A tough week for Trump on Capitol Hill, as Republicans deal him setbacks

President Donald Trump has repeatedly bent congressional Republicans to his will, pushing his proposals through meager resistance with the threat of mobilizing the Republican base against disloyal members of his party.

This week, GOP lawmakers in both chambers indicated that their patience with that strategy may be wearing thin.

A series of setbacks on Capitol Hill — on issues spanning the Iran war, a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, and the proposed White House ballroom — illustrated simmering tensions between GOP lawmakers and the president ahead of what could be bruising midterms in November.

Republicans began the week with an expected win on the horizon: passage of their party-line immigration funding bill, which they planned to send to Trump’s desk before a weeklong Memorial Day break.

The first challenge was clear. The bill — intended to send $70 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other law enforcement efforts — included $1 billion in security funding for the “East Wing Modernization Project,” the name for Trump’s proposed ballroom and underground renovations.

Some Republicans were already concerned about the optics of voting to support the unpopular project amid high gas prices and widespread discontent with the economy. Then the Senate parliamentarian ruled the funding out of compliance with byzantine budget reconciliation rules, but leaders had pledged to try to rework it.

Simmering in the background was the settlement released Monday between Trump and his Justice Department, creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people he claims were victims of a “weaponized” justice system. The deal also included an agreement that the IRS would be barred from pursuing existing unpaid tax claims against Trump, his family, or his businesses.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) noted Tuesday that there were “a lot of questions” about the fund for the administration to answer.

Senate Republicans had already watched one of their own be defeated over the weekend for insufficient loyalty to Trump. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) lost his primary race Saturday against a Trump-endorsed opponent — the first sitting senator to lose a primary since 2017.

Then came the blow that pushed the conference over the edge: Trump on Tuesday endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who has served in the Senate since 2002 and was once a candidate to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as the chamber’s Republican leader. Thune had urged Trump almost every time they spoke in recent months to endorse Cornyn. Unlike Cassidy, Cornyn has gone to great lengths to demonstrate his loyalty to the president after saying in 2023 that Trump’s time had “passed him by.”

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton is not only likely to boost Democrats’ chances in the Lone Star State in the general election, many Republicans fear, but it will also draw money away from other key Senate races to defend the longtime Republican stronghold, potentially endangering GOP control of the Senate.

“I don’t understand. He is an ethically challenged individual,” Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) told reporters of Paxton, who has been dogged by scandals, including his 2023 impeachment by the state House of Representatives on charges including bribery and abusing his office to cover up an affair. (Paxton was acquitted by the Texas Senate.)

For the rest of the week, congressional Republicans were ungovernable.

Cassidy for the first time joined three other Republican senators and Democrats in advancing a resolution to block Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran.

House Republican leaders pulled a vote on a similar measure Thursday when it became clear that it would pass.

After enough Republican senators said they would oppose Trump’s ballroom security funding, GOP leaders abandoned plans to rework the measure to pass muster with the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough.

On Wednesday, Trump suggested in a post on Truth Social that Senate Republicans should fire the nonpartisan parliamentarian, presumably over her decision. His appeal was roundly rejected and earned a mild rebuke from Thune, who said it is “concerning when anyone is targeted like that.”

Republicans also pushed back en masse against the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” payout fund, raising concerns that the money would be used to compensate people who assaulted police officers and were convicted of other crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

People who have pleaded guilty to violent crimes against law enforcement could benefit, said Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.). “How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke with Senate Republicans during a Thursday lunch, where they peppered him with questions about how the fund would be used. Lawmakers left frustrated and unsatisfied.

Finally, they scrapped plans for now to pass the immigration funding bill, which some Republican senators said could be used to add restrictions to the payout fund.

“I’m still supportive of a focused bill that funds ICE and CBP, and that’s it. Why we need anything else is beyond me,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.). “But it’s not working out too well.”

Asked if he had lost control of the Senate, Trump said Thursday: “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales later offered a more bullish assessment, saying in a statement that Trump “is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party and he is committed to maintaining Republicans’ majority in Congress to continue delivering wins for the American people.”

The chaotic week left Republicans smarting on both sides of the Capitol.

Rep. Mark Amodei (R., Nev.) said that it’s too early to tell whether it’s an indication of a deeper fissure with the president, but that there’s clearly “a communication problem” between the White House and Republican lawmakers.

“I can’t imagine a week with more dust in the air,” he said. “We don’t need any more weeks like this. It’s like, listen, if you’re going to make demands on what you expect for Congress, then you need to give some consistency and some predictability. And there was none of that this week.”

Some are skeptical that the pushback will last. Trump didn’t exert maximum pressure on Republicans this week and may still when they return from break, said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP operative.

“Republican leadership is upset. Yes, they should be upset,” he said. “But being upset and acting on it are two different things, especially if Trump goes all in and says, ‘I want my ballroom, and you’re funding it.’”

But others warn that Trump’s conservative coalition in Congress could slip if he undermines the odds of GOP lawmakers winning reelection.

“When the president, in a tough midterm election environment, chooses loyalty to himself over loyalty to keeping a majority in Congress, it shouldn’t be surprising that some elements of that majority, if from his own party, begin to test their own independence," said Timothy Naftali, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.