Defeated GOP incumbents snubbed by Trump may grow more willing to buck him

Republican incumbents who were snubbed by President Trump in the midterms are increasingly signaling they will take a more independent approach to his agenda, creating fresh challenges for GOP leaders as they race to notch a series of legislative victories in the weeks ahead.

Republicans are looking to pass an immigration enforcement funding package, secure a long-term extension of the federal government’s warrantless spying powers and advance a third party-line spending package without Democratic votes that could include funding for the Iran military conflict, fraud prevention and other GOP priorities.

But Trump’s decision to back primary challenges against some members of his party — and threaten others who have bucked him — have left both the White House and GOP leaders with a political dilemma: in a Congress defined by razor-thin margins, even a few lawmakers could derail efforts to advance the party’s most ambitious priorities.

“They could feel as emboldened as they want,” Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) said of the defeated incumbents. “They could be upset with the president, with maybe some of his decisions to endorse against them as they want, but are we one party or not? So, at this point, those are all personal feelings and personal animus that has nothing to do with getting the America First agenda across the table, which is exactly what President Trump wants to do.”

 “So, again, are you going to put party over self, or you want to put self over party, which is going to be a question that these people are going to have to answer. And again, like, if you want to go out and be an obstructionist to the agenda that the American people put in office, not once now, but twice, I think there’s going to be consequences for that,” Hunt, who was defeated in his primary bid for Texas Senate, said.

But the cracks in the GOP conference are already beginning to show. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his GOP primary to........

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