In the event there is a Trump Presidency, Republican senators we will count on to minimize damage that could occur from Trump's stated goals include Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; John McCain of Arizona; Jeff Flake of Arizona; Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; Ben Sasse of Nebraska; and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

They will differ issue by issue, and they will certainly side much more often than not with the Republican majority. And we can't count on them to block cabinet nominees such as their Republican colleague Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Mr. Trump's choice for attorney general, despite criticism of his civil rights record. They know and like Mr. Sessions.

But they are poised to challenge Trump and their colleagues on policy areas in which they deeply disagree or on some of the more extreme proposals that arose from the Trump campaign.

Lindsey Graham has made known his opposition to Trump all during the campaign cycle, and stepped forward after the third debate condemning GOP nominee for refusing to say he'd accept the results of the Nov. 8 election. Graham also said he wouldn't vote for him, " I just don't believe Donald Trump is a reliable conservative Republican. Good luck with Paul Ryan trying to find a conservative agenda with this guy. And I don't think he has the temperament or judgment to be commander in chief." He has already asked for an inquiry as to Russia's cyberattacks on the DNC.

Susan Collins of Maine who wrote an op-ed article in August announcing that she would not vote for Mr. Trump because he did not represent historical Republican values is also a potential dissenting voice and vote for a Trump presidency, "If the president came forth with a legislative proposal that would ban all Muslims from coming into the United States, I would obviously oppose something like that."

She and others in this group are fully capable of building bipartisan coalitions large enough to assert control over an issue and push legislation in one direction or another, siphoning some authority from the leadership.

Though House conservatives are agitating to eliminate the filibuster, most of the senators in this group would be reluctant to support such a move since they derive some of their own clout from the threat of that procedural tool.

Here's a look at how the others besides Mr. Graham and Ms. Collins figure to be at the center of activity.

Mr. Alexander: As chairman of the Senate health committee, he will be pivotal in any action Congress takes to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and he has urged caution to his colleagues. He has forged a close relationship with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the new Democratic leader, and has worked well with Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the committee and now No. 3 in her party's leadership. He left the Republican leadership a few years ago because he felt constrained by a role requiring party-line allegiance.

Mr. McCain: Attacked and dismissed by Trump ("He's not a war hero," said Trump. "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."), McCain has already made clear that he will oppose any effort by the Trump administration to reinstate interrogation methods, like waterboarding, that have been deemed to be torture. Given his distrust of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, he, along with Mr. Graham, will serve as a check on efforts to foster closer ties with Russia. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he will wield tremendous influence over Pentagon policy. Newly re-elected at age 80, Mr. McCain most likely ran his last race, freeing him from electoral concerns about a backlash from the right.

Ms. Murkowski: As chairwoman of the energy committee, she is a strong advocate of domestic oil and gas production, but has also raised concerns about man-made climate change and its increasing impact on her state's environment. Like Ms. Collins, she has a voting record in support of abortion rights, and she can be more of a libertarian than a conservative. Perhaps most important, she won re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate and clashed with the party leadership, making her something of a free agent.

Mr. Flake: One of the most outspoken Trump foes in the Senate, he took Mr. Trump on directly at a private party meeting. Both in the House and the Senate, Mr. Flake has challenged his leadership, and in some cases has won, notably on his crusade against the home-state projects known as earmarks. A champion of immigration reform, he is up for re-election in 2018 and is likely to be hit from right and left.

Mr. Paul: He has already threatened to filibuster Mr. Trump's cabinet picks, and he previously raised the alarm about the reach of government surveillance programs, which could put him at odds with the new administration. He has urged restraint with American military power, putting him distinctly at odds with Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham in that area.

Mr. Sasse: A persistent detractor of Mr. Trump throughout the campaign, he seems most likely to challenge Mr. Trump in cases of perceived abuse of executive power. In a Nebraska op-ed article after the election, he urged a search for common ground with Mr. Trump, but warned that there would be disagreements. "There are absolutely some things that worry me," he wrote.

The question for these Republicans is how many of those worrisome things will pop up and how far will they go to oppose them.

This article derives much of its information and wording from a NY Times article , Trump's Next Battle: Keeping These Republican Senators Happy by Carl Hulse, November 6, 2016. It is supplemented by words and insights by Voices4Hillary.

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November 28, 2016