President-elect Trump’s resounding victory last week threatens to further isolate his few remaining GOP critics on Capitol Hill.
The shrinking group of Republicans who have bucked the president-elect underscores Trump’s dominance over the party and raises questions about how this GOP faction will navigate the new political reality in Washington.
Only a handful of vocal Trump skeptics will remain in the new Congress. The slimmed-down list includes Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Todd Young (Ind.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) in the upper chamber and the last remaining House members who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, Reps. David Valadao (Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who managed to clinch reelection.
But some believe those Trump critics will fare fine in Congress, despite their prior votes or statements — because Trump needs them.
“The reality is, with the narrow majority, the leadership and the president can’t afford to lose any votes,” explained Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe, once a Trump critic himself.
“The voters of their districts elected and reelected them, and you know at this point it would be not very wise to retaliate against them,” he added.
Trump defied political gravity, sailing to a second term in the White House. The party at large had a good night, as it flipped the Senate and could be on track to retain the House, offering a red trifecta.
Trump loyalists and allies will return to Congress, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in addition to Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who prevailed in their reelection bid.
Others are joining Congress, including Rep.-elect Brian Jack (R-Ga.), Trump’s former political director, and Rep.-elect Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.).
Several Trump critics or those who voted to impeach him are gone, either defeated during their reelection bids or retired. The 119th Congress will be without, for example, former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who crossed Trump after initially endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the GOP presidential primary, got ousted in his Republican primary against the Trump-backed Virginia state Sen. John McGuire (R).
Cassidy projected a positive outlook on the incoming administration.
“I look forward to working with the Trump administration on policies which benefit Louisiana and all Americans,” Cassidy told The Hill in a statement. “I strongly supported his policies in his first term. Since the election was about securing the border, controlling inflation, rejecting wokeism, and making life better for all Americans, I anticipate working closely again.”
Following Trump’s victory, Murkowski, Collins and Young also offered different messages on X noting that they looked forward to working with the new administration.
And in the lead-up to Newhouse’s reelection – where he faced Trump-backed primary challenger Jerrod Sessler – the Washington Republican projected a similar tone in an interview with the Yakima Herald-Republic.
“I worked very closely and successfully with President Trump and his first administration, and I feel very confident that I can do that again,” Newhouse told the news outlet. “The elephant in the room that we haven’t talked about is the impeachment vote. We really don’t think that would be a factor.”
Some Republican strategists said they believe these lawmakers may tamp down their criticisms.
“I think they may not align themselves with Trump, but they’ll be quiet about their dissent,” suggested Brian Darling, a former aide to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
You’re “not going to see candidates, Republican candidates, outwardly oppose Trump because they see the Liz Cheney example. Her career was destroyed because she went against Trump,” he added. “She was in the House leadership, and the next thing you know, she’s looked upon as somebody who has no future at all in politics, and maybe no future at all in even punditry.”
Still, each election cycle has underscored how Trump has put his imprint on the GOP, even if it’s meant primarying those deemed disloyal.
At the same time, it doesn’t mean that Trump-aligned or -endorsed candidates prevailed in all of their races. Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown was defeated by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), while Sessler, a former NASCAR driver, lost to Newhouse in Washington.
The Republican Party has largely rallied around Trump’s stances, ranging from foreign policy to economic proposals. For example, there’s growing cohort of the party sharing isolationist views, with many members less sympathetic to ongoing support toward Ukraine.
Republican candidates like Brown also cheered on other policies, such as Trump’s no-tax-on-tips proposal that he first announced in the service sector-focused state of Nevada.
One question looming over the 2026 election will be what happens to Collins. Will she get primaried?
Brian Walsh, who served as Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) chief communications strategist, noted the Maine Republican “has been a very formidable candidate” and added “it would be hard to see someone further to the right retaining that seat.”
“He’s only against you if you continue to be against him, right?” Walsh noted. “But there were a lot of people against him in 2016 who frankly ended up — some of whom ended up working in the White House a couple years later, right? Because they stopped going after him, and they sought to make amends.”
Mike Madrid, a prominent anti-Trump GOP strategist, said he thinks there are successful lawmakers, such as Murkowski, who have been able to maintain an “independent streak, especially when that’s representative of the characteristics of their state, especially in Alaska.”
“I think the fierceness, the independence is what makes her attractive, what makes her such a good senator,” Madrid said.
