Congress is a coequal branch of government empowered to make laws, control government spending and declare war. But according to Trump voters, the role of the legislative branch is to rubber-stamp the president’s agenda — and they don’t appreciate Republicans who deviate from the party line.
In two recent focus groups that quizzed older Trump voters from across the country about their views of Congress and congressional leaders, participants consistently praised lawmakers who displayed “loyalty” to President Trump and disparaged those whom they viewed as failing to fall in line behind him.
They expressed as much disdain for members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus as they did for the more moderate senators they refer to as RINOs, or “Republicans in Name Only,” including Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
And they reserved their purest aversion for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the solidly conservative former longtime party leader, whom they described alternately as an “obstructionist” to Mr. Trump’s agenda, a “snake in the grass” and a “bowl of Jell-O” with no spine.
Their perspectives offered a striking contrast to the reception that many Republican lawmakers have confronted at raucous town halls throughout the country in recent months. The lawmakers have been grilled and booed by constituents at these events for supporting Mr. Trump’s policies on tariffs, immigration and, most recently, the sprawling domestic policy bill that the G.O.P. pushed through the House last week.
And they help explain why most Republican lawmakers have put aside any reservations they may have on key issues and backed the president — because a critical portion of their party’s base is still demanding that they do so.
“For loyal Trump voters, they’re loving what they see as him ‘doing something’ and don’t want congressional Republicans getting in the way of his agenda,” said Sarah Longwell, the anti-Trump Republican strategist who conducted the focus groups. “And members of Congress have gotten that message loud and clear.”
These voters represent only a piece of the electorate that Republicans must court in the run-up to midterm congressional elections in which their governing trifecta is on the line. Since Mr. Trump took office, G.O.P. lawmakers have struggled to defend his executive actions, his efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy and unilaterally defund government programs, and to explain to their constituents why they are not doing more to challenge him.
In Nebraska this week, Representative Mike Flood faced an angry crowd grilling him on the Medicaid and food assistance cuts included in the domestic policy bill. And he admitted he had been unaware that the measure included a provision to limit the power of federal judges to hold people, including Trump administration officials, in contempt for disobeying court orders.
But Ms. Longwell’s sessions, videos of which were shared with The New York Times, were a reminder that there is still a powerful pull for Republicans to swallow whatever disagreements they may have with Mr. Trump and bow to what he wants.
Since the beginning of this Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson, whose too-slim majority in the House leaves him little latitude to maneuver, has positioned himself less as the leader of the legislative branch and more as a junior partner to Mr. Trump.
That stance is exactly what these voters, whom Ms. Longwell identified only by their first names and last initials to protect their privacy, said they liked about him.
Arthur M., a voter from Arizona, described Mr. Johnson as “loyal,” adding: “I’m not saying they should never have any other ideas of their own, but they certainly shouldn’t have someone dissenting if you’re trying to put an agenda through — and that’s what the Congress is.”
Jeff B., a voter from Georgia, said Mr. Johnson always appeared to be “in over his head.” But he did not see that as a negative. “He’s not the kind of guy like Mitch McConnell, who was pulling all the strings,” he said. “He’s struggling, and I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. He looks like he’s in over his head, and I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
The voters who participated in the focus groups, which were conducted on May 16 and 19, had uniformly negative views of those House Republicans they viewed as “rabble-rousers,” which they defined as anyone expressing an opinion that was not in sync with the White House.
Jane H., a voter from Indiana, criticized her congresswoman, Representative Victoria Spartz, an unpredictable lawmaker who often sides with the hard right, for being “out of line” when she makes noises about opposing Mr. Trump’s agenda.
Gilbert W. from North Carolina held a similar view of Ms. Murkowski, who has routinely broken with her party to criticize Mr. Trump. “Murkowski — this woman’s never found anything on the Republican side she really goes for,” he said, calling her a “troublemaker.”
In contrast, Allen K. from Arizona praised his congressman, Representative Juan Ciscomani, for never making any waves.
“Whatever Trump does, he’ll say,” he said of Mr. Ciscomani, describing that as a positive.
As for Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the new Republican majority leader, he earned kudos mostly for not being Mr. McConnell.
“He’s pressing Trump’s agenda, it seems like,” Gilbert W. said. “What else can you ask for?”
Jane H., a three-time Trump voter, said: “What I want to see is someone who will work hard and effectively to advance a conservative agenda, and to work closely with the White House to advance at this time Donald Trump’s agenda. It’s what the American people want, so that’s what John Thune should be doing.”
Many of the participants in the focus groups had only vague impressions of their own representatives, a reminder that to many voters, Congress remains a faceless institution of 535 mostly anonymous lawmakers about whom they don’t have particularly strong feelings. That could help explain why most appeared to judge their elected officials almost exclusively according to how deferential they were to Mr. Trump, about whom they expressed potent — and extremely positive — sentiments.
Asked for his opinions on Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Steve C., a voter from Michigan, said: “I don’t have an opinion on anyone specifically.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership.
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