Trump’s Outburst Over Budget Questions Triggers Rare Calls for Resignation From Republicans

WASHINGTON — What began as a routine congressional budget hearing this month has escalated into one of the most serious intraparty crises of Donald Trump’s presidency, as a series of incendiary social media posts attacking Republican lawmakers prompted rare public calls from within his own party for him to step aside.

The episode has unsettled Capitol Hill, alarmed legal experts, and deepened a growing rift inside the Republican Party over whether constitutional governance can coexist with a president who treats even mild oversight as personal betrayal.

At the center of the controversy is Trump’s explosive reaction to a December 3 hearing of the House Budget Committee, where Republican lawmakers posed standard questions about proposed spending cuts in the administration’s budget plan. According to Politico and CBS News, the hearing was unremarkable by Washington standards — until the president began watching it live.

Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a senior Republican and chairman of the Appropriations Committee, asked about the potential impact of agricultural subsidy reductions on rural communities. Cole, a longtime Trump ally who has reliably supported the president’s agenda, framed the question as a practical concern for constituents in farming districts.

Within 30 minutes, Trump responded on Truth Social.

According to CNN’s monitoring of the account, the president launched a cascade of posts attacking Cole personally, branding him a “weak RINO,” questioning his loyalty to the MAGA movement, and accusing him — without evidence — of corruption. By the end of the day, Trump had published 17 posts, expanding his attacks to other Republican lawmakers who had participated in the hearing.

The rhetoric escalated sharply. Trump described questioning lawmakers as “traitors,” suggested they were enemies of the American people, and wrote that they “need to be dealt with,” adding that “patriots know what to do.”

Legal scholars across the political spectrum immediately expressed alarm.

“This is no longer just political criticism,” Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney, said on MSNBC. “Threatening members of Congress to influence their official conduct can constitute a federal crime.”

Trump further inflamed the situation by reposting contact information for several lawmakers and encouraging supporters to “let them know what real Americans think.” According to multiple congressional offices cited by The Washington Post, staff members soon began receiving hundreds of threatening calls. Some callers referenced hanging, shootings, and violence against lawmakers and their families.

The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed they increased security for several members of Congress following the surge in threats.

The fallout inside the Republican Party was swift — and striking.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a frequent Trump critic, issued a statement on December 4 calling the president’s behavior “unacceptable” and urging “serious consideration of whether he should continue to serve.”

More remarkable was the response from Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who said Trump’s conduct was “dangerous, destabilizing, and incompatible with democratic governance,” and publicly stated that resignation would be “in the country’s best interest.”

While Romney and Murkowski have both clashed with Trump before, their comments marked one of the clearest instances during Trump’s presidency in which sitting Republican senators openly questioned his fitness for office in response to a specific incident.

Behind the scenes, concern appears even deeper. According to The New York Times, Republican senators held a closed-door meeting in the days following the episode to discuss what several participants described as “the Trump problem.” Lawmakers speaking anonymously said there was growing fear that the president’s behavior was spiraling and placing members of Congress — particularly Republicans — at personal risk.

This latest episode fits a well-established pattern in Trump’s political career: fierce retaliation against allies who deviate even slightly from personal loyalty.

After the 2020 election, Trump turned on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell when McConnell acknowledged President Joe Biden’s victory. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a staunch conservative, became a target after stating publicly that the election was fair. Liz Cheney, who voted with Trump more than 90 percent of the time, was effectively driven out of Congress after supporting his impeachment following the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Even Kevin McCarthy, who spent years defending Trump and shielding him from investigations, received no support from the former president when he was ousted as House Speaker by hardline conservatives.

In each case, policy alignment proved irrelevant once loyalty was questioned.

What makes the current situation different, analysts say, is that the trigger was not ideological disagreement or public dissent, but basic legislative oversight — a constitutional responsibility of Congress.

“Presidents are questioned by their own party all the time,” said Jonathan Tur