President-elect Trump is testing the loyalty of Senate Republicans, asking them to allow recess appointments to the executive and judicial branches without the Senate's advice or consent.
Republicans are also bracing for President Trump to pardon many of those convicted of crimes related to January 6, 2021, although many Republican senators who lived through the Capitol riot would not approve.
And President Trump is threatening to impose steep tariffs on imports that many Republicans fear will hurt the economy.
“He is constantly pushing the limits of presidential power, and Congress is a separate branch of government that must assert that power when warranted,” a Senate Republican aide said. He claimed that Republican senators would insist on independence. .
But Senate Republicans have been extremely reluctant to publicly criticize Trump, who won by a landslide on Election Day.
The majority of Senate Republicans agree with President Trump on his biggest legislative agenda: extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“While there are issues on which Republicans disagree with President Trump, they are unlikely to oppose his core agenda, including tax cuts, deregulation, appointing new judges, cutting military aid to Ukraine, and cracking down on immigration,” the senior official said. Executive Darrell West said. Fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
“If the members lose their way, he will threaten to support a primary against them within two years. This threat will silence many critics,” he said.
President Trump will assert his authority over Senate Republicans by insisting that the incoming Senate majority leader agree to restore his recess appointment powers, just days after scoring a landslide victory on Election Day. But this is something Senate leaders of both parties have agreed to rein in for the past decade.
The three candidates vying to become the next Senate majority leader are Sen. John Thune (S.D.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). quickly agreed that President Trump should have broader powers. Fill the key slot.
And this show of force has Republican strategists wondering what other way President Trump has to flex his political muscle and test loyalty on Capitol Hill. .
One Republican strategist said President Trump could call for an end to the filibuster if the issue stalls in the Senate, a step he did in June 2018.
“It's easy to imagine that problem coming back again,'' the strategist said. “If Trump were to say that Senate Republicans are blocking our agenda by not abolishing the filibuster, his grassroots supporters would say, 'That's absolutely true!'”
President Trump will soon test his Senate Republican colleagues in another way.
Republican aides and strategists expect him to pardon many of those convicted of crimes related to January 6, 2021.
A Senate Republican aide warned that such a move “would anger many Republicans on the Hill, especially those who were in the building on January 6.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), one of President Trump's closest Senate allies, warned that pardoning those who stormed the Capitol in 2022 would be a “bad idea.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R.S. I think they need to be punished.” ”
Republican strategists are warning that President Trump's tariff policy will emerge as one of the most divisive issues between the president-elect and Senate Republicans.
Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters in September that he is “not a supporter of tariffs.”
“They raise prices for American consumers. I'm more of a free trade Republican and I remember how many jobs are created by the exports that we do. ,” he said, echoing a view shared by many Republican senators.
Mr. West, an expert at the Brookings Institution, said President Trump's threat of high tariffs poses a serious political problem for Republicans.
“The tariff issue will be tough for Republicans because they are on the same page with inflation, and Republicans know that if inflation rises again, Democrats will attack them in full force, so in 2026 “The House majority will be at stake,” he said.
Other points of friction include plans under President Biden to deport millions of immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, conduct immigration raids in the workplace, and run into procedural hurdles in the Senate. There are budget adjustment bills that include ambitious reforms that are likely to be implemented.
Mass deportations would immediately put a strain on businesses that have come to rely on immigrants who entered the country illegally as a source of cheap labor. Experts from the Center for Immigration Studies testified before a House committee last year that as many as 9 million immigrants are currently working in the domestic workforce.
Michael Marsh, president and CEO of the National Agricultural Employers Council, warned last month that employers are “very concerned” about potentially losing large parts of their workforce.
And President Trump's failure to sign a legally required ethics pledge regarding potential conflicts of interest (which had a deadline of October 1st) led to Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( Republicans will be on the defensive, as Democrats in Massachusetts and other states have already condemned the transition team. A violation of the law.
Some of President Trump's more controversial nominees, particularly Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been appointed to senior positions at the Department of Health, and their controversial views on health and science have sparked alarm in the public health field. It could face opposition from Senate Republicans. human services.
If President Trump nominates Kennedy, Kennedy said last week that “the entire division” of the Food and Drug Administration “will have to leave,” and the Senate Health, Education, and Labor will have to deal with the issue. -Republican members of the pension subcommittee will come under scrutiny. That includes Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who are up for re-election in 2026.
Mr. Trump helped secure a majority of at least 52 seats, but if Senate Republicans allow Mr. Trump to overwhelm his majority, it could be in jeopardy in 2026 or 2028.
