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No longer untouchable: Donald Trump.
KEYSTONE
Donald Trump is used to his party following him blindly. But suddenly Republicans are standing up to him. In an election year of all times, the US president is facing headwinds from within his own ranks.
Of course, Donald Trump continues to leave his mark on the Republican Party. However, there have been repeated cases in recent months where the paint - to stay with the image - just wouldn't stick. Cases in which Republican MPs blocked his plans or openly opposed them.
The New York Times finds this remarkable. On the one hand, because the majorities in Congress are narrow and even a few dissenters can have a major impact. On the other hand, because the events show that loyalty to Trump and political self-interest are increasingly colliding among Republicans. What's going on in Trump country? Here are the answers to some burning questions.
For a long time, Trump got what he wanted from his party. He could rely on the fact that the fear of his anger was greater than the desire to resist.
The Republicans passed his major tax and spending package ("Big Beautiful Bill"), backed his personnel decisions and largely supported his political agenda. Trump therefore claimed last fall that he would practically no longer need Congress for the next few years.
Of course, there is still no question of the Republican Party suddenly turning its back on Donald Trump. Most members of parliament continue to back him, his base remains strong and hardly anyone in the party is openly questioning his leadership role.
What is new, however, is that individual Republicans are no longer waving through every decision made by the US President, the Washington Post is somewhat surprised. This is increasingly being done by MPs from contested constituencies, senators with an eye on the mid-term elections and politicians who no longer have much to lose anyway.
They are opposing Trump where his policies are risky for themselves. Their resistance is therefore less rebellion than a sober consideration of power: Will Trump help me get re-elected - or will he drag me down?
Donald Trump has suffered several setbacks in the space of a few weeks, as "Newsweek" lists:
- Senators from his own party stopped a controversial compensation fund for Trump supporters.
- Republican MPs voted with the Democrats against Trump's Iran policy.
- Several Republican senators openly opposed key personnel decisions made by the president.
The most visible conflict concerns Trump's Iran policy. Polls show that many Americans oppose the US going to war with Iran. The House of Representatives therefore voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end to US military action against Iran. The vote has no practical impact, but politically, according to the New York Times, the vote is at least a warning shot for Donald Trump: four Republicans joined the Democrats in the vote and seven did not vote at all.
Opposition to a planned fund to compensate Trump supporters who consider themselves victims of political persecution also caused a stir. People convicted in connection with the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 could also have benefited from this compensation fund. This also went too far for some Republicans. They blocked the project until the government backed down.
There is also anger over personnel decisions. The planned role of Bill Pulte as intelligence coordinator in particular has met with resistance from Republicans. The fact that senators are publicly saying that a presidential candidate has little chance of being confirmed is unpleasant for Trump - and unusually open for his party.
It is striking that the critics cannot be assigned to a common camp. In the House of Representatives, four Republicans voted with the Democrats on the Iran vote: Thomas Massie from Kentucky, Warren Davidson from Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and Tom Barrett from Michigan.
I just introduced an Iran War Powers Resolution with @RepRoKhanna to prohibit U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 17, 2025
This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution. pic.twitter.com/LuIl59lt45
Massie is a libertarian conservative who has long argued against the president going it alone militarily. Davidson also comes from the conservative camp and calls for a stronger role for Congress in war decisions. Fitzpatrick is a moderate Republican from a politically contested district. Barrett, on the other hand, faces a difficult re-election in Michigan.
In the Senate, John Cornyn from Texas, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana and Thom Tillis from North Carolina were among those who put the brakes on.
The fact that the resistance comes from different corners of his party makes him potentially dangerous: there is no single opponent that Trump could isolate or eliminate. Of course, this does not prevent him from lashing out violently against the "self-promoters" on his Truth Social platform.
The most important reason is the midterm elections. In the midterms in November, the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be re-elected. Many Republicans represent contested constituencies and not only have to win over Trump supporters, but also independent voters.
According to the latest polls, Trump's Iran war in particular is unpopular with the population. At the same time, his tariff policy and economic uncertainties are causing unrest. The impression that the government is too preoccupied with retaliation against political opponents can be a deterrent in the middle.
Some Republicans are feeling this pressure earlier than Trump himself. They are hearing different tones in their constituencies than in the White House and are therefore beginning to seek political distance from the president.
This is where the story gets interesting. In recent years, Trump has secured his power primarily through primaries. Anyone who opposed him often had to reckon with an opposing candidate supported by Trump, which was tantamount to defeat. This system worked surprisingly well for a long time.
However, there have recently been indications that this threat is no longer always equally effective. In Iowa, Republican congressman Randy Feenstra lost his primary against Zach Lahn, despite Trump's late endorsement. Sure, one race doesn't make a trend. But it does show that a Trump endorsement doesn't automatically decide everything.
For members of Congress, that's important. If Trump can no longer control every political career, opposition becomes a little less dangerous.
No, at least not fundamentally. Trump remains the central figure of the Republicans. Most Republican MPs vote with him on the decisive issues.
What has changed is the automatism. In the past, a clear signal from the Trump camp was often enough to bring the parliamentary group into line. Now there are more and more issues where individual Republicans are saying: this far and no further. His opponents are not pursuing a common strategy, but are coming to the same conclusion: they are slowing Trump down.
This is by no means a loss of power on a grand scale. But it is a sign that Trump is no longer untouchable because his party is becoming more unpredictable.
It could be exciting because Trump's authority will almost inevitably suffer. Republicans in safe constituencies will hardly contradict him. In contested constituencies, however, things look very different.
There, the candidates will try to present themselves as a more independent voice. They will hardly attack Trump head-on, but will keep their distance on individual issues. The closer the elections get, the more MPs will listen to their constituencies and the less willing some will be to take any risks for Trump.
This is dangerous for Trump because narrow majorities in Congress can be shaken by just a few dissenters. And should the Democrats even win back the House of Representatives in November, Trump would have even less room for maneuver. Then there would be the threat of blockades, committees of inquiry and a tough day-to-day political life.
Not in the short term. Trump remains the most important Republican in Washington. His party follows him on most issues and his base continues to back him.
But the man who is not very good at talking back has to realize that his power in Congress has its limits. The closer the midterms get, the more Republican MPs think about their own future. Loyalty is important to them. But re-election is more important.
The events of the past few weeks are highly interesting in this respect. They show that the Republicans are beginning to develop their own interests again. For a president who expects absolute loyalty, that in itself is a problem.
