Trump got a red trifecta in Washington. But will he face any Republican Party pushback?

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump’s dream came true when Republicans swept control of the House and Senate in the 2024 election, setting up a favorable path for his legislative agenda.

But he could get pushback from a minority of members in his own party, who will likely seek to poke holes in his long to-do list.

As members returned to session this week, snapshots of this opposition crept up in GOP leadership fights, Trump’s closed-door meeting with Republican House members and his picks for cabinet roles, giving a preview of what the next few years could look like.

Standing outside the Hyatt Regency Washington hotel on Wednesday, for instance, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., knocked House Speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign policy and labeled him a “neocon” - even after Trump had endorsed Johnson for another term to lead the chamber.

And Trump’s selection of now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as attorney general prompted immediate backlash and doubt from some Republican senators - including Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who have long bucked Trump - and even others up for reelection in 2026 such as Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

“I would think that he’s probably got some work cut out for him to get a good, strong vote,” Tillis told reporters, not immediately agreeing to confirm Gaetz.

Even amid a unified GOP government, Trump will have to face these intraparty detractors when he begins his second term in January.

The moderates and ultraconservatives

Vulnerable House Republicans who won in tight races this year, including Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Michael Lawler of New York, and David Valadao of California, were critical to the party retaining control of the House.

Those lawmakers will likely take a more moderate policy approach against Trump’s more partisan agenda as they eye the 2026 midterms - when all House seats are up for reelection and the party in power historically has faced defeat.

Bacon previously drew Trump’s ire after voting in support of President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021. He criticized Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and voted in support of an independent commission to investigate the riot - which Trump objected to.

“No good comment,” Bacon told reporters when asked about Trump's selection of Gaetz, who was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation for sexual misconduct.

Lawler told USA TODAY he would be “more than willing and able to speak out and do what I think is in the best interest of my own district, my constituents.”

“When I agree with the president, I'll say it. If I disagree on something, I will say that, too,” he said in a telephone interview.

Lawler knocked his own party last year for derailing a funding plan to avoid a government shutdown, calling for bipartisanship. He said one of his priorities in January will be lifting the cap on state and local tax deductions, which Trump had previously signed into law in 2017 but also vowed to lift.

“In order to get a tax bill passed through, especially through reconciliation, folks are going to need my vote,” Lawler said.

Trump could also expect opposition from more hardline members, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. Roy campaigned for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the 2024 presidential primaries and bashed Trump for failing to secure the border in his first term.

“When I agree with the president, which is nine times out of ten, I'll be his biggest advocate and biggest defender,” Roy said, applauding Trump's pick of Tom Homan as "border czar."

Pressed on what 10% he would disagree with Trump on, Roy said he‘s not “going to predetermine any issue area” where the two would butt heads, but said he's got a "pretty good history" of standing up for the Constitution and his policy interests. He was one of the few conservative firebrands who voted to certify the 2020 election.

The anti-Trump GOP force in the Senate

The Senate will also be a fertile ground for conflict, particularly as some lawmakers take on new roles.

Collins, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial in the Senate and refused to endorse his presidential bids, could potentially head the Senate Appropriations Committee and could slow or stop many of the funding demands that Trump has.

“I've had a lot of experience working with presidents of both parties, going back to President Clinton, so I'm going to take the same approach I always have of doing what I think is right, but inviting a lot of input from committee members and obviously from administration officials who will play critical roles,” she said.

Though Trump and Collins both have strong personalities, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N. Dak., said he expects there will be “a mutual respect scenario” between the two.

Collins, Murkowski and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., have been outspoken on Trump, previously blasting his anti-immigration rhetoric. Murkowski has also expressed strong support for codifying Roe v. Wade, which directly clashes with Trump’s view that abortion regulation should be left up to the states.

The issue of Ukraine will be at the forefront, too, for some senators such as Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who chairs the influential Armed Services Committee. Wicker is an ardent supporter of Ukraine aid and voted with Democrats to pass a $95 bill foreign aid package in February that Trump opposed.

“My primary obligation as a U.S. Senator is protecting America. … The bill ensures our military readiness and ability to confront the collective national security threats from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran,” he wrote in a statement at the time.

Democrats’ new best friends?

Though Democrats are in the minority in both chambers, some already have names of which Republicans they think would side with their party against Trump.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said his list includes “independent minded” representatives like Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, who introduced a resolution with his colleagues to censure Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, who has called for a common ground on abortion, and Massie.

Mace said in response that she and Khanna have worked on several bills, with one getting signed by Biden. "Issues like cybersecurity, technology and national security deserve real solutions, not partisan grandstanding," she said. "We’ll work with anyone who’s willing to work with us."

Fitzpatrick, who was rated the most bipartisan member for five years by The Lugar Center and Georgetown University, also noted his core principle is "to reach across the aisle" to deliver results. But Massie, who campaigned with DeSantis during the GOP primaries, said he has "no agenda to push back against (Trump’s) policies."

Other Democrats said it will depend on the issue.

“I think there are certain Republicans that may be able to work with us on certain climate or environmental" issues, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., not naming any specific lawmaker.

Eighteen House Republicans, including Valadao and Lawler, signed onto a letter in August urging Johnson not to repeal the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's biggest legislative push on climate. They cited the energy tax credits in the act, which they noted was beneficial for energy development in their districts.

But Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., is less hopeful of Republican support on any issue.

“I think that Trump is going to weigh in extra strong, and especially in this first (year)…he's going to lean very heavily on all of them,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, GOP have a trifecta: But will he face Republican pushback?