Republicans are increasingly uncomfortable with President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk’s strategy to slash the federal government.
Sen. Jerry Moran warned the White House that dismantling USAID could hurt Kansans who sell their crops to a government program that fights hunger abroad, our Ben Leonard and Hailey Fuchs report. Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson’s staff wants answers about how an OMB-directed hiring freeze could affect the National Park Service.
Some GOP lawmakers are privately expressing alarm as they pass around a letter the administration sent to fire USDA microbiologists working to stop the bird flu and other animal diseases. Several Republican senators have also voiced concerns about how NIH cuts could hurt universities back home.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who earlier this month praised Musk for “draining the swamp,” on Saturday criticized the potential firing of probationary FBI agents as counterproductive to law enforcement efforts in his state. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski warned that the administration’s civil-servant culling could hurt energy projects and wildfire management in Alaska.
They’re all early signs of the difficult task Republican lawmakers will face over the next four years: figuring out how to stand up for their constituents without appearing disloyal to the president.
And it’s highlighting a significant GOP divide. While some more centrist members are nervous about the pace and scale of the spending cuts, House conservatives want Trump and Musk to slash even more — especially if they don’t get their desired level of spending cuts in the party-line bill to enact the president’s sweeping domestic agenda.
Centrist Republicans could withhold key support if the budget reconciliation measure guts safety-net programs for lower-income Americans. House Republican leaders already think they’ll need to scale back some of those proposed cuts to pass any bill through the Senate.
The Trump administration is offering Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as an alternative vehicle for slashing funding without relying on Congress, according to three GOP lawmakers — and some hard-liners are signaling they’re open to that approach.
Fresh test: Expect Republican senators to face questions this week about DOGE seeking access to an IRS system that holds detailed financial information about millions of taxpayers.
What else we’re watching:
- Budget play: Look for an announcement from Senate Majority Leader John Thune Tuesday on when he plans to bring the Senate’s version of the budget resolution to the floor — setting up a vote-a-rama. Meanwhile, the House is still planning to move forward on their resolution next week.
- Democrats on offense: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Democratic senators in a Saturday call to focus on pushing amendments to the GOP budget plan during an upcoming vote-a-rama. Expect Democrats to force the GOP to take votes that they hope will make it look like Republicans are favoring tax cuts for the wealthy over the middle class when budget resolution moves through the Senate for a vote.
- Trump admin floats CRAs: OMB Director Russ Vought on Monday threw his support behind a resolution that would overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that caps overdraft bank and credit union overdraft fees. It’s an early sign of the actions that the Trump administration will attempt to carry out via the Congressional Review Act.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
