For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans are waking up to a Washington where Democrats control the White House and Congress, adjusting to an era of reduced power, deep uncertainty and internal feuds.
The move to minority status is always difficult, leading to debates about who is to blame for losing the last election. But the process is especially intense when Republicans face deep questions about what the party represents without Donald Trump in charge.
Over the past four years, the Republican Party’s values have been inexorably linked to the whims of a president who regularly undermined democratic institutions and replaced the party’s long-standing commitment to fiscal discipline, strong foreign policy and the rule of law with impetuous and passionate populism inconsistent. The party now faces the decision to continue moving in that direction, as many of Trump’s most loyal supporters demand, or to chart a new course.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, one of the few Republican elected officials who regularly condemned Trumpism, evoked President Ronald Reagan in calling this a “moment of choice”.
“We have to decide whether to continue going in the direction of Donald Trump or whether to go back to our roots,” said Hogan, a potential candidate for the White House in 2024, in an interview.
“The party would be much better if they purified themselves of Donald Trump,” he added. “But I don’t think there is any hope that it will go away completely.”
Whether the party moves forward may depend on what Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz will do next.
Cruz spent weeks repeating Trump’s baseless allegations about electoral fraud, which helped incite the deadly riot at the United States Capitol. Republican election officials in various battlefield states that President Joe Biden carried said the election was fair. Trump’s claims were rejected in court, including by Trump-appointed judges.
Cruz acknowledged Biden’s victory on Wednesday, but declined to describe it as legitimate when pressed.
“He won the election. He’s the president. I just arrived from your possession, ”Cruz said of Biden in an interview.
Looking ahead, Cruz said Trump would remain a significant part of the political conversation, but that the Republican Party should move away from the divisive “language, tone and rhetoric” that alienated suburban voters, especially women, in the last elections.
“President Trump will certainly continue to make his views known and they will continue to have a real impact, but I think the country going forward wants policies that work and I think that as a party we need to do a better job of winning hearts and minds, ”said Cruz, who is also eyeing a White House dispute.
In the wake of the Capitol riot, a small but notable faction of high-profile Republicans is either taking a stronger stand against Trump or distancing himself from him.
Senate lead Republican Mitch McConnell said on the eve of his inauguration that the pro-Trump crowd that invaded the Capitol was “provoked by the president”. Even Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president and long considered his most dedicated cheerleader, skipped Trump’s departure ceremony to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump withdrew on Wednesday to his South Florida property, where he kept a small group of former White House advisers who will work in a two-story guesthouse on the Mar-a-Lago site. In addition to advisers in Washington, Trump will have access to a well-funded political action committee, the Save America PAC, which is likely to inherit tens of millions of dollars in donations that flooded his campaign coffers after his electoral defeat.
Those close to Trump believe he will stay hidden in the immediate future, while focusing on his impeachment trial for inciting the riot. After that, he is expected to reappear, probably granting media interviews and finding a new home on social media after losing his powerful Twitter megaphone.
While his plans are just taking shape, Trump is expected to remain politically active, including trying to take revenge by supporting the primary challenges against Republicans he believed had despised him in his final days. He continues to leave the door open for another presidential race in 2024. Some friends believe that he may even flirt with the candidacy of a third party, which would seriously fragment an already fragmented Republican Party.
Trump made a sinister promise when he left the White House for the last time as president: “We will be back somehow.”
Many on the headstrong Republican Party base continue to promote conspiracy theories, embrace white nationalism and, above all, reverence Trump’s voice as a gospel.
Trump supporters in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wyoming expressed outrage and disappointment at the 10 Republicans who voted with Democrats for Trump’s impeachment last week. One of them, Rep. Pete Meijer of Michigan, said he bought armor to protect himself from a wave of threats from Trump supporters.
In Montana, Republican State President Frank Eathorne raised the possibility of secession this week and criticized Rep. Liz Cheney, another Republican who supported Trump’s impeachment, promising continued loyalty to Trump.
“The Republican National Committee sees President Trump as the leader of our party in the future … The (state party) agrees,” said Eathorne, noting that Trump “represents the timeless principles” that the state and the Republican Party uphold.
Trump left office with a 34% approval rating, according to Gallup – the lowest of his presidency – but the overwhelming majority of Republicans, 82%, approved of his job performance. Even as some try to move on, Trump’s continued popularity with the Republican Party base ensures that he will remain a political force.
Despite the many challenges of the GOP, they are able to retake one or both chambers of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. Since the 2006 elections, the White House party has lost an average of 37 seats in the House. Democrats currently have a majority of 10 seats in the House and are tied with Republicans in the Senate.
Hogan, Maryland’s governor, said the Republican Party may be at one of its lowest points, but noted that Reagan claimed the White House for Republicans just six years after President Richard Nixon was forced to resign in disgrace.
“Obviously, (Trump) still has a fair share of the Republican base, but there are a huge number of people who have been afraid to speak for four years – unlike me – who are now starting to speak up,” said Hogan.
Still, there are many obstacles ahead. The primary challenges could leave the party with nominees to Congress next year, who are even more to the right, potentially jeopardizing Republican Party control in races they might otherwise have won.
More immediately, Senate Republicans, including McConnell, are struggling to know whether to condemn Trump for serious crimes and misdemeanors, as outlined in last week’s impeachment in the House. The Senate could vote to ban Trump from taking office again.
“I hope Republicans will not participate in this petty and vengeful final attack on President Trump,” said Cruz. “We should just move on.”
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in West Palm Beach, Florida and Meade Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming contributed to this report.