Republicans Start Splitting Apart Under Trump

Source: Newsweek

Published Feb 11, 2025 at 8:11 AM EST | Updated Feb 11, 2025 at 8:56 AM EST


The Republican Party is enveloped in a tense debate over the federal budget, indicating that President Donald Trump may not enjoy a unified party as he pursues his administration's fiscal agenda.

The House Freedom Caucus—a group of around 30 Republican members of Congress regarded as the party's most conservative faction—released its own budget resolution on Monday. In opposition to the single-bill proposal of House Speaker Johnson and GOP leaders, the two-bill approach features drastic spending cuts, higher border security funding and a marked increase in the debt ceiling. Newsweek has contacted the GOP via online contact form outside of regular hours for comment.

Why It Matters

It was previously assumed that Republican control of both chambers would provide the necessary legislative backing for President Trump to follow through on his flagship campaign promises. However the current party debate—occurring just three weeks into the new administration and largely centered around how aggressively to carry out this agenda—shows that GOP divisions may prevent this from being the case.

What To Know

Republicans are split over the approach to advancing Trump's policies through the ongoing budget reconciliation process, and whether to enact wide-reaching fiscal changes in a single bill which encompasses as much of Trump's agenda as possible or whether to support two bills that will hand the president phased-out victories. House Freedom Caucus leaders are looking to slash spending by at least $2 trillion in over the next decade to finance Trump's planned tax cuts, while also pursuing a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/republican-party-splitting-under-trump-2029258