Why These 38 Republicans Stuck a Finger in Trump’s Eye–and Aren’t Afraid to Do it Again

How much guts does it take for a House Republican to publicly defy Donald Trump?

“The only thing I fear is God,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said Friday after leading dozens of Republicans the night before to smack down a temporary funding bill that Trump had demanded they support to stop a government shutdown.

“I understand why the president [elect] wants what he wants,” Roy said on The Dana Show podcast hosted by Dana Loesch. “I think he went sideways yesterday in a way that was unfair and not correct.”

For that, and for the sin of voting against Trump’s handpicked version of a stopgap bill to avoid a Christmastime government shutdown at midnight on Friday, the president-elect called on the MAGA faithful in Texas to challenge Roy in a primary election.

Roy and 37 of his GOP colleagues voted “no” on a second version of a temporary funding measure crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who took his cues directly from the president-elect and his DOGE team leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol Friday night, Roy said he wouldn’t describe his “fun” argument with the president-elect as defiance.

The MAGA version of a short-term funding bill failed Thursday, sending Johnson back to the drawing board Friday, needing to rely on Democrats to avoid the government shutting down, all of which threatens the speaker’s tenuous grasp on power (again). His third try was a charm. But Roy remained steadfast in his opposition, voting no—along with 33 other Republicans—on the final shot to avoid a shutdown.

These 38 rebels who voted against the bill on Thursday are fiscal conservatives who opposed the bill because it would have raised the nation’s debt limit. They included the usual suspects, like Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Kat Cammack of Florida. (Norman and Burchett on Friday supported the third and final version of the funding bill, which omitted a debt limit increase.)

But notably, even a member of Speaker Johnson’s own leadership team joined the mutiny: Rep. Blake Moore, vice chair of the House Republican Conference, which is chaired by Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s choice to be his ambassador to the United Nations. Moore voted yes on the final version on Friday evening.

Also joining the rebels was Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus but whose job is to spend money in his capacity as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which decides how government cash is spent. Yet he chose not to spend money when Trump demanded it in this case. He also voted against the final version Friday.

Roy, who—as he noted, fears nothing but God—railed against his “asinine” fellow Republicans for supporting a bill that he said would jack up the national debt by $5 trillion.

“I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible,” Roy said. “It is absolutely ridiculous.”

Others who dissed Trump include members who have the luxury of voting with their conscience: They’re retiring, and won’t be here when Trump becomes president. They include Reps Matt Rosendale of Montana, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Doug Lamborn of Colorado and Debbie Lesko of Arizona. (Lamborn and Duncan voted in favor of the final version to temporarily fund the government through March 14.)

For those among the 38 who aren’t retiring, they can expect to be bullied when Trump returns to power on Jan. 20. Massie, a longtime Trump antagonist who nevertheless endorsed him for president, stands out among the pack and has called on other Republicans to rise up against Trump’s tyranny.

“More of my colleagues should call out these ridiculous bullying tactics,” he said earlier this year.

But Massie is no fan of Johnson, either. He says he won’t support him for speaker on Jan. 3, when the new Congress is seated and House lawmakers will choose a speaker.

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