Senate Republicans refused this week to move ahead with Donald Trump’s roughly $70 billion budget package, blowing past his June 1 deadline and putting off a vote until Congress returns next month. In the same week, the Republican-led House delayed action on a Democratic war powers resolution aimed at halting Trump’s military action in Iran, a separate sign that lawmakers in his party were not ready to take the political hit of a direct clash.
The budget bill is central to Trump’s domestic agenda because it would finance immigration and deportation operations for the rest of his term, into 2029. Trump had also pressed for a $1.776 billion fund for Jan. 6 rioters and others he believes were wrongly prosecuted, a proposal he described as an “anti-weaponization” fund for people he says were treated unfairly by the justice system.
The revolt exposed how quickly the Republican Party can splinter when Trump’s demands collide with the instincts of lawmakers facing voters and courts. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina was among the sharpest critics, calling the White House move a “payout for punks” and saying it was “stupid on stilts.” He also asked, “Under what circumstances would it ever make sense to provide restitution for people who were either pled guilty or were found guilty in a court of law?”
Trump answered on Friday morning with his own warning, accusing Tillis in a social media post of “screwing the Republican Party.” The fight came after Trump spent this year sweeping several Republican primary fights, defeating Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky and backing a challenger to Sen. John Cornyn in Texas, a reminder that his grip on the party remains powerful even when his allies slow him down.
That pressure is now shaping both chambers. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson postponed the vote on the war powers resolution until he could line up an outcome that would avoid a direct confrontation with the president. The pause bought time, but it also underscored the same problem Republicans are facing in the Senate: Trump can force the agenda, but he cannot always force the vote.
For now, the June deadline has passed, the Senate vote is on hold, and the party is left to manage a president who still has plenty of leverage and a conference that is increasingly unwilling to absorb every one of his demands without resistance.
