{"id":660409,"date":"2026-05-23T12:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660409\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:19:17","slug":"senators-are-not-happy-how-trump-pushed-the-gop-to-the-breaking-point-this-week-national-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660409\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Senators are not happy\u2019: How Trump pushed the GOP to the breaking point this week | National Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

(CNN) \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s relationship with Senate Republicans has hit a new low after a revolt over his $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund<\/a> surfaced deep divisions over the direction of the party and its priorities.<\/p>\n

Trump and his close allies were fuming over the rebuke on Friday, while on Capitol Hill, GOP senators and aides blasted the fund<\/a> as the latest in a series of damaging White House blunders that they increasingly fear will cost them control of the chamber, according to five people familiar with the conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president is making it as hard as humanly possible,\u201d said one senior GOP Senate aide. \u201cThis is a true unified front. All 53 Republican senators are not happy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

And with six months to go until the midterm elections, Republicans exasperated by the infighting are warning it might only get worse from here.<\/p>\n

The standoff over the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund<\/a> capped a disastrous period that derailed Republicans\u2019 bid to pass a major immigration package by June 1, as Trump had demanded, leaving their agenda in the lurch.<\/p>\n

It also further underscored lawmakers\u2019 long-simmering fears<\/a> that rather than helping bolster their political standing by focusing on economic issues and touting key policy wins, Trump was instead weakening their chances come November through his preoccupation with personal projects and a wide-ranging retribution campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a \u2018Nero fiddled while Rome burned\u2019 kind of moment,\u201d said GOP strategist Barrett Marson. \u201cThe things that Trump, and to some extent Congress, are focusing on right now are not things that help Americans \u2014 and time is running out to change the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

In just the last week, Trump celebrated the ouster of GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy<\/a>, who his allies had poured funds into primarying as revenge for voting to convict Trump in his impeachment trial five years ago. The president then endorsed against well-liked Texas Sen. John Cornyn in next week\u2019s GOP primary runoff, opting instead to back Ken Paxton, a challenger who senators had openly warned could cost Republicans the race.<\/p>\n

All the while, the White House was pressing Senate Republicans to authorize $1 billion for Trump\u2019s new ballroom and the Secret Service, elevating a personal project many lawmakers fear is only reinforcing voters\u2019 perception of the GOP as out of touch, Senate aides and others familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n

When the Senate\u2019s parliamentarian ruled that the money couldn\u2019t be included in Republicans\u2019 broader legislative package, Trump publicly called for her firing \u2014 a move that many senators viewed as inappropriate and unwise, the people familiar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the must-pass stuff is starting to get hijacked by things like the ballroom,\u201d said one person familiar with the Senate dynamics. \u201cFrom a morale standpoint, that doesn\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, the creation of Trump\u2019s $1.8 billion fund amounted to a breaking point, GOP aides said, prompting an outpouring of public criticism that culminated in a tense closed-door meeting over the arrangement with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.<\/p>\n

Republican senators in the hours since have sought to make clear in public and private that there is little support for the fund \u2014 and that Trump continuing to pursue it could jeopardize the party\u2019s broader agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless there\u2019s some sort of come to Jesus moment in the White House, I don\u2019t know how the calculus changes,\u201d the person familiar with the Senate dynamics said. \u201cThe rebellious nature has really ticked up this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump officials brushed off the setback and have insisted that there will be no changes to the fund. Trump tried to defend the fund<\/a> on Friday morning, casting the settlement as a personal sacrifice and saying he\u2019s \u201chelping others\u201d who claim they\u2019ve been unfairly targeted. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales also rejected any suggestions that it had strained the White House\u2019s relationship with Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican party and he is committed to maintaining Republicans\u2019 majority in Congress to continue delivering wins for the American people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The White House also sent statements from seven Republican senators attesting to the party\u2019s continued unity behind Trump, though none made mention of the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund or the White House ballroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenate Republicans need to be in lockstep with him to finish implementing his agenda for the American people \u2014 whatever it takes,\u201d Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said in one of the statements. \u201cPresident Trump is the head coach, and he needs a team that\u2019s working together with him in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump and his top aides are eventually expected to work with Senate Majority Leader John Thune to chart a path through the conflict, though there was little immediate sense how exactly they planned to do it, GOP aides said.<\/p>\n

In a notable sign that officials are eager to ease tensions, White House officials have largely declined to publicly attack individual senators over their criticisms of the $1.8 billion fund. Asked on Thursday whether he was losing his grip on the Senate, Trump said simply: \u201cI really don\u2019t know. I only do what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

But within Trump\u2019s orbit, allies insisted that the president remained unbowed by the pushback \u2014 and to the contrary, appeared more emboldened after a string of recent Republican primary victories showed he retained his grip on the broader party.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump runs the entire board in primaries and senators believe that means nothing?\u201d said one person close to the White House. \u201cThe Senate opposition to this is not going to last.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, others warned that the dynamics could worsen in the coming months if Republicans\u2019 midterm outlook erodes further.<\/p>\n

Trump is already polling at historic lows and showing no signs of an imminent turnaround, potentially hastening the arrival of his lame duck status. He\u2019s refused to pivot away from pet issues like the ballroom and toward a more sustained effort to address the cost-of-living issues hampering GOP candidates.<\/p>\n

And in backing efforts to push out incumbent senators over long-held slights and grudges, he\u2019s expanded the number of so-called free agents within the Republican conference: retiring senators that are suddenly more willing to speak their mind and oppose his priorities.<\/p>\n

After Cassidy lost his primary, the Louisiana Republican promptly voiced opposition<\/a> to Trump\u2019s ballroom funding, disparaged the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund and voted for a measure aimed at forcing the US out of its war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,\u201d Cassidy wrote on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Multiple people familiar with the matter said the post expressed an opinion that many other GOP senators held but could not voice on their own. But even by that point of the week, the mood in the chamber was darkening.<\/p>\n

During an appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance defended Trump\u2019s fresh effort to push Cornyn out of his Texas Senate seat by arguing that it was an effort to install lawmakers who \u201cfight for the good\u201d of the people.<\/p>\n

Trump wants \u201cpeople who can\u2019t be bought by corporate lobbyists, who can\u2019t be bought by Wall Street, who can\u2019t be bought by special interests,\u201d said Vance, who previously served alongside Cornyn in the Senate and as a college student had briefly worked as his legal clerk.<\/p>\n

The swipe quickly circulated among dismayed Hill Republicans, who even days later remained offended by the insinuation against a former member of Senate GOP leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cReferring to Sen. Cornyn, who is a leader within our conference, in that way is disgraceful,\u201d the senior GOP Senate aide said. \u201cUnless there is a pattern change or behavior change from the White House, it\u2019s not going to get any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The-CNN-Wire<\/p>\n

\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

\u200bCOPYRIGHT 2026 THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & \u00a9 2025 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(CNN) \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s relationship with Senate Republicans has hit a new low after a revolt over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-660409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}