A self-inflicted GOP crisis is converging as the 2026 midterms loom: Trump’s stalled Iran war and his controversial Justice Department fund have triggered open Republican dissent. The roughly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” which could compensate supporters convicted in the January 6 Capitol riot, has sparked a Senate GOP rebellion, exemplifying the impossible straddle for vulnerable lawmakers between a base that delights in such schemes and general-election voters who disdain it. A wave of opposition forced Trump officials to say this week they’d abandoned the fund altogether. The House then voted 215-208 to limit Trump’s Iran war powers, with four Republicans crossing over, and stripped $1 billion in ballroom security funding. With his poll numbers at historic lows and the war trending toward a quagmire, Trump appears increasingly boxed in by his own party.
What to look for
Watch whether Republicans get firm assurances the fund is dead before advancing the $70 billion immigration package, and whether Democrats force vulnerable Republicans into on-the-record votes. Track the Senate’s response to the House war-powers resolution and any further GOP defections as November nears.
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