GOP lawmaker sounds the alarm on coming ‘clash’ between Republicans and Trump

19 February

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Republican lawmakers are getting fed up with President Donald Trump’s chaotic moves to slash the federal government. Continued firings, funding freezes, and cuts to federal agencies by the Department of Government Accountability could mean an escalation, Axios reported Wednesday.

“The job and funding cuts are now hitting GOP lawmakers' districts and states. There's also a larger conflict brewing over whether the administration can simply bypass Congress on these decisions,” write Andrew Solender and Stef W. Kight.

"I think you're going to see a clash when they ... start abolishing [agencies]," a Republican lawmaker said. "Say like USAID, right? We authorized that. That's a creature of Congress."

"If they try to do something like that, then you're going to get into a constitutional argument or crisis,” the lawmaker added.

Trump dismantled USAID, but the halt on foreign assistance is being tried in the courts. The lawmaker also referenced the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where a judge blocked major layoffs last week.

"We all want efficiencies, there is a way to do it, and the way these people have been treated has been awful in many cases. Awful,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). She also said that she is concerned about the federal workers in her home state.

"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," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said.

“DOGE's spree of job cuts is starting to target federal roles that even some of Trump's Republican allies in Congress may deem too essential to sacrifice,” Solender and Kight write.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Axios that Trump was moving "too fast." She also said that DOGE should wait until heads of agencies receive confirmation, when they can use "a more surgical approach."

Some recent actions "violate restrictions that are in current law" and DOGE is "making mistakes," she said, in reference to the recent firing, then rehiring, of employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture working on bird flu.

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