STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The congressional Republicans who challenged the president's agenda this week broke with tradition.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Most Republican lawmakers said little about military intervention in Venezuela and Iran, troops in American cities, sweeping immigration crackdowns, the dismantling of agencies and the consolidation of power in the executive office. Now there are small signs of pushback against a president who's been the dominant force in the Republican Party for a decade.
INSKEEP: NPR's Franco Ordoñez is covering this. Franco, good morning.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: I want to emphasize - small signs of pushback. But what's happening?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. A few examples, I mean, from the last couple days where Trump may have pushed the envelope a little bit too far. I mean, one was when Trump tapped a Housing Agency official, Bill Pulte, who has no experience in intelligence, to be the acting director of national intelligence, a position charged with coordinating more than a dozen intelligence agencies. I mean, Pulte is better known for going after Trump's political enemies. I mean, one senator, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, called him an incendiary attack dog on CNBC.
Trump also announced that he'd like to nominate his former personal attorney Todd Blanche as attorney general. It was Blanche who championed that very unpopular antiweaponization fund. I mean, critics called it a slush fund for Trump supporters who felt victimized by the government, including those convicted of January 6 crimes, on top of several Republicans who balked at the fund in the Senate. I mean, just one more example, Steve. In the House, four Republicans join with Democrats to rebuke Trump over the war in Iran.
INSKEEP: Yeah. And that's a rare one, where enough Republicans actually voted for something that would pass. Why are some Republicans finding their voices?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, it comes down to politics in a bit of the calendar. I mean, Trump was obviously never really a consensus-builder. He always led through fear of retribution. And his ability to kind of unify these swaths of the Republican Party, as well as bring into the fold new voters, was the reason he won in 2016 and 2024. But we're in a different period right now even from just two years ago. Much of that is due to the war in Iran that Trump initiated. And polls show Americans, including some Republicans, are souring on the president's leadership, particularly the economy. I mean, gas prices, as we've reported, have risen to more than $4 a gallon, and that's making everything more expensive.
INSKEEP: Just as the midterms are coming.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. Exactly. I mean, all this plays into the midterms. I was talking with Jon McHenry, a veteran Republican strategist. He told me it's normal to accept a little distance from the president at this point after the primaries.
JON MCHENRY: Part of what's going on, though, is that we are largely through the primaries, where the president can do the most damage to people who cross him within his own party, and moving on to the general, where I think some people either feel a little bit more vulnerable or feel like they need to, you know, in a year that doesn't look great for Republicans right now, want to establish their own record.
INSKEEP: Is the president a lame duck, then?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, I think that's a little bit early to say. I mean, he's come back so many times before...
INSKEEP: Yeah.
ORDOÑEZ: ...After the 2020 election, after the January 6 riots. And frankly, Steve, a lot could change in the next few months, especially if the war in Iran ends and gas prices go down. I mean, Trump could be looking better politically if the economy improves.
INSKEEP: NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Thanks so much.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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