A foursome of Republican lawmakers could overpower the GOP’s 53-47 majority in the Senate — and stymie President Trump’s legislative agenda should they choose to vote as a bloc, insiders told The Post.
The group — which reportedly teamed up to nix Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general– includes Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who despite being shoved aside as leader of Senate Republicans after a series of freezing incidents last year, will remain a force in the chamber until at least 2027.
“I think McConnell is in kind of a petulant mood and has been on a jihad against his own party for three years. So it’s potentially a big problem,” said one GOP Senate insider.
McConnell, 82, usually delivered on Trump’s legislative agenda during his first term in office, but the two have been at odds on some issues, including Ukraine. The same insider also noted that as incoming chair of the appropriations defense subcommittee, McConnell will be able to shove in Ukraine funding into any spending bill he wants.
As majority leader, McConnell often clashed with Trump. After the 2020 election, he called him “stupid” and a “despicable human being.” Trump — never shy about returning fire — has long derided the most powerful Senate Republican as an “old broken down crow.”
McConnell has — at least for now — offered an olive branch.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help the new administration be successful,” he said shortly after Trump’s decisive election win. A McConnell rep declined to comment.
Trump could also face resistance from a pair of moderate GOP women — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Both are longtime institutions of the chamber with strong domestic constituencies and owe little to Trump or his brand.
Both women voted to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the capital, and cast decisive votes which prevented Trump from repealing Obamacare in 2017. And both women joined with McConnell to sink Gaetz’s Attorney General nomination. Trump actively backed a primary against Murkowski in 2022, which failed.
“Collins is in Maine, she is in a very difficult reelection because she is in a state which voted seven points for Kamala Harris and she is notoriously independent in how she acts. Murkowski is in a conservative state but just doesn’t seem to like Donald Trump. She’s just a thorn in his side for absolutely no reason,” said GOP strategist Ryan Girdusky.
A second GOP insider said he expected the two “are going to be difficult.”
Rounding out the four is Utah’s incoming Sen. John Curtis, a moderate Republicans in the mold of Trump arch-nemesis, former Beehive State Sen. Mitt Romney. While in Congress, Curtis was a member of the bipartisan Problem Solver’s Caucus and chair of the Conservative Climate Caucus — putting him a collision course with Trump, who is a known climate-skeptic.
Trump also endorsed his primary opponent, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, Curtis received the enthusiastic backing of Romney.
“I’m not going to give him an unconditional yes to anything he wants,” Curtis warned during a primary debate in June.
Reps for Collins, Murkowski and Curtis did not respond to request for comment from The Post.
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