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This week has, honestly, felt like a lifetime in Republican politics. And if you could feel the vibes on Capitol Hill this week, they were off.
It was a big week in terms of primary elections, setting the stage for the November primaries. And with that came a lot of drama.
It all started when Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., lost his primary by failing to advance to the June runoff. President Donald Trump had endorsed his opponent, Rep. Julia Letlow, in a final act of revenge for Cassidy voting to convict Trump at the end of his first term.
Then on Tuesday, Trump made the surprise announcement that he was going to be endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn — a decision that Republican leaders had begged the president not to do. But Trump claimed Cornyn was not as loyal because of his delayed support during the 2020 election, once again exacting his revenge.
And later that night, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was defeated in his primary after the president personally lobbied Kentucky voters to kick him out of office.
The one-two-three punch has left a bad taste in some Republicans’ mouths. And it’s raised the question: Is there still room for healthy disagreement within the Republican Party — or are you basically committing political suicide if you dare cross Trump?
“You have to give up on some of your personal preferences at some point, because you’re in a deliberative body,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this week. “It’s nothing more than that. The president has the strongest endorsement in the history of politics, as I mentioned, but we don’t demand loyalty to the president.”
Still, several Republicans on Capitol Hill view this “my way or the highway” approach from the president to be killing morale — and potentially threatening his agenda.
“There are still many, many months to go before the election, and this president is going to have to continue to deal and work with, and partner with, or battle with this group of lawmakers,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters on Tuesday. “Even though Bill Cassidy lost his primary, he is still a voting member of the Senate until January.”
“So the president may have just opened some opportunities for people,” she added.
And we are already seeing evidence of that. Since losing his primary, Cassidy has become more of a thorn in Trump’s side.
Since his loss, the Louisiana incumbent has: said he would oppose the $1 billion proposal to fund White House ballroom security; called Paxton a “felon” after Trump’s endorsement; raised skepticism about the Justice Department’s anti-weaponization fund; and voted to advance a resolution reining in Trump’s war powers in Iran.
And that was all before Wednesday.
Other Republicans are firing warning shots to the Trump White House that the more you try to oust members of your own party, the more you will get hurt in the future.
“I believe that there are people in the White House who couldn’t care less about what happens in November,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring next year. “And that goes to show you how stupid they are, because if they don’t get Republicans reelected, they’re going to create the most miserable two years of this president’s life.”
But there could be some optimism hiding out in the Senate. Utah Sen. John Curtis — who has occasionally emerged as a Republican unafraid to break with Trump if he disagrees — made sure to point out that although there is a lot of focus on doing what the president wants, there has still been healthy pushback to demands that are unreasonable.
“I would point out, the president has asked us to break the filibuster almost every day, and we haven’t. The president has asked to change blue slips and we haven’t,” Curtis told CNN’s Dana Bash this week. “I’m not going to argue that there’s not a lot of doing what the president wants. You see that with any president. What I’m going to tell you is what’s totally missed is the number of pushbacks that are actually there.”
Stories Driving the Week
- Spending pause: Congress punted plans to vote on Republicans’ multibillion-dollar immigration package this week as plans quickly fell apart over internal opposition to a pair of controversial items being pushed by the Trump administration that got entangled in the spending fight.
- Midterm mania: Across the six states where voters cast their ballots, one thing became increasingly clear: President Donald Trump was the biggest winner of the night, as all his preferred candidates notched the victories they needed. But whether those primary wins will spell ultimate victory in the general election is still an open question.
- Romney weighs in: Former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney made a rare comment on politics this weekend after the electoral defeat of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary after President Donald Trump elevated two of his challengers in an attempt to oust the sitting incumbent.
How the immigration bill became collateral damage
The biggest news of this week was supposed to be the passage of Republicans’ multibillion-dollar immigration funding package. But as Thursday afternoon rolled around, it became increasingly clear that just wasn’t going to happen.
Republicans were already dealt a setback last weekend when the Senate parliamentarian ruled the $1 billion provision tied to White House ballroom security enhancements didn’t qualify for the budgetary package. But they were optimistic they could rewrite that provision to adhere to reconciliation rules and that a vote could be scheduled by the end of the week.
Then came the Justice Department, which announced a new $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would allow individuals to be compensated if they believe they have been unfairly targeted by the federal government. That fund came as a surprise to everyone on Capitol Hill — and it angered lawmakers in both parties.
“Yeah, not a big fan,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this week after it was announced. “I’m not sure exactly how they intend to use it. … But I don’t see a purpose for it.”
Those questions, apparently, still haven’t been answered. And it blew up Republicans’ plans to get the immigration funding bill through the Senate and House before the holiday recess.
Most Republicans find the fund to be unjustified, unnecessary, or just downright unconstitutional. Others are worried that rioters who were convicted in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol may qualify — and they haven’t gotten enough clarity on that.
Moral of the story: Republicans were unhappy with the “anti-weaponization fund,” and the immigration bill became collateral damage.
“The timing obviously is something we had no control over,” Thune told reporters after they pulled the bill from the schedule on Thursday. “(The White House) needs to help with this issue, because we have a lot of members who are concerned.”
Lawmakers are now gone until June, and it’s not clear what the plan moving forward will be.
Quick Hits
From the Hill: Congress will leave town without passing immigration bill. Here’s how it all fell apart. … House passes landmark housing affordability bill. …
From the White House: White House adviser on addiction Kathryn Burgum opens up about her own recovery. … Trump says White House ballroom will have military hospital and store drones. … The AM radio debate: Operative or obsolete? Trump weighs in.
From the courts: Jury delivers verdict in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI. … Trump DOJ to create fund to compensate allies targeted by Biden admin. … Luigi Mangione scores partial court win as judge limits evidence at murder trial.
What’s next
Both chambers are out for the Memorial Day holiday. The Senate is set to return June 1 and the House will be back June 2. Republicans will return to the drawing board for their immigration funding bill.
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