Much has been of President Donald Trump's loosening grip on the Republican Party amid mounting scandals and floundering voter support, with a New York Times opinion piece explaining why he is "a lame duck getting lamer by the second" and why GOP allies are finally "inching away" from him.
Writing for the Times on Thursday, political contributor Michelle Cottle observed that, as the week after Thanksgiving has progressed, Republicans in Washington have shown "signs of spinal fortitude" in response to the Trump administration. She specifically singled out the growing scandal surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the bombshell story that he directed U.S. forces to fire on a boat in the Caribbean Sea twice, likely in violation of the law.
She also noted that "key lawmakers" in Congress, from both sides of the aisle, are calling for “vigorous oversight” and “directed inquiries” into the Pentagon's operations concerning Venezuela, as Trump and his officials have signaled the possibility of a ground operation to force President Nicolás Maduro to step down. On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Rand Paul joined with top Democrats Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff and Tim Kaine to put forward a resolution forbidding the president from taking action in Venezuela with approval from Congress.
"... [This] rare pushback is bigger than any one policy disagreement or operational misstep,' Cottle wrote. "It reflects the newly precarious situation in which the president finds himself. Through a mix of bad timing and the fallout from his own blunders, Mr. Trump is taking heat from multiple directions: He has let down some of the MAGA faithful at the same moment that his growing unpopularity and lame-duck status are opening the door for his congressional team to start inching away from him."
Cottle further noted that Trump's approval from voters has plummeted over the first year of his second term, as he has failed "his No. 1 job in the eyes of those who voted for him last year, especially those outside the MAGA base," which was to get the soaring cost of living under control. Between his wide-ranging tariff policies and mass deportation agenda, prices for everyday U.S. consumers have actually gotten higher under Trump's watch, and voter discontent with this state of affairs helped propel Democrats to major victories in the recent round of elections.
All these factors taken together, Cottle explained, are making Republicans more eager to distance themselves from Trump, whose electoral influence will only get smaller now as he is unable to run for president again, and consider their political futures without him around.
"Like all second-term presidents, Mr. Trump is also at the mercy of the calendar — a lame duck getting lamer by the second," Cottle wrote. "Mr. Trump has a way of driving his voters to the polls when he is on the ballot, but his days as a presidential contender are done. Even under the best of circumstances, other Republicans would be pondering their future without him. But with a leader this unpopular, the need for post-Trump strategizing is all the more urgent."