Senate Republicans are rallying behind the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve after President Trump unleashed a barrage of criticism against both institutions this week, creating a rare public split within the party.
The tension began when the high court rejected the administration's plan to have the U.S. Postal Service screen mail-in ballots for potential non-citizen voting. Trump, who appointed three of the justices who voted against the plan, took to Truth Social to accuse them of being "bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left," adding that they are "merely a shell of their original selves."
Republican senators, however, are not backing the president's broadside. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a Judiciary Committee member, told The Hill, "The president is entitled to his opinion but I don't agree with him. I know every one of the justices. I think they do their very best to call it like they see it and that's their job."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) echoed that sentiment, calling the administration's last-minute push to overhaul mail-in voting procedures "a recipe for chaos." "It's too late to implement anyway. It would have been nothing but chaos in the runup to the election," he said, adding that restricting mail-in ballots would be "counterproductive" given their importance in many states.
The proposed rules would have required states to use special envelopes with unique bar codes, scanned by the postal service, and to upload voter lists to a new portal. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, called the plan "arbitrary and capricious," noting that states lacked time to "reasonably implement" such changes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) defended the justices, pointing out that they recently sided with Trump on his White House construction project. "The judiciary is trying to be the objective referee on a lot of these issues," he said. "We worked hard to get some of those folks confirmed and their job is to be independent."
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) dismissed the feasibility of the plan so close to the election, saying, "I don't know how you implement something like that anyway. I think we've got to go with the system we got." When asked about Trump's criticism of the justices, she waved her hand and said, "He can say what he wants."
Trump also took aim at the Federal Reserve after it raised interest rates, demanding cuts and calling board members "very hostile" and "very political." But Republicans like Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) defended the central bank's independence. "I have no problem with the Fed decision. I think the Fed exercised their independence, which is what we elect them to do," he said, noting that markets have responded positively.
The discord highlights a growing rift between Trump and congressional Republicans over institutional independence, as the party navigates its internal dynamics ahead of the midterms. For more on related policy battles, see the administration's environmental rollbacks and the ongoing FISA renewal fight.
