WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, in his second term, appears to be suffering a case of early-onset Lame Duck syndrome.
His stunning about-face this week on releasing information related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — after it became clear House Republicans would vote against his wishes — is only the latest sign his iron grip on the Republican Party is beginning to slip.
Over the last few weeks, Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have grown increasingly willing to buck their leader. Trump’s push to eliminate the filibuster amid the government shutdown fight flamed out in the Senate. Several Republican senators voted to rebuke him over his tariffs. Trump’s threats failed to convince enough Indiana state senators to support his mid-cycle redistricting scheme. And his comments backing H-1B visas earlier this month caused a huge backlash from some of the most influential pro-Trump voices on the right.
“We should be more of America first, not just party first, right?” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a vocal critic of Trump’s policies, including his tariffs, told HuffPost. “So I think this is healthy, that we have more freedom. And I’ve had it, but more of us are having it too, because if the president doesn’t get loyal criticism, he’s more apt to go down a bad path. So he needs people to speak out, say, ‘Hey, why are you putting tariffs on coffee? We don’t grow coffee.’”
