How GOP lawmakers are 'privately' pushing back on full Trump House takeover: report

Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from the attorney general nomination earlier this week offers a preview of how Republicans might push back on President-Elect Donald Trump's desire to completely take over the Legislative Branch, according to Politico's Olivia Beavers, Jordain Carney, and Myah Ward. Ahead of the former Florida congressman's withdrawal amid facing sex trafficking allegations, "GOP senators pushed back privately, not publicly," Politico reports. When Politico asked Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley whether "there was a lesson for Trump to learn from Gaetz’s withdrawal," the Republican leader replied, Trump "has the constitutional right to nominate. The news outlet notes that despite Gaetz's exit, "incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune has a slew of problems over Trump’s controversial Cabinet nominees — including sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth, who Trump tapped to lead the Department of Defense — as the incoming president leans on Congress to let him circumvent the Senate’s confirmation authority and make recess appointments." But even with Trump's influence on Johnson and other top GOP members, the news outlet reports: While lawmakers haven’t explicitly pushed back on efforts to allow the executive branch to make more funding decisions, there are already emerging policy divides between lawmakers and Trump on spending — as well as mass deportations, tariffs and additional aid to Ukraine.