Several Republican legislators and candidates have begun to publicly differentiate themselves from President Donald Trump on issues such as immigration, the war with Iran, data centers, and certain business decisions, with less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections on November 3rd.
A report published by NBC News highlighted several Republicans competing to remain in Congress or seeking other positions, who, despite belonging to the president's party, have expressed disagreements with some of his policies.
One of the examples is in Iowa. Republican representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks voted this week for the first time in favor of a resolution to order the president to halt military actions in Iran unless they have Congressional authorization.
Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve and a veteran with over 700 hours of combat in the Middle East, explained that he will not support "another war without a defined outcome" and advocated for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.
"We can defend Americans, put pressure on Iran, and seek peace while ensuring that Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibility," he wrote.
Miller-Meeks, who served for 24 years in the Army, expressed a similar position and urged Trump to present to Congress and to the American people a plan on how to end the conflict.
"I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an endless war while the residents of Iowa pay too much at the gas stations," she stated.
Trump won in 2024 in the Miller-Meeks district by eight percentage points and in the Nunn district by four. Both seats are considered competitive heading into November, according to the report by NBC News.
Another Republican from Iowa, Ashley Hinson, a Senate candidate, also recently expressed differences with a decision made by the president. Although she voted against the resolution on Iran, she questioned the suspension of tariffs on imported ground meat that was pushed by Trump.
"I want to lower prices, but this is a bad idea," wrote Hinson, who instead advocated for reducing regulations and costs for American livestock producers.
Hinson also does not plan to attend a campaign event this Friday led by Vice President JD Vance in Iowa.
His team attributed the absence to scheduling conflicts, so the incident does not, in itself, constitute a political break with the White House.
The differences also emerge in other matters. The Republican representative from Michigan, Tom Barrett, recently launched an announcement about data centers in which he claims to have confronted his own party, while the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved an initiative this week aimed at protecting consumers from increases in electricity bills related to these facilities.
Also, NBC News recalled that the Republican representative Ralph Alvarado from Kentucky removed several references to Trump from his campaign page after the primaries, although he still maintains other mentions of the president's endorsement.
The movement is not widespread within the Republican Party. Other congressmen facing competitive elections, such as Mike Lawler from New York and Derrick Van Orden from Wisconsin, have appeared alongside Trump during this election cycle and continue to seek to mobilize their supporters.
The movements come at a time when several polls show challenges for Trump in terms of approval.
At the beginning of September, a Focaldata survey for the Financial Times recorded his approval at 33%, the lowest level registered so far in that series of measurements.
Percentages vary according to the survey, its methodology, and the population consulted, but the NBC News report itself indicates that the political landscape is prompting some Republican candidates from competitive districts to publicly express differences with certain policies of the White House.
María Elvira Salazar takes her differences with Trump to the campaign
Within that context, the case of the Cuban-American Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar stands out because she chose to make her criticisms of the government's immigration policy one of the first messages of her campaign for the general elections.
Salazar published a bilingual announcement this Thursday recorded in front of the White House in which she directly warned Trump that some of his immigration policies "have gone too far".
"Mr. President, some of your immigration control measures have gone too far," said the congresswoman, who referenced the detentions made in July and asserted that a significant portion involved individuals with no criminal records.
“Be careful what your advisors tell you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you reach the White House in 2024 now feel betrayed,” he added in the English version of the announcement.
The message is particularly significant because Trump won Florida's 27th District, represented by Salazar, by 15 percentage points in 2024 and formally endorsed the congresswoman for her reelection in February.
The administration's response came just a few hours later. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publicly responded to Salazar and made it clear that it will not change its deportation policy due to the legislator's criticisms.
"Whether Congresswoman Salazar likes it or not, the men and women of ICE are enforcing the laws passed by Congress," stated a DHS spokesperson in a response provided to Fox News and shared by journalist Bill Melugin.
The Department also insisted that "there will be no amnesty" for immigrants without legal status and defended the deportation campaign promised by Trump.
Salazar's criticisms also sparked reactions within the conservative sector. The Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren publicly urged Trump to withdraw his support for the congresswoman, describing her stance as a "betrayal" to the president and his voters.
The differences between Salazar and the administration regarding immigration policy did not start this week.
The congresswoman has advocated for solutions for immigrants who have been in the United States for years and have no criminal record, has called for responses for Cubans with I-220A, and is one of the main proponents of the so-called Dignity Act, a bipartisan immigration reform proposal.
At the same time, Salazar continues to support other priorities of Trump and the Republican Party, so his current criticisms represent differences on specific policies rather than a general break with the president.
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