Republicans have delivered two stinging rejections to President-elect Donald Trump in the last week, demonstrating how Trump’s immediate lame-duck status may limit his influence despite his enormous sway among the GOP’s most loyal voters.
There’s little doubt that Trump, like any president, remains the party’s leader, and he’ll have a mostly united GOP behind him as he pushes for tax cuts for the wealthy, conservative judicial appointments, and assaults on democratic norms.
And there have long been limits to how far Republicans will go in support of a man whom many of them privately despise despite lavishing him with praise in public.
Recent rejections by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Republicans denying Trump’s request to include a debt ceiling hike in a government funding bill highlight Trump’s lack of power to dictate GOP behavior in politics and government. These rejections serve as warning signs for Trump allies hoping for smooth enactment.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told HuffPost that while the GOP supports Trump, some of his requests, such as raising the debt ceiling, are not feasible.
“I think he’s going to continue to lobby, and I think they respect the fact that he’s the incoming president of the United States, and they all want to have a good relationship with him, but they also know that certain things are doable and some things are not doable, and in the political process, there is no way at this stage of the game to effectively address the debt ceiling,” according to him. “And so it was a matter of we do the best we can, and we’re all on the same team.”
“We want to make things work out, right?” Rounds spoke.
Trump’s demand that Republicans include a debt ceiling provision in their government funding bill derailed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial legislation, but it set up a standoff that he eventually lost.
Republicans despise raising the debt ceiling, and they were unwilling to compromise just because Trump asked them to. Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the legislation Johnson hastily drafted to appease their leader.
The president-elect even threatened to support a primary challenger to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), only to have Roy openly defy him.
“My position is simple: I will not raise or suspend the debt ceiling (which would result in more debt) unless significant and real spending cuts are attached. I’ve been negotiating towards that end. No apologies,” Roy wrote on X, tagging Trump to ensure he noticed.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point’s annual America Fest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.
Trump’s embarrassing defeat at the hands of House lawmakers came after Senate Republicans refused to support scandal-plagued Matt Gaetz for attorney general, forcing the would-be nominee to withdraw from consideration.
In that confrontation, Trump backed down despite threatening to bypass the Senate and fill his cabinet through recess appointments.
DeSantis’ opposition was less direct. Lara Trump was never firmly rejected; instead, she withdrew her name from consideration on Saturday night. According to the Washington Post, Trump pushed DeSantis to name her to the seat, which will become vacant once Sen.
Marco Rubio is presumably confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of State. However, when asked about it at a press conference earlier this month, Trump was skeptical that he would get his way.
“I probably don’t, but I don’t know,” the president-elect said in Mar-a-Lago. “Ron is doing a good job, and that is his decision. “Nothing to do with me.”
Trump likely lost leverage over DeSantis when it became clear that he would stick by his troubled nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of workplace drinking and sexual assault. Trump supporters had suggested DeSantis as a possible replacement nominee if Hegseth faltered.
Former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.), a Trump critic, stated that DeSantis and other Republicans were already looking beyond the time when Trump led the party.
“That episode clearly reflects Trump’s lame duck status when it comes to who will be fighting for control of the party starting in December of 2026,” joked Jolly. “DeSantis clearly sees Trump as a lame duck with fading currency, and the Florida governor still intends to demonstrate Republican leadership. “Surely, DeSantis is not alone.”
Another prominent Florida GOP consultant noted that the “ceiling” of Trump’s request could fall in the future. “If there is obvious cognitive decline from Jan. 20, [his problems] will accelerate,” said the consultant, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly about his party’s leader.
Mike Davis, a former Senate Republican staffer known for his pro-Trump rhetoric, insisted the president-elect was moving full speed ahead. “Trump forced Biden, a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a barely Republican-controlled House to surrender on their annual end-of-year spending frenzy,” according to him. “Trump’s just getting warmed up.”
Still, there appears to be an indirect challenger to Trump’s throne atop the GOP. While Trump did not receive any of his requests from House Republicans, his top donor, tech billionaire Elon Musk, did. Musk’s trillions may be able to power political careers years after Trump’s social media missives are no longer relevant.
Trump, in a speech in Arizona on Sunday, aimed to downplay the idea Musk could supplant him. He correctly noted that Musk is ineligible to be president.
“I am safe. Do you know why? He cannot be. “He was not born in this country,” Trump joked.
