Republicans in Congress are aiming to gut federal safety net programs in order to pass costly policies, like a 10-year extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. But they may have an unlikely obstacle in the form of President Donald Trump.
Politico's Rachel Bade recently reported that Trump may not have the stomach to ram through trillions of dollars in federal spending cuts, despite the eagerness of many GOP lawmakers. In order to reach their austerity goals, some Republicans have even targeted earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare for potential cuts in the future.
Earlier this week, Trump was forced to walk back his plans to freeze spending on federal grants and loans, which caused a panic across the country for millions of Americans. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted multiple times that the funding freeze would not impact direct federal assistance programs like Social Security payments and food stamp benefits.
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"He does not like taking benefits away — that is not his platform," one unnamed senior GOP lawmaker told Politico.
Bade wrote that Republicans are divided about whether to blow their political capital forcing through unpopular austerity measures, with some expecting the House of Representatives will inevitably flip back to Democratic control after the 2026 midterms given Republicans' razor-thin majority. But other Republicans are more cautious, hoping to build on gains they made in traditionally blue states like California, New Jersey and New York. And one unnamed GOP aide to Politico that Trump is particularly opposed to the idea of Democrats retaking a chamber of Congress.
“It’s not so much preservation of Republicans, it’s preservation of Donald Trump,” the aide said. “He doesn’t want a Democratic House because he saw what happened to him for two years — investigations... impeachments.”
But Trump's point of view runs counter even to some of his own Cabinet appointees. One key example is Russ Vought, who has been tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One anonymous Republican appropriations aide told Politico that the controversial OMB memo announcing the federal funding freeze (which was eventually rescinded) had "Russ’s name written all f—ing over it." The aide added that there was a "disparity between what Trump wants to do and what Russ wants to do."
READ MORE: 'Allow some of this to be privatized': GOP gov admits goal of DOGE is to gut Social Security
Click here to read Bade's full article in Politico.
