In a rarity, Republicans stand up to Trump

WASHINGTON -- For much of President Donald Trump’s time in office, Republican lawmakers have had little appetite to stand up to his brand of vindictive politics.

Through revenge primary campaigns, bullying social media posts and the threat that he can command the GOP base to go after anyone at any time, Trump has brought lawmakers in his party under his control like no president in modern history. A single critical word against Trump or his agenda could result in a full-scale retribution campaign to force a disloyal Republican from office.

But this week, in a rarity in GOP politics, Trump’s taunts, bullying and threats have backfired, at least for now. Senate Republicans, after the president targeted two of their own, stood up to Trump on two of his biggest priorities: money for his White House ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to reward Trump supporters who claim political persecution by Democrats, such as the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “Utterly stupid, morally wrong -- take your pick.”

Then, in another sign that the party was pushing back on Trump, House Republicans canceled a vote on a resolution to halt the war in Iran, after it became clear they did not have enough votes to defeat it.

The cracks in the president’s dominance over Senate Republicans stemmed from two main sources. First, Trump asked Republican lawmakers to take up politically unpopular issues in a midterm election year.

At a time when gas prices are high, Americans are struggling to make ends meet. And as an unpopular war against Iran drags on, any Republican running for office will want to be seen as fighting for the American people, not bestowing lavish gifts upon the president and his associates, particularly ones who were convicted of crimes.

“Is it possible on May 21, 2026, Republicans finally found an ethical bridge too far?” asked Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat. “I wonder: Could it have been that golden ballroom for a billion bucks that was supposed to be freebie that Mar-a-Lago golf buddies were going to pitch in for? Or perhaps it was this incredible slush fund -- I don’t know quite what to call it -- it was a Capitol Police Cop Beaters Relief Fund?”

Trump has also openly attacked and worked against the very people he now needs to pass his priorities. There are only 53 Republican senators, several of whom are already independent minded and unlikely to support the most extreme parts of the president’s agenda.

Trump did himself no favors when he supported a candidate to defeat Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana in a Republican primary, and endorsed a GOP candidate against Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The result of those moves was to ensure that there would be fewer Republican senators who feel the need to be loyal to the president.

“You can’t underestimate the psychological impact of endorsing against Cornyn like that,” said Michael Ricci, a former top communications aide to Speakers Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and John Boehner of Ohio, both Republicans. “Cornyn is a big figure in the conference. He was a few votes shy of being majority leader. He has been doing events for all these members. I just feel like that was an accelerant on an already simmering flame.”

Senate Republicans had already appeared ready to jettison one Trump priority -- $1 billion for security, including for his ballroom project -- from the spending bill. But then came news of Trump’s new $1.8 billion fund to pay people who claim they were politically persecuted. That fund caused GOP lawmakers to abandon plans to take up a bill Thursday to fund the president’s immigration crackdown.

“It is in real trouble, and it should be,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is known to oppose the most extreme parts of Trump’s agenda.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the majority leader, did not dispute that the president’s political moves, which have cost one incumbent his seat and have threatened another, may have fueled some of the Republican opposition to the Justice Department fund.

“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” he told reporters. He added: “There’s a political component to everything we do around here.”

This year, Trump has set out on a multistate tour that White House aides say is designed to show midterm election voters that he is focused on the economy and their pocketbooks. But at each stop, Trump has made it clear that his primary mission is maintaining his dominance over the Republican Party.

At the same time, the president has also been increasingly open about his belief that he has little need for Congress. Trump has attempted to work around Congress on his construction projects, including the ballroom and his planned triumphal arch. He has also tried to skirt congressional review of his tariffs, and the war in Iran.

Last year, Trump said after passing a sweeping tax and spending law that he believed he had little need for Congress. “I said, ‘Put it all into one bill, and if we get it done, we’re done for four years.’ We don’t need anything more from Congress in terms of that,” Trump said.

Ricci said that Trump sees his top political goal as maintaining control of his party, as much as winning large majorities in Congress.

“Clearly keeping his primacy in the party into the 2030s is Goal One, and if it means a rocky legislative week here and there, then so be it,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company

This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 10:44 AM.