Aaron Blake: “While Republican-leaning voters still overwhelmingly back him — and few express regret for their votes — many of them say Trump is going too far. And that might actually undersell how many truly feel this way.”
“It hasn’t registered any kind of large-scale GOP backlash. But it’s clear that Trump is testing the patience even of his fellow partisans with his myriad power grabs and brazen actions.”
New York Times: “Since his arrival to the Senate in 2019 at the age of 39 as its youngest member, Hawley has charted two seemingly parallel courses: as a full-throttle champion of socially conservative causes and, somewhat less noisily, as a populist who aligns himself with Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, on many populist issues.”
“Mr. Hawley may be a lonely voice, but he underscores a central question of the second Trump term: What will the president do to improve the lives of the working-class Americans who voted him back into office?”
A new NBC News poll finds a plurality of adults — 38% — say neither political party fights for people like them, while 24% say the Republican Party fights for them, 23% say the same of the Democratic Party, and 15% say both parties.
Jonathan Chait: “Time after time… the traditional conservatives have accepted Trump’s authoritarianism and corruption because he stays loyal to them on their key issues. The path of least resistance for maintaining the coalition is to give each faction what it cares about most: Traditional conservatives get low taxes for the rich (and decreased business regulation), while natcons get a free hand to wield state power against their enemies.”
“This authoritarian-libertarian synthesis might seem ungainly, but it coheres perfectly from the standpoint of those on the right who see progressive taxation and the welfare state as the most sinister threats to liberty.”
New York Times: “With Congress in a two-week spring recess, Mr. Grassley was among the few Republican members of Congress who dared to hold such a freewheeling gathering with constituents, amid an increasingly vocal backlash to Mr. Trump. Those who are holding town halls have embraced strategies meant to limit the possibility of volatile confrontations or embarrassing social media video of rooms full of hecklers.”
Related for members: Donald Trump’s Approval Is Sliding
David Brooks: “When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won.”
“A trio of election results this week have Republicans confronting a new reality: not only are they facing political headwinds as the party in power but simultaneously grappling with a dramatic reversal in the partisan preferences of the country’s most reliable voters,” CNN reports.
“For years, Republicans were seen as the party that dominated lower profile elections outside presidential years, while Democratic voters were less consistent. But under President Donald Trump, Republicans worry their base has shifted to include low propensity voters who turn out for him but are not as motivated as Democrats to show up when he’s not on the ballot.”
“On one of the most politically stressful days of Donald Trump’s presidency, his party sent a more reassuring signal: Most Republicans are ready to back his new tariffs and the next step of his slow-moving Hill agenda,” Semafor reports.
“Even after a high-profile loss in a Wisconsin judicial race raised the specter of future midterm problems, most Republicans lined up Wednesday in defense of Trump’s Canada tariff plans and forthcoming reciprocal tariffs. Simultaneously, Trump helped Senate Majority Leader John Thune secure the votes needed to advance a bare-bones budget resolution that defers a lot of tough decisions about his agenda.”
Axios: Trump forces GOP to swallow protectionist tariffs.
“Republicans in control of Congress reacted with a collective shrug on Tuesday to the revelation that top Trump administration national security officials had used a messaging app to chat about military operations, even as Democrats expressed outrage and called for an investigation and resignations,” the New York Times reports.
“One day after the existence of a group chat about airstrikes in Yemen — and the inclusion of a journalist in it — came to light, leading Republicans and most rank-and-file G.O.P. lawmakers refrained from criticizing the administration, though some suggested they might look into how the breach had occurred.”
Politico: 4 dynamics to watch amid Signal chat leak fallout.
Politico: “The multi-front effort to memorialize a president who is still alive, let alone still living in the White House, has no precedent in congressional history. While none of the bills are expected to become law, it underscores the lengths that some House Republicans are willing to go to curry favor with Trump.”
Playbook: “A look at the bills: In total, there are five such bills introduced in the House over the past two months, which would: put Trump’s face on the $100 bill, create a new $250 bill with Trump’s face adorning it, make Trump’s birthday (June 14) a federal holiday, rename Dulles Airport in Trump’s honor and carve Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore.”
Axios: “It’s the worst-kept secret in town. Most elected Republicans are staying silent on issues they find dubious, dumb or destructive.”
“In private, they’re more forthcoming about their concerns and their mixed motivations for zipping their lips — genuine support for Trump and genuine fear of crossing him.”
“Almost universally, Republicans have convinced themselves that by winning a second time, Trump earned whatever Cabinet he wants, and the freedom to pursue the policies of his choice.”
“They see no upside — or good reason — to oppose him because Trump, Musk and others would torch them publicly and on social media, and almost certainly threaten a primary challenge.”
Vice President J.D. Vance will serve as the RNC’s finance chair, telling Fox News that he will work with the party to “fully enact the MAGA mandate” and grow the Republican majority in Congress in 2026.
New York Times: “Mr. Vance will serve as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee, an unusual arrangement for a sitting vice president. In both national parties, the finance chair role has typically gone to a reliable party fund-raiser who has time on his or her hands, not someone with significant governing responsibilities.”
“Vice President J.D. Vance made an explicit attempt on Tuesday to bridge warring factions within the Republican Party, arguing that the “tensions” between the populist and tech wings of the conservative movement could be overcome,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Vance’s remarks, delivered at a technology conference in Washington, amounted to the most intentional effort from the administration to date to manage these groups within President Trump’s movement. Some conservatives have worried that the uneasy alliance between Mr. Trump’s populist base and his new support from Silicon Valley was destined to unravel.”
Rachel Bade: “Trump is redefining GOP orthodoxy in so many ways it’s difficult to keep track. But the turnabout on the House floor has been especially stark. Without much drama at all, he’s convinced even the most skeptical Republicans to extend a spending deal negotiated in part by Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer — making them swallow the kind of long-term patch that both fiscal hawks and Pentagon cheerleaders have railed against for years.”
New York Times: “This account of how Mr. Trump is using his influence with Republicans on Capitol Hill is based on interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the interactions, most of whom insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. They described an approach in which Mr. Trump, who has spent years showing Republicans that he can either be their greatest champion or their worst political enemy, focuses intently on wooing and socializing with G.O.P. lawmakers, relying on the implicit but rarely stated threat of ruining them to get his way when they stray from his demands.”
“And they said Mr. Trump’s tactics were more carrot than stick. He relies on the trappings of the presidency — rides on Air Force One; visits with their spouses to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.; White House tchotchkes; and seemingly endless Sharpie signatures on Trump-branded merchandise — to make Republicans members of Congress feel special and indebted to him.”
“President Donald Trump and GOP leaders are confronting a trio of self-made crises as we enter a very big week for Republicans,” Punchbowl News reports.
“As the Republican National Committee was gearing up for its convention in Milwaukee, it was also quietly dealing with a serious security breach of its internal communications by hackers with ties to the Chinese government,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In early July, Microsoft reached out to top party officials to inform them that the hackers had for months had access to the RNC email system.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.