Wielding influence and fear, Trump is most powerful president in decades

President Trump has emerged as the most powerful president of either party in decades, wielding enormous clout within the GOP especially on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have rammed through his legislative agenda despite misgivings over some of his priorities.

Six months into his second term, Trump has shown a unique ability to instill fear among fellow Republicans by brandishing the threat of calling for primary challenges on Truth Social.

Trump has passed much of his domestic legislative agenda, crammed into his “big, beautiful bill," faster than most lawmakers on Capitol Hill thought possible.

The Senate has confirmed 96 of Trump’s civilian nominees in short time, filling the Cabinet at the fastest pace in 20 years. The pace of confirmations during Trump’s first 100 days exceeded that set by three of the past four administration, including his first term, according to the Brookings Institution.

He pushed embattled Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) over the top in the January leadership election, pressuring Reps. Keith Self (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).

And Trump managed to muscle through the first rescissions package Congress has passed since 1992 — something he tried and failed to do during his first term in 2018.

Trump’s most controversial actions, such as his global trade war against longtime allies in Europe and East Asia, as well as Mexico and Canada, and his alliance with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to slash, shutter and reorganize federal agencies without congressional input, received little pushback from Republican lawmakers.

One Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the culture of fear and obedience on Capitol Hill said the president’s priorities are viewed as sacrosanct, even though some Republican senators privately view a few of them, such as $40 million for the “Garden of Heroes," as ridiculous. 

“It’s sickening how we did not challenge,” grumbled the lawmaker. “Garden of Heroes? We can’t touch that. It’s a priority. We’re letting them call everything.”

The lawmaker added that the White House budget office is dictating spending decisions to Congress and expecting veteran lawmakers to hop to the task like errand boys.

“We’re not getting basic information. We’re being told, ‘This is what we want to do and here’s how much we want for it,'” the source said.

While Trump’s approval rating has slipped in recent public polls, and he's hearing loud grumbling from the MAGA base over his administration’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein-related files, the president faces no real opposition on Capitol Hill.

“He does want to appear to be dictating,” said Stephen S. Smith, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis, who argued that Trump is also willing to offer concessions when necessary to accomplish his goals.

Trump has a knack for wielding threats unlike any of his recent predecessors, Smith observed.

“Members of Congress are leery about opposing him because he’s promising retribution and very seldom do we have a president who promises retribution,” he said.  

“Is he the most powerful of the last generation within his party? It’s probably fair to say yes. And with his party [having] a slim majority, that means a lot,” Smith said.

Republican lawmakers who pop off occasionally to oppose the president find themselves immediately isolated. 

“There’s no doubt, ever since I’ve been voting, I’ve never seen anybody have this kind of influence, which is good,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told The Hill, arguing that Trump has more influence now than any president he could remember.

Tuberville delivered a blunt warning to Trump skeptics within the Senate Republican conference after last year’s election: Get in line or be prepared to face a primary challenge come 2026.

“Republicans: If you’re not on the team, get out of the way,” Tuberville told Fox Business in November.

“President Trump and JD Vance are going to be running the Senate,” he warned. If you want to get in the way, fine. But we’re going to try to get you out of the Senate too if you try to do that.”

Eight months later, Tuberville says almost all of his colleagues heard that message loud and clear and have toed the line.

“Most, not 100 percent,” he said, pointing to the speedy passage of Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act before the July 4 deadline Trump set for Congress — a deadline that even Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) didn’t initially think was possible, according to GOP senators.

“I never thought it would get done until the fall, to be honest with you,” Tuberville said of Trump’s signature legislative achievement, which Republicans senators celebrated at a dinner with Trump at the White House on Friday.

One Republican who dared to clash with Trump over the bill, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) paid the political price when Trump savaged him in a post on Truth Social, accusing the two-term senator of wanting to hike taxes and wanting to throw North Carolina’s tobacco industry “out the window.”

Tillis, who supported the tax provisions in the legislation but had serious concerns about deep cuts to Medicaid, announced the next day he would not seek reelection.

“Shows you how powerful the president is,” Tuberville said, who said Tillis “knew” that if he was going to go against Trump, he “might as well exit, stage right, because it’s going to be hard for him to win.”

Republicans in both chambers swiftly fell into line and approved Trump’s rescissions package last week after the president threatened to withhold his endorsement from GOP lawmakers who defied him.

Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University who served several stints as a Senate fellow, said historians may have to go back to Franklin D. Roosevelt to find a president who so overtly targeted members of his party who defied him.

“Fear is a powerful motivation,” he said, explaining Trump’s power. “He’s cut out the intermediaries, the members of Congress, and he exercises his powers through his control of sections of electorate and has made members of Congress fearful of their constituents, in particularly fearful of constituents who are aroused when they feel Trump is being defied or his objectives are being obstructed.

“That enables Trump to use the weapon of a primary challenge with great power,” Baker said.

Except for former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who pulled his name from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general, the Senate quickly confirmed Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees.

Senate Republicans moved swiftly to approve Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president’s picks to head the Pentagon, national intelligence community and Department of Health and Human Services, respectively, despite strong private reservations of several GOP senators.

Two key senators, Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), faced an immediate backlash from Trump’s MAGA allies after they initially raised questions about Hegseth’s confirmation.

Ernst declined to commit to supporting Hegseth in early December, and Graham described allegations of misconduct against the nominee “very disturbing.”

But both lawmakers came around to backing Hegseth enthusiastically after Trump stuck with his embattled nominee, hailing him a “WINNER” and dispatching Vance to shore up support within the GOP conference.

Tillis was one Republican senator who wavered about voting for Hegseth and ultimately supported him under immense pressure from MAGA activists and allies.

The North Carolina senator suggested earlier this month that he probably wouldn’t vote for Hegseth now.

“Today, I am beginning to wonder if maybe [the] Armed Services [Committee] was a little bit generous with respect to their assessment of his capabilities as a manager of the world’s largest, most complex and, arguably, consequential organization,” he admitted in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.