Trump is bulldozing some Republicans' priorities. They should be nervous

Independent

07-03-2025

During his address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump attacked a piece of legislation meant to boost the manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States.
'Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing,' he said. 'We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn't mean a thing. They take our money and they don't spend it.'
A Republican, Sen. Todd Young from Indiana, helped shepherd the bill's passage in 2022. Despite Trump's attacks, he still believes the president understands the need for the program.
'I think the President absolutely understands that we have to have resilient supply chains, and that our war fighters can't depend on China or other countries for critical inputs into that supply chain, including semiconductors,' Young told The Independent.
'We've been in touch with the administration about it,' he added.
Young notably did not endorse Trump in 2024 despite coming from a solidly Republican state — though he has voted to confirm all of his nominees.
Trump's criticism of Young's legislation is the latest example of how the president and his allies have at times actively worked against the priorities of Republican senators since he returned to office. At the same time, many Republicans have done little to push him to change course, a noticeable deviation from his first presidency. But Trump's aggressive bashing of Republican priorities could create a climate in which Republicans in swing states face tougher re-election prospects, which could ultimately cost the president his Senate majority, or reduce it significantly.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican supporter of the CHIPs and Science Act, said he needed to see whether companies like Apple would continue to invest in the United States without the CHIPs legislation, as Trump claims. Last week, Apple announced it would spend $500 billion in the United States. Earlier this week, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest chip manufacturer, announced that it would invest $100 billion in the U.S.
'I need to figure out how some of these other investments that he suggested, you didn't need CHIPs and science, or the CHIPs act to actually get Apple to make the investment that they've announced recently,' Tillis said. 'I need to understand that better, because I, for one, think that the CHIPs Act, which I support, it has been helpful, not perfect, but helpful.'
The 'Denali' debacle is yet another example of Trump being at odds with some of his Republican senators. During his joint address, Trump touted the renaming of 'Denali' to 'Mt. McKinley.'
'I renamed for a great president, William McKinley, Mount McKinley, again,' he said. 'Beautiful Alaska. We love Alaska.'
But Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has filed legislation to keep the 'Denali' title for America's tallest mountain, insisting it's not a 'political issue.' 'Alaskans from every walk of life have long been advocating for this mountain to be recognized by its true name,' she said when announcing the legislation.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he would delay impending tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which have caused volatility in U.S. markets. It's an issue that some Republicans have eyed with skepticism, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who's warned that imposing tariffs would harm her home state.
'I know the President wants jobs, and I know the President wants a healthy, strong economy,' she told The Independent. 'I don't know that he fully appreciates how integrated the economies are in border states with Canada. People cross every single day.'
The Trump administration also ruffled Republicans' feathers when Doug Collins, the secretary for Veterans Affairs, announced that his department would reduce staffing levels by 80,000. The cuts would bring back staffing levels to what they were before the Biden administration and before Congress passed legislation to offer support for U.S. service members exposed to toxic burn pits.
Immediately, Sen. Jerry Moran, the top Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee, criticized the effort in a statement on X.
'The VA is in need of reform but current efforts to downsize the department and increase efficiency must be done in a more responsible manner,' Moran said on Wednesday.
The Trump White House dispatched Elon Musk, the head of its Department of Government Efficiency, to meet with Republicans in both the House and Senate on Wednesday.
Trump's pivot on the Russian invasion of Ukraine — and his attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — have also rankled some Senate Republicans, who tend to support Ukraine more than Trump and House Republicans.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that Trump planned to revoke the 'temporary protected status' of some 240,000 Ukrainians in the United States. Trump later told reporters he was 'looking at' the idea.
Tillis, a supporter of Ukraine, told The Independent that he had to 'get to the detail so that we can actually respond.' When asked about the Trump administration's decision to cut off intelligence to Ukraine, Tillis made similar remarks on Wednesday.
'I just haven't got an answer, but it's absolutely essential, otherwise you're having them go dark on Russia movement,' he said.
There are signs that Trump's team will punish Republicans who cross him. On Thursday, Arthur Schwartz, an ally of the president's son Donald Trump Jr., posted a survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling showing Tillis losing in a hypothetical race against North Carolina's Democratic former governor Roy Cooper.
But Tillis blew off Schwartz's implied threat to challenge him.
'I don't care if he's a friend or an associate with people in the White House, but people need to understand that entrepreneurs like [Schwartz] are the problem, not the solution,' Tillis told The Independent. 'We need adults in the room when we're talking about swing states like North Carolina, not somebody who felt good about posting a tweet today on PPP polls.'
Tillis and Collins are both up for re-election in 2026 and will have tough races. Collins is in a solidly blue state and Tillis is in the biggest swing state of them all. Trump going after their priorities or putting additional tariffs that could hurt their economy could cost the GOP — and his legislative agenda — in the long term.