Congress

Donald Trump’s revenge tour might not end in 2026

Published

2 months ago

May 27, 2026

Donald Trump just ousted another Republican he viewed as insufficiently loyal. Two years from now, his revenge list could be even longer.

The president has already lashed out at two House Republicans due to perceived slights, with the White House floating a longer list of potential targets over the past year. Trump could also take aim at several GOP senators up for reelection in 2028 — including Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Indiana’s Todd Young — as he seeks to make a lasting mark on the Republican Party in the final stretch of his presidency.

The prospect that Trump’s much-ballyhooed “revenge tour” could continue into another election cycle was underscored by his late decision to endorse against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his renomination bid Tuesday night to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn backed Trump in January 2024 and went to great lengths to win Trump’s favor once Trump secured the 2024 Republican nomination for president — after initially running lukewarm on his comeback bid. Trump’s decision to seek retribution anyway, some believe, could lead other GOP lawmakers to think twice about running for another term rather than mount a grueling and potentially futile bid for renomination.

“Look at all of them that are up in 2028 … do they think about retiring?” asked one Republican senator who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about colleagues who have previously broken with the president.

Others think it’s too soon to tell — especially if Trump’s moves to drum out more establishment-minded Republicans backfire in the November midterms.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is leaving office at the end of this year, said in an interview that he “could see” some of his colleagues retiring rather than risk a Trump-fueled primary challenge.

“But I also think … he’s not going to carry the same weight in the 2028 election cycle, particularly if we’ve lost one or both chambers in 2026,” Tillis said of Trump. “So I think these members ought to be who they are. Period.”

Asked about the 2028 races, the White House pointed back to Trump’s Truth Social post endorsing Paxton over Cornyn, which does not address future races. Trump, in that post, said Cornyn was “not supportive of me when times were tough” and “was very late in backing me” in 2024.

Trump’s appetite for revenge also hasn’t been entirely consistent. Some congressional Republicans who were asking questions about Trump’s e fitness all the way back to the launch of his first presidential campaign in 2015 have managed to skate by.

That includes Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. She was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump of an impeachment charge in 2021 but has largely escaped the president’s wrath as she tries to hold onto her seat in a Democratic-leaning state. Trump has also thrown his support behind Sen. Mike Rounds, despite once calling the South Dakotan a “jerk” he would never endorse again.

Trump hasn’t made any specific 2028 primary endorsements yet as he keeps focus squarely on 2026.

But he threatened to back a challenger to Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert earlier this month over her support for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who fell this month to a Trump-backed primary opponent — even though the filing deadline for Boebert’s 2026 primary has already passed.

He also took a whack at Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick last week — a day after the Pennsylvania Republican advanced past his uncontested primary for a sixth term representing a swingy suburban Philadelphia seat.

But the real fireworks could come in 2028 Senate primaries, which could feature several of Trump’s most persistent critics.

Three GOP senators up next cycle — Murkowski, Paul and Young — caught a tongue-lashing from the president earlier this year after they were among five Republicans who voted to advance a resolution that would have prevented the administration from taking additional military action against Venezuela. In addition to angry phone calls to the lawmakers at the time, Trump called them out in a Truth Social post where he said they “should never be elected to office again.”

Also up for reelection in 2028: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has generally enjoyed a positive relationship with Trump during his second presidential term but faces potential potholes ahead.

Trump, for instance, has shown no sign of backing off his attempt to eliminate the Senate filibuster, even as Thune publicly insists there aren’t the votes to do so. Thune also acknowledged last week that Trump’s effort to unseat incumbents would make advancing the GOP’s legislative agenda “slightly more complicated.”

Paul, meanwhile, has been a perennial gadfly for his party on everything from last year’s megabill to routine spending votes and the Iran war, where he has repeatedly backed efforts to curb the president’s ability to take military action without congressional signoff. Like Boebert, he was an outspoken backer of Massie’s reelection campaign.

Asked about his own history with Trump, Paul has batted down the notion his seat might be at risk — including after another GOP doctor-turned-senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, lost his bid for renomination this month.“I was a big defender of the president on impeachment, so I think there’s quite a bit of difference,” Paul told reporters, referring to Cassidy’s 2021 conviction vote.

Fellow Republicans are closely watching both Murkowski and Young ahead of 2028 — whether either gets a primary challenger, or runs again at all.

Young is gearing up to run for reelection. But at least one possible primary challenger is publicly eying the race, and Rep. Erin Houchin is among others who are thought to be looking at a run.

Houchin heartily backed Trump’s effort to oust eight Republicans in the Indiana state Senate who helped kill a GOP redistricting plan earlier this year, joining their primary challengers when they visited the White House before the state’s May primary. She also raised eyebrows recently when she hired the MAGA-aligned consultant Chris Grant, who rarely works on House races these days, for her reelection campaign.

Trump didn’t endorse Young during his 2022 race, where he ran unopposed in the primary. And in the lead-up to the 2024 election, Young said he didn’t support Trump as the party’s nominee.

But Young has also positioned himself as a team player during Trump’s second term, voting for the president’s nominees and major pieces of his agenda. Young ultimately flipped on the Venezuela resolution, voting to kill it after getting assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials.

Still, Young and Trump have managed to keep things civil. Young flew on Air Force One with Trump and other lawmakers in March and Trump recognized him alongside Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan at a recent White House event as “good senators” and “great guys.”

Murkowski, meanwhile, is the only Senate Republican up for reelection in 2028 who voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge of having “incited an insurrection” in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol by a mob of the president’s supporters.

Trump hasn’t shied away from criticizing Murkowski — calling her and Tillis “terrible senators” and saying that Murkowski “should be gone.” He has also backed an effort to eliminate Alaska’s all-party, ranked-choice voting system, which helped Murkowski edge out another Republican in 2022. He thanked other state-level Republicans and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, but not Murkowski, in a recent Truth Social post related to the effort.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is among those thought to be considering a challenge. Responding to a Fox News report last year that he would jump into the 2028 race, a spokesperson said at the time that “Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term.” Other Republicans cautioned that they thought the report was a trial balloon for the governor, who is leaving office at the end of the year.

Murkowski provided a key vote to help pass last year’s tax-cuts-focused GOP megabill and has voted for Trump’s Cabinet nominees, though not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But she has also been one of the Senate Republicans most willing to push back publicly against Trump’s agenda, including helping kill the GOP Obamacare repeal plan during his first term. She voted against advancing Trump’s immigration enforcement bill and a GOP election measure earlier this year and frequently speaks out against Trump’s efforts to eliminate the filibuster.

Asked how she has survived Trump’s wrath so far, Murkowski said she has stayed focused on home-state issues, like the revamping of the federal polar icebreaking fleet.

“That’s what I think about,” she told reporters after Trump endorsed against Cornyn. “I don’t get caught up in, ‘Does the president love me today or hate me today?’ If I did, I would be a crazy woman, and I’m not a crazy woman.”

Adam Wren contributed to this report.

Congress

Blanche vote is rescheduled, but there’s no deal

Published

9 hours ago

August 1, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.

The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.

There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.

Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.

Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”

“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.

“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”

Congress

Scalise will kick off August campaign sprint in marquee Nebraska House race

Published

19 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.

Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.

Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.

After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.

He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.

Congress

Trump needles Cornyn as Blanche remains blocked

Published

23 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.

Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.

“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.

Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.

“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”

On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.

“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.