Every day, Donald Trump is faced with fewer and fewer friends inside the D.C. beltway. Whether self-imposed or not, the recent exits of Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka leave the president with a dwindling set of conservative or at the very least GOP allies.

Last week, Trump’s frustration with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell bubbled to the surface, with both men ultimately saying they were sorting through their differences.

Now it’s Paul Ryan’s turn to twist the knife in, and who knows if there’s a way to climb back from this.

Per the Independent Journal Review, On Saturday evening, while Hurricane Harvey ravaged the southwest, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) issued comments on President Donald Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio, the controversial former sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County, on contempt charge.

Doug Andres, a spokesman for Ryan, released the followings statement in his words, as opposed to quoting Ryan:

“The speaker does not agree with the decision. Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.”

The statement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, and the White House did not reply to the newspaper’s request for comment on the statement. Ryan, for his part, is the senior-most Republican to condemn the pardon.

He jumps on the bandwagon after John McCain and Jeff Flake issued their outrage.

.@POTUS's pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law https://t.co/2FckGtwQ2m

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 26, 2017

Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) August 26, 2017

One can’t help but be concerned about Trump’s ability to carry out his agenda, as trumpeted during his 2016 campaign. Conservatives looked forward to promises of the Obamacare repeal, tax reform, a crackdown on illegal immigration and radical Islamic terror.

Where he’s had the power to do so – i.e. where it doesn’t necessarily involve Congress – Trump has been effective. Border crossings are down, there’s been a crackdown on criminal illegals, including numerous arrests of MS-13 gang members, and ISIS is losing territory in Syria. In his recent speech on Afghanistan, Trump laid out an aggressive plan to allow our military to fight and actually win (what a concept!).

But he’s marching through molasses as far as any progress on health care or tax reform as the GOP establishment does everything in its power to impede.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. With friends like you, who needs enemas?

[This article was written by Michele Hickford, author of the brutally honest and bitingly funny Do I Need To Slap You?]