Trump allies threaten some Republican senators with major challenges

Those close to the president-elect say senators who think outside the box could find themselves facing tough primaries in 2026. But senators say they’re not stressed yet.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2026 face a new challenge as President-elect Donald Trump makes his Cabinet choices: fall in line or be primary.

Some of Trump’s Cabinet picks, including former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services and Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, provoked a violent reaction in Congress and the Senate. Republicans are hesitant about whether they would confirm the nominees.

Gaetz was the subject of a House ethics investigation for sexual misconduct, which he denied. Kennedy, a former Democrat turned independent, gained notoriety for his long history of anti-vaccine views, publicly airing debunked claims that some of them were linked to autism. And Hegseth faces her own sexual assault allegation.

But as the 2026 midterm elections approach, Republican senators trying to hold on to their seats could pay the price for opposing some of Trump’s picks — facing a Trump favorite in the primary and possibly losing their seat in the general elections.

“If you want to be primary, vote against Trump’s appointees,” Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, said Friday in an article on X with Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a Trump ally.

“If President-elect Donald J. Trump wants them, he’ll get them,” Bannon said.

Lawmakers least likely to heed Bannon’s warning shot are more moderate Republicans who have previously opposed Trump’s more partisan policy positions.

“We’ve seen what the president has done in the past, where he sort of goes after members who don’t support his agenda. That often results in losing seats and it doesn’t really help electorally,” said Joshua Huder, a senior fellow at the Institute of Governmental Affairs at Georgetown University.

2026’s Most Vulnerable Republican Senator: ‘I’m Not Getting Nervous’

One of 20 Republican senators up for re-election in two years, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would “consider Matt Gaetz the same as anyone else.”

“But if they don’t do their homework, don’t be surprised if they fail,” Tillis told the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday, a day after Gaetz’s nomination was announced.

Tillis was censured by his fellow North Carolina Republicans last year for his votes on LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence and more. He previously argued that it was “immoral” for Republicans to end a bipartisan border deal just to appease Trump, telling reporters in January that he didn’t “come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as boss,” according to NBC. News.

“He’s in one of the most accessible states on the map in 2026, so he’s in charge, and what Senate Republicans won’t want to do is jeopardize that at all,” Huder said.

Asked if he was concerned about facing opposition in 2026, Tillis told USA TODAY with a resounding “no.”

“The only thing that keeps me up at night is caffeine,” Tillis said. “I’m not nervous about any of this.”

Who else could be on the chopping block in the midterms?

Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, a ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and an outspoken critic of Trump, said last week that Gaetz as a candidate was “shocking.”

She and other senators, including Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, up for re-election in 2026, have signaled possible opposition to Gaetz’s nomination.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., will also be back on the ballot in two years, seeking his third term in the Senate.

Cassidy, a physician, praised Trump’s nomination of Kennedy — without mentioning how he plans to vote on Kennedy’s confirmation or acknowledging the former presidential candidate’s controversial views on vaccines.

“(Kennedy) has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure,” Cassidy said in a statement Thursday. “I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda.”

The Louisiana senator has had a rocky public relationship with his party’s leader. Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators in a second impeachment trial who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol. He also refused to support Trump in the 2024 general election, although Cassidy said he would “commit to working with” Trump after a meeting with the former president in June.

But Cassidy this week dismissed any concerns about facing a Republican opponent in the primary.

“There is a wonderful scripture: “Let the troubles of the day be enough for the day.” “If I worried in two years, my hair would be whiter than it is,” Cassidy told USA TODAY.

Trump allies say not to worry – yet

Alongside Bannon, lawmakers close to Trump also asked their colleagues to proceed with caution.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, in a Nov. 13 interview with Fox Business, said Trump “deserves the team around him that he wants” and that it’s not the senators’ job to make obstacle.

“Vote with President Trump,” Tuberville said. “And if you want to get in the way, fine. But we’re going to try to get you out of the Senate too if you try to do that.

The U.S. Constitution grants the president the power to appoint key positions and the Senate the power to “give advice and consent” in the process.

But on Tuesday, Tuberville told USA TODAY he doesn’t think his colleagues should worry about the primary opposition.

“I’m not voting for myself. I’m voting for my state,” Tuberville said. “No, everyone should vote for what they think is best for the people of their state.”

Another Trump loyalist, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, similarly said senators should not worry about such a threat. Mullin is also up for re-election in 2026

“We all have to run our own races,” Mullin said Tuesday. “You can’t control people who race against you or not, so don’t let them control what you do. Just do what you think is right.”