Cornyn, Cassidy, Tillis try leverage last act on Trump

Cornyn, Cassidy – Texas Sen. John Cornyn—out after a GOP primary loss—joins Sen. Bill Cassidy and Sen. Thom Tillis in using their remaining time in Congress to press for limits on Trump’s agenda, from federal nominations to promises tied to January 6 rioters and potential shift

For the establishment wing of the Republican Party, the months left in office are no longer a lull. They’re a countdown—and a chance to make sure the Trump agenda can’t run on momentum alone.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, watched MAGA energy turn into something sharper than political disagreement long before he lost his seat. In 2009. he heard boos at a Tea Party rally outside the Texas State Capitol in Austin after the earliest days of the movement. The reaction didn’t fade during the Trump presidency. and this past March. the mere mention of his name drew jeers at the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas.

That tension ended in a high-profile break. Cornyn lost his re-election bid last month after President Trump endorsed the state’s attorney general, MAGA loyalist Ken Paxton, in the GOP primary. The defeat made Cornyn the first incumbent senator from Texas to lose to a primary challenger since 1970.

Now Cornyn is betting that what comes next—before the votes are counted and before the door closes—can still shape the direction of the party.

He has joined the new “YOLO” cohort of Republicans who may not have much to lose. including Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis. The label—“you only live once”—has attached itself to lawmakers on their way out as part of a MAGA-fueled exodus. and with it. questions about how they might use their remaining leverage to potentially upend parts of the Trump agenda.

Tillis announced in June last year he would not seek reelection after Trump threatened to support a primary challenger. Since then, he has grown noticeably more outspoken against the administration. “A lot of members probably underestimate just how much any one member can have a tremendous amount of leverage — if they want to exert it. ” Tillis told NPR.

That leverage has already shown up in the confirmation process. With roughly six months left in office, the trio could complicate Trump’s agenda in several areas, including nominations. Tillis. for example. held up Trump’s pick for Federal Reserve chair. Kevin Warsh. until the Justice Department agreed to drop a probe into former chair Jerome Powell.

The pressure has now moved from general skepticism to specific demands tied to the Trump Justice Department. Tillis is voicing concern about Trump’s Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche. Cassidy and Cornyn are also urging assurances that Jan. 6 rioters won’t be rewarded by Trump’s so-called “anti-weaponization” fund.

Tillis told reporters this week: “By the time the confirmation vote occurs, that payout pot for punks needs to be put away.” The Justice Department says the fund isn’t moving forward, but the trio has sought more concrete assurances, including a way to codify the plan in law.

They’re also weighing how much trouble they could cause if the Trump administration and Tehran reach a final framework agreement to end the Iran war—especially if a finished deal eventually comes before Congress.

Cassidy, for his part, has already been pushed out. He lost his Louisiana seat in a primary against a Trump-endorsed candidate in May. Still, he’s arguing that the trio can succeed where others have failed.

He points to a new bipartisan plan to address the housing crisis that is moving through Congress and could soon be on Trump’s desk. Cassidy said, “Some of this will continue after I leave. It’s not just what I’ve accomplished. but the intellectual ground work I’ve put out there for what I think to be rational policy that works for the future of our country.”.

But critics say the effort is arriving too late. Former Arizona GOP Senator Jeff Flake disagrees with the idea that guardrails were missing. “Part of the reason they’re in the position they’re in, is they were putting up some of those guardrails before. But now, there’s every motivation to do that,” he said in an interview. “They know what the country needs and in many cases it’s not what the president wants.”.

Flake has lived through this kind of conflict. In 2017, he announced he’d retire after his own tussles with Trump. Now he warns that the Republicans’ structure of dissent may not be enough to prevent a midterm wipeout.

“Nothing focuses the mind like a big election loss,” Flake said—echoing an argument that voters’ anger and party strategy may eventually force decisions. And the political backdrop is already pulling hard on the room.

As Trump faces falling poll numbers, many voters are blaming him for economic woes, including higher gas prices. In the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low of 36%, with only a third of Americans saying they approve of his handling of the economy.

Those numbers have Democratic strategists watching for an opening to expand the map and win back control of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections.

For Republicans trying to defend what’s usually considered safe—like Texas—the stakes are immediate. MAGA is going to need more donor help to hold onto those seats, and Paxton’s race against Democratic state Sen. James Talarico is on track to be one of the most expensive Senate races in history.

That’s where Cornyn’s absence could be felt most. Without him in the chamber, the establishment wing that still tries to steer confirmations and negotiations has less cover in the places where the politics is most brutal.

Cornyn frames his own defeat differently. He says his primary loss marked his “liberation day”—meaning he can focus on what he loves and end his days as a prolific fundraiser for Republicans.

“I can focus on the Senate and not worry about the things that I like least,” he says. Cornyn also says there are plenty of warning signs that Republicans’ majority in Congress is in jeopardy. Like Flake, he argues that would force a reckoning for MAGA.

The bet, for Cornyn and the others who still have votes left, is that voters will have the last say on where the party heads next—and that the pressure in Washington can still matter before November arrives.

“The poll numbers that I’m seeing are not very encouraging,” Cornyn said. “And I don’t see things changing a lot between now and November.”

John Cornyn Ken Paxton Thom Tillis Bill Cassidy Todd Blanche Kevin Warsh Jerome Powell anti-weaponization fund January 6 rioters Iran war housing crisis midterm elections GOP primary MAGA Senate leverage