a bone for Trump, who wants to radically change the way the subsidies work (by paying consumers money that they then turn around and use to pay the insurance companies). Some sort of flexibility will probably make it into the compromise, but it won't radically undermine the entire system (as Trump seems to want to do).

Then there is the big sticking point that is so far preventing a deal from being made: abortion. Hardline forced-birth Republicans want Draconian anti-abortion language included in the bill. Democrats are vowing to reject any such restrictions. Trump, astonishingly enough, seems to now be urging the hardliner Republicans to "be a little flexible" on the issue, but it remains to be seen if this will change anything.

The Senate group working on a compromise bill is reportedly getting very close to a deal -- some are predicting a bill could be written up and ready for a vote by next week. The bill the House just passed is likely never even going to get a vote in the Senate (where the same bill failed, back in December), but the fact that it passed -- with 17 Republican votes, no less -- will increase the pressure on the Senate to move forward on their own version.

Senate votes to restrict Trump's use of military force in Venezuela

Over in the Senate, a vote was held today on a measure that would block Trump from using any further military force against Venezuela. The measure advanced, 52-47, with five Republicans voting with all the Democrats to rein Trump in.

Those five Republican senators -- Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Todd Young -- immediately got a dose of Trump's anger, as he posted on social media that they "should never be elected to office again." Only one (Collins) is up for re-election this year.

Today's vote was a procedural one. The final vote will likely happen next week. But even if it passes, it will wind up being no more than symbolic pushback against Trump. To truly restrain Trump's use of military force, the bill would have to also pass the House and then either be signed by Trump (which is not going to happen) or his veto would have to be overridden by both chambers of Congress. To do so in the Senate would require 15 more Republicans to back it, which does not seem within the realm of possibility.

Still, it is a notable rebuke to Trump. This is the first time in his second term that such a bill has passed either house of Congress. And it may lead to more such pushback, as others are readying bills which would also block Trump from using the military in Greenland and Colombia (both of which Trump has mused about after the Venezuela military attack). It's notable that five Republicans voted to block Trump in Venezuela, but more might join to block Trump from invading Greenland. Up until now, Republicans have scoffed at restraining Trump by saying, "Trump's just being Trump -- he's never going to attack Greenland!" But now such things don't seem quite so unimaginable anymore.

House fails to override Trump's first vetoes

While this one was a win for Trump, the vote count was interesting. Donald Trump, in a fit of pique, vetoed two bills that had passed unanimously through Congress. The unopposed vote was due to the fact that both bills were unobjectionable and nonpartisan. One authorized a pipeline project that would have brought safe and clean drinking water to eastern Colorado (an area that voted heavily for Trump, it is worth pointing out). One would have expanded land for a Native American tribe in Florida.

The Colorado bill was vetoed by Trump as payback for Representative Lauren Boebert, who was one of the Republicans who sided with Democrats to force the release of all the Epstein files. The water project helped her congressional district out, so Trump chose it as payback for Boebert. The tribe in Florida had joined a lawsuit blocking the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center in Florida, which is why Trump decided to punish them.

Although all the Republicans in the House had previously voted for both bills, most of them were too afraid of Trump's wrath and decided to vote against them now that he has vetoed them. But 35 of them voted with Democrats in an effort to override the water project veto, while 177 of them voted against it. On the tribal land bill, 24 Republicans voted with the Democrats, while 188 of them voted against it. Both bills fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Trump.

While both efforts failed, it was notable to see so many Republicans bucking Trump. These were unobjectionable bills -- politics really didn't come into play on either one of them. It was purely Trump's spite. And dozens of Republicans rejected his petulance, which was certainly interesting to see.

Conclusion

As stated, these were all largely symbolic votes. Unlike the first major congressional mutiny (over the Epstein files), none of this is going to make it into law. But here at the start of a midterm election year, it certainly was refreshing to see that some Republicans are beginning to worry more about their own chances of electoral survival than merely passively doing whatever Trump demands.

For the past year, Congress has almost completely abdicated its own powers under the Constitution. They've gone along with everything Trump has done without ever pushing back even symbolically. But a lot of what Trump has been doing is increasingly unpopular with the voters, and come November all the Republicans in the House will have to face those very same voters.

It's impossible at this point to predict whether Republicans in Congress will truly begin to stand up and flex their own powers under the Constitution or whether they will continue letting Trump do whatever he feels like doing. Today's votes were a step in the right direction, but a tentative step at best. It will be interesting to see if Republicans worried about their electoral prospects will take further steps in the coming months, even if they risk Trump's anger by doing so.

After all, Donald Trump doesn't have any more elections to run in -- but they do.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant