'Embryonic spines': Trump faces growing Republican pushback

United States President Donald Trump is used to getting his own way with Republican lawmakers— but there are signs of dissent as his party nervously eyes the looming midterm elections.

From a vote against the Iran war to dissent over his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation fund” and costly White House ballroom, the nearly 80-year-old president has faced growing pushback.

It comes as Trump faces record-low approval ratings 500 days into his second term, deepening Republican fears that they could lose control of Congress in November’s midterms.

Billionaire Trump, the only president in American history to be impeached twice, has himself warned that he could face a third impeachment if that happens.

“Republicans are looking at their own polls and discovering that Trump is turning into a drag on their reelection chances,” Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, told AFP.

Trump himself has begun to appear increasingly bored with the political battles, preferring to talk about grand projects closer to his real-estate-developer heart.

But Republicans worry that his focus on pet projects — like an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the White House on his June 14 birthday —make him look out of touch.

‘Grandstanders!’

The biggest rebuke to Trump came on Thursday when the House of Representatives backed a resolution seeking to halt the increasingly drawn-out US military action against Iran.

Trump on Friday lashed out on social media at the “unpatriotic” move and blasted four members of the Republican majority who crossed the floor to vote with rival Democrats as “GRANDSTANDERS!”

Since his extraordinary return to power in January 2025, Trump has largely exerted an iron grip over the Republican Party.

The party has, in turn, largely subsumed itself to Trump’s wishes and to the goals of his “Make America Great Movement”.

There have been blips, particularly over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, when lawmakers voted to release files related to the late sex offender.

But the economic fallout from the Iran war has deepened recent unease among Republicans about defending Trump’s priorities when voters are worried about the cost of living.

In the USA Today newspaper, columnist Rex Huppke said that Republicans were “starting to show the faintest signs of embryonic spines”.

Some of the most controversial of those priorities were front and centre as the US Senate embarked on a raft of votes on Thursday.

One of those was the proposed fund for Trump’s allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by the government, dubbed a “slush fund” by critics and provoking outrage among some Republicans.

The Trump administration said the plan was being dropped earlier this week after a judge ruled against it, but Trump himself indicated on Wednesday that he was still keen on it.

‘Defections can matter’

Another controversial issue — a demand for $1bn for security for Trump’s new White House ballroom — was dropped before it could be voted on.

Two of Trump’s recent personnel changes have also sparked dissent among Republican ranks.

His choice of relatively junior housing official Bill Pulte to be the new US national intelligence chief has led to threats from some lawmakers to scuttle efforts to renew a powerful surveillance program.

Trump insisted on Thursday that Pulte’s appointment was a stopgap, although it is one of his favourite tactics to use a temporary nomination to avoid a messy confirmation by the Senate.

A bid to nominate his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as the US attorney general could run into similar trouble.

While the cracks may be showing, Trump’s hold over most Republicans remains clear.

Trump has thrown his weight around by successfully backing MAGA candidates over Republican incumbents who defied him in several — very expensive — primaries.

But that could also eventually work against him, said Sabato.

“He defeated or forced into retirement several senators and representatives. In essence, he publicly humiliated them, and so now they aren’t inclined to do Trump any favours,” he said.

“Congress is closely divided in both chambers, and a few defections can matter.”