Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) bucked President Trump in an op-ed on Thursday, saying Congress does not answer to him despite his recent attacks on the lawmakers. 

“We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can, cooperate with him. But we are not his subordinates. We don’t answer to him. We answer to the American people,” McCain wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. 

“We must be diligent in discharging our responsibility to serve as a check on his power. And we should value our identity as members of Congress more than our partisan affiliation,” he continued. 

McCain called for “a return to regular order” in the piece, which he said was in part essential due to the fact “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.” The veteran senator’s comments come as Congress faces gridlock and extremely low approval ratings from the public, with both chambers attempting to tackle tax reform after Senate Republicans’ failure to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill in July.