If you thought this would be the week Republicans grew a spine and stood up to President Donald Trump’s lawlessness, embrace of murderous dictators over American allies, infliction of suffering through thoughtless cuts to the federal workforce, and even declaration that he is a “king,” well … you’d be wrong.
Republicans have overwhelmingly held their tongues, refusing to criticize Trump for his destructive behavior and acting as if they are powerless to stop his rampage through the federal government.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who once slammed former President Barack Obama as a “king,” had no complaint when Trump declared himself one on Tuesday.
In fact, Paul wrote a post on X that same day, describing how awesome he thought Trump’s first month in office has been:
A few people may have noticed that I resisted an enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump during the election. But now, I’m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement. So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement! (Too little too late some will say, but, you know, it is sincere, there is that.) Don’t expect this endorsement to be fawning. I still think tariffs are a terrible idea, but Dios Mio, what courage, what tenacity. Go @realDonaldTrump Go!Other Republicans were silent about Trump’s king declaration, which would have been the lead story for days on right-wing cable if a Democratic president had said the same thing.
As for the Trump and co-President Elon Musk’s sloppy effort to gut the federal workforce—which accidentally led to the ouster of essential workers who are maintaining the country’s nuclear arsenal, trying to stop the bird flu from becoming the next pandemic, and managing a fund that pays for treatment for 9/11 survivors and first responders—Republicans threw up their arms and said there’s nothing they can do.
“Congress can’t do anything except complain about it,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa told reporters in Iowa, according to Radio Free Iowa, “but I think we have to have sympathy and
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, left, stands with Kash Patel, the newly minted FBI director, in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 30, 2025.
understanding for people that are laid off.”
In fact, most Republicans said they are fine with slashing the federal workforce, and have had only tepid criticism of the Trump administration’s poor execution of those cuts.
“I think we all know that the administration—the new administration—is giving a very careful scrub to the government, to all the agencies of the government, to figure out how we can do things more efficiently and save money for the American taxpayer,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference. “It’s important, in doing that, that you don’t undermine important services. In many cases, as you point out, there are some that affect my state. There are some that affect all of my colleagues’ states around the country, and we will work with the administration as they move forward to ensure that important services that have to do with health and safety, for example, are protected and preserved.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Trump and Musk, who is helping push the cuts to the federal workforce, need to slow down because “they're making mistakes.”
“This latest example of individuals who were studying bird flu being fired from the Department of Agriculture is a perfect example. Another is that they mistakenly put in charge of the FBI, a person that they didn't intend to be in charge temporarily of the FBI, that's what happens when you move too fast and you don't take the time to do a careful evaluation,” Collins told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said Trump and Musk have their hearts in the right place but that their execution has been off.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, left, and Susan Collins of Maine talk in the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2022.
“I share the administration’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government, but this approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants—some of whom moved their families and packed up their whole lives to come here,” Murkowski said in a post on X. “Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren’t efficient and won’t fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation.”
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who occupies a district that Democrat Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election, echoed similar sentiments.
"Before making cuts rashly, the Administration should be studying and staffing to see what the consequences are. Measure twice before cutting. They have had to backtrack multiple times," Bacon said.
But the dumbest comment came from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican who is excited that Trump and Musk are going to make cuts at the Department of Defense next.
“I wouldn't be against them taking it from a Pentagon to a Trigon. Cut a couple sides off of it,” Tuberville said, apparently not aware that a shape with three sides is called a triangle.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
Meanwhile, even when Republicans disagreed with what the Trump administration was doing, they refused to say Trump was responsible, speaking in circles to try to avoid angering Dear Leader Don.
A number of Republicans criticized Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s efforts to force an election in Ukraine, but did not criticize Trump for siding with Putin in that effort.
“Putin is now asking for a new election in Ukraine, conducted in a specific manner that he can influence, so that he can install his puppet and accomplish that which he couldn’t militarily. Nice try, Vladimir. Try holding a free and fair election in your own country first without imprisoning your opponents. You have zero credibility and the United States and Europe will not cave to your ridiculous demands,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican, of Pennsylvania, said in a post on X, even though Trump is also pushing for Ukraine to hold an election.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York wrote a similarly tough post on X about Putin—but never once said Trump was wrong for embracing him.
“Vladimir Putin is a vile dictator and thug, who has worked in a concerted effort with China and Iran to undermine and destabilize the United States, Europe, Israel, and the free world. He is not our friend, nor our ally,” Lawler wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the press near a nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Feb. 13, 2025.
Trump aired an opposing sentiment on Wednesday, when he falsely described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator. And when Thune was asked if he also views the Zelenskyy that way, Thune responded, “The president speaks for himself.”
Murkowski played dumb when asked for her response to Trump’s Zelenskyy comment.
“I would like to see that in context, because I would certainly never refer to President Zelenskyy as a dictator,” Murkowski said.
And Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, said he was going to ask the White House for “clarification” about what Trump meant when he called Zelenskyy a dictator—as if Trump’s comment didn’t speak for itself.
As Trump once said, he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. The same, apparently, goes for Republican members of Congress.
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