Within a single week in May 2026, Donald Trump removed two sitting Republicans who had defied him and moved to remove a third, demonstrating near-total control over Republican primaries.
On May 19, 2026, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a libertarian-leaning Republican who had publicly opposed Trump on the Iran war and other issues, lost his primary 55% to 45% to Ed Gallrein, a Navy SEAL whom Trump endorsed and for whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had personally campaigned. Days earlier, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who had voted to convict Trump after the second impeachment, lost his Senate primary runoff after Trump endorsed his opponent. And in Texas, Trump endorsed state Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the upcoming GOP primary runoff, a move that, per Politico, angered Senate Republicans enough to factor into their decision to drop ballroom funding from a spending bill.
The pattern is consolidation through primaries: a Republican who crosses Trump faces a Trump-endorsed challenger, often well-funded, and loses. Massie's loss is the clearest case because he was a long-serving incumbent with a strong local following. His own closing message had warned about the war and the cost of living: 'While gas is almost $5 a gallon... it looks like the Roman Empire.' It was not enough against a Trump endorsement and a sitting Cabinet secretary stumping against him.
The Slate analysis noted the cost to Trump: the losses are creating an emerging libertarian and hard-right dissident faction within the GOP, reminiscent of the Ron Paul movement, a potential 'loud minority.' But the immediate effect is that the price of opposing Trump inside the Republican Party has been demonstrated twice in a week, and a third demonstration is underway in Texas.