The limits of the MAGA-verse
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The MAGA-verse, with President-elect Trump and Elon Musk at the helm, continues to wield unprecedented power over Congress — but it has also found its limits.
Why it matters: Three times now, the influential voices surrounding Trump — often organizing on X — have failed to get exactly what they want.
Just since Trump and Congressional Republicans electoral victories...
- John Thune was elected to be Senate majority leader, despite a fevered push by Trump allies to elect Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) He didn't even make it past the first round of votes.
- Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was forced to withdraw from consideration to be attorney general. Despite being celebrated by some in Trump's orbit, the votes weren't there from Senate Republicans.
- 38 House Republicans defied Trump by voting against a short-term spending deal he explicitly asked for.
- Congressional Republicans went against Trump's wishes again by voting for a spending bill that didn't include an increase in the country's debt ceiling.
What we're hearing: "I think the big loser in all this is probably [Speaker Mike] Johnson — but also Trump," one Republican senator told Axios, requesting anonymity to speak candidly.
- Raising or suspending the debt ceiling was "the one thing [Trump] said he wanted, and they're not gonna give it to him."
Between the lines: There is no denying that an X post from Musk or a Truth Social post from Trump still holds significant sway over an important bloc of Congressional Republicans.
- But they have proven to be far more effective at shooting down ideas and plans, rather than making the case for things.
- One notable exception: The outpouring of support for Trump's Defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth seemed to help keep his nomination fight alive after a brutal week early this month.
