Reporter's Notebook: GOP rebels defy Trump as congressional grip continues to weaken across multiple votes

By Fox News · Fox News

President Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican-controlled Congress is not quite what it was. Republicans in Congress dealt the president two blows in recent days and came within shouting distance of two more. That’s not to say that the president’s influence among the GOP is completely waning on Capitol Hill. Congressional Republicans are still a pro-MAGA group. But something is different. 2026 is an election year. Some Republicans are trained on their own re-election chances. You don’t even have to squint to see some fractures among Republicans when it comes to supporting the president on individual issues. SHOWDOWN FOR THE HOUSE: DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS BRACE FOR HIGH-STAKES MIDTERM CLASH The striking examples came within hours of each other last Thursday. In the fall, the Senate narrowly rejected a motion to begin a debate about U.S. military action in the Caribbean. All 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats voted in favor of starting the debate. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined the Democrats, bringing the yeas to 49. So two votes were needed to agree to the motion and begin a debate. Remember, a 50-50 tie loses in the Senate. It was a close call. But last week, three more GOP senators voted with Democrats to initiate debate on another war powers resolution after Trump ordered the strike on Venezuela . Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., aligned this time with Paul and Murkowski. It was a brushback pitch for the president. Hawley opposed the war powers resolution regarding strikes in the Caribbean last fall. But the move against Venezuela moved Hawley to a yes on the revamped measure. "We don't know what might happen in Venezuela. We may want to commit troops," said Hawley. "I just think that in that eventuality, Congress would need to then be on the hook for it." "The previous votes have been more hypothetical. This vote's about a real incursion. It's about a real invasion of a foreign country…