The Republican Party increasingly resembles a hornet’s nest.
From the bubble in which President Donald Trump lives, everything seems to be perfectly oiled. However, more and more conservative voices in Congress are clashing with his dictates.
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“I don’t care about the midterm elections,” Trump said last week amid concern among his own about the negative impact of the war in Iran, which is very unpopular in the United States.
In the wake of this, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, a series of very sensitive votes for the president – Iran, Ukraine, the White House ballroom under construction – have taken place, in which the interests of Trump and the command team in those instances, both controlled by conservatives, have been defeated.
Despite the good economic news this Friday, with the creation of 172,000 jobs in May and a 20-cent drop in the national average fuel price (still about 1.5 dollars higher than a year ago), consumer sentiment is at its worst level in a long time.
Since all this could take its toll in next November’s elections, Republican lawmakers are starting to be very concerned about their fate, while others have certified that they will lose their seats after losing the primaries because Trump gave his support to other contenders.
Released forces converge. Added to this electoral fear are the primary losers, who will remain in the Capitol until January. And to these are added those who are retiring, all of them freed from ties to the president. In this context, where the president continues to be the party’s benchmark, Republican lawmakers are beginning to test the limits of Trump’s power by exercising their own.
“We don’t want to oppose the president just for the sake of opposing the president,” said Senator Thom Tillis, one of those retiring. “But, unlike the president, we have a third of our members running for re-election this year,” he clarified.
Breaks are occurring. Four Republicans voted to pass a Democrat-backed resolution in the House of Representatives on Wednesday to end the war in the Middle East, despite objections from Republican leadership. The measure orders Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran, unless Congress votes for a declaration of war or authorizes the use of military force against the Islamic republic.
The drift intensified on Thursday in that Chamber. A total of 18 conservative lawmakers challenged their own leadership and Trump by voting with Democrats to approve a major bill that allocates billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and imposes harsh sanctions on Russia.
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The 226 to 195 result allowed a package to pass, which tightens measures against Russia through new penalties on oil and gas, marking the first major initiative favorable to Ukraine during Trump’s second term.
The punishment is evident, although the votes on Iran and Ukraine are symbolic, as the resolutions would also have to be approved by the Senate and, despite this, Trump has the right to veto.
There’s more. In the Lower House, they also approved a censure, thanks to Republican defection, to reproach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for discriminatory dismissals in the army, especially of women and African Americans.
Furthermore, Senate Republicans on Thursday removed provisions from a revised budget reconciliation bill that considered up to $1 billion for security improvements in the White House ballroom project.
The lack of funding and authorization for the ballroom is a significant setback for Trump, who for weeks had pressured Republican senators on the need for Congress to approve the project.
Even victory is bitter for the president. The Republican leadership in the Senate had to fight for 18 hours to pass the $70 billion budget to fund immigration repression for the remainder of the term, especially due to conservative reluctance.
Only Senator Lisa Murkowsky broke away from the Republican majority. But others said yes only after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that there would be no $1.776 billion fund to compensate the alleged victims of the previous government’s judicial war. Among those affected were the January 6, 2021 coup plotters.
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