Congressional Republicans are increasingly breaking with an unpopular president on foreign policy and pocketbook issues as they try to stop their majorities from slipping away.

Why it matters: They aren't engaged in a full-scale revolt against Trump, but some Republicans are testing new ways to distance themselves from him — a sign of their election anxiety.

🚗 Driving the news: Trump — facing a barrage of demands from Republican lawmakers to impose a ban on diesel exports — pulled a rare about-face today, saying on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that he'll support a ban.

• ⛽️ Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), along with Iowa GOP Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, were among those calling for a ban to ease skyrocketing diesel costs for U.S. farmers and truckers.
• 🗳️ Sullivan and Hinson are in tight Senate races.

Just today: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) railed on the Senate floor at Trump's decision to host Chinese President Xi Jinping this week for a state dinner.

• Wicker urged Trump to "keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly" at the U.S.
• Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) called for the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over his foreign business dealings and the hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received from a Russian oligarch for his wedding.
• "If your family's involved in the [presidency], then you ought to be very transparent," Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a close Trump ally, told us last week when asked about the reporting on Trump Jr.'s wedding.

🪖 On Iran: The Senate is expected to vote this week on a war powers resolution. Leadership can't guarantee it won't get the Republican votes needed to pass.

• "We're constantly, of course, checking," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. "But I would hope that, you know, the team could hang together on this."
• The House passed a war powers resolution last week in a rebuke to Trump's military campaign against Tehran — with the most Republican support yet.
• Both Hinson and Michigan's Republican Senate candidate, former Rep. Mike Rogers, have called for the war to end.

On the trail: Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) told Trump his immigration crackdown has gone too far in a new campaign ad shot in front of the White House.

• 🔥 "I think she's saying what a lot of my constituents are thinking," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who lost his primary in May amid opposition from Trump, told us.
• In Iowa, Hinson recently skipped a rally put on by Vice President Vance.
• And Florida's GOP gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), deleted at least eight mentions of Trump from his campaign website, the Miami Herald reported.

The bottom line: Trump's approval ratings have hit record lows at the worst possible time for Republicans — and that's reflected in lawmakers' willingness to publicly challenge him.

• "Members are generally reflecting their base. If they really feel that way, they should say so," retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters today of the GOP opposition to the Iran war.
• "And the administration should let these people be whoever they are to win the race."

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— Stef W. Kight

😳 D.C. Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed about the Republican spending advantage in the Michigan Senate race — and some are asking when progressive groups will start putting serious money behind Abdul El-Sayed.

Why it matters: The Democratic establishment's main super PAC is pouring an additional $10 million into the race to back El-Sayed, even as the Democratic nominee has declined to say whether he would support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as leader next year.

• 💰 The latest investment brings Senate Majority PAC's total spending in Michigan to $30 million.
• But Democratic groups are still behind by roughly the same amount, with a coalition of nine GOP-aligned outside groups booking close to $90 million through Election Day to back former Rep. Mike Rogers.
• Progressive groups haven't followed suit at the same scale, helping Republicans generate millions more ad impressions in the campaign's final weeks.

💬 What they're saying: "I made an appeal to all of my colleagues in caucus to give if they haven't already given, to help fundraise, to come to the meet and greet," Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told us.

• "Abdul and Democrats are being outspent in Michigan in a way that could be fatal for his campaign," said a Democratic operative involved in the race.
• "This race absolutely needs real resources from the progressives who pledged to support his campaign. Right now, the so-called establishment wing of the Democratic Party is the only one spending for Abdul," the operative said.

⚡️ "Nothing is better to attract Michigan independent voters than a shake-up-the-system economic fighter like Abdul," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

• "But that only matters if voters hear the message, which is why we need to close the spending gap," added Green, who says he has raised more than $100,000 directly for El-Sayed.

🌎 Zoom out: El-Sayed was vastly outspent during a contentious Democratic primary. However, he emerged victorious after prominent progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), campaigned with him.

• After his victory, progressive allies pledged to support El-Sayed in the general election, casting the race as a test of whether their brand of economic populism can win in a swing state.
• Sanders, who has $23 million in his campaign account, has not transferred money to El-Sayed's campaign.

The bottom line: "It's always an expensive race," Slotkin said of the Michigan Senate contest.

• "So we need more support, and I and others implored — you know — whoever could to really work hard and donate. Raise money, have a fundraiser."

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— Hans Nichols