The Conservative Political Action Conference, complete with chainsaws, is not the only political confab Washington, D.C., is holding this weekend.
A thousand politicos, from political operatives to reporters, are expected to pack into a downtown hotel this Saturday and Sunday for the Principles First Summit, a centrist conservative alternative to CPAC since 2019.
But as Democrats and Republican critics of President Donald Trump grapple with a new political environment after Trump won both the Electoral College and popular vote in last year’s election, this year’s summit coincides with a turning point in the so-called Never Trump movement, which is decidedly less energized compared to 2017 and the heyday of groups such as the Lincoln Project.
At the same time, the summit comes days after Trump’s support of Russian President Vladimir Putin prompted criticism from prominent Republicans for the first time of his second administration, excluding concerns over his clemency for Jan. 6 offenders, and lawmakers experience contentious constituent town halls over Trump and Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency.
Former Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who himself challenged Trump during last year’s GOP primary, is one of the summit’s speakers and cited criticism of the president’s Russia-Ukraine war policy as evidence there remains “room for dissent, minority views, and debate” under this administration.
“It’s a balance for leadership that you want to be a part of the team to help get the agenda passed that the American public supported, but at the same time not abandoning your role as the legislative branch,” Hutchinson told the Washington Examiner.
Hutchinson distanced himself from high-profile Never Trumpers who are addressing the summit, including former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former national security adviser John Bolton, the Lincoln Project’s George Conway, and former GOP Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. But his comments underscore the broader problem for them and Democrats after the president’s return to power.
“It was very clear what Trump wanted to do, what he campaigned on, and by and large, he won on those issues, whether it’s border security, whether it’s ending the war in Ukraine, or whether it is going after the federal bureaucracy,” Hutchinson said. “[But] even with the mandate that he has, there’s points of principle and conscience that people are speaking out on.”
Another summit speaker, Rich Logis, executive director of Leaving MAGA and now a registered independent, agreed there was “room for dissent” but asked to what end.
“Who’s going to listen?” Logis asked the Washington Examiner. “Number two, I will give the benefit of the doubt to the Republicans who are showing some resistance, and perhaps this is a cynical remark on my part, but I’m skeptical that if the choice is between just words or having to take action, I believe that when all would be said and done, their action would be in support of the president.”
For Republican strategist and Trump critic Susan Del Percio, many members of the GOP are beholden to Trump because they are scared the president will support their primary opponents, but she contended that he is also protecting them from taking controversial votes before a likely federal government shutdown showdown next month.
“Trump, which should be of great concern for everyone, is unilaterally moving to do these mass firings, taking positions on Ukraine, meeting with Vladimir Putin,” Del Percio told the Washington Examiner. “I think in some ways, Republicans are happy to let Donald Trump run away with it because they don’t have to go to their districts, at least not yet.”
She added, “The smart thing Donald Trump is doing and the Democrats are playing into it, is that they are letting DOGE and Elon Musk be the bad guy. Instead of saying Trump’s the one slashing the jobs, they’re blaming DOGE.”
Fellow Republican strategist Soren Dayton conceded that “there is no doubt that it can be challenging for any politician to be a critic of their party.”
“However, there is always room for an elected leader to take a stand against any policies or actions of an administration of either party that directly and adversely impacts the people they represent,” Dayton told the Washington Examiner. “Members can’t and shouldn’t fight every battle, but should identify and distinguish themselves on one or two core issues for their district. They have to represent their districts.”
Aside from original attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, the White House has managed to mount pressure campaigns on senators uncertain of other nominees to muscle them through their respective confirmations, in part through ads in their home states.
But although Democrats and Never Trump organizations like the Lincoln Project have been demoralized since last year’s election, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) stepped onto the Senate floor on Thursday to criticize “whoever believes” that there is “any space” for Putin “in the future of a stable globe.”
Simultaneously, Sen. Katie Britt‘s (R-AL) initial criticism of DOGE federal funding cuts, in that instance to Alabama-based National Institutes of Health programs, was amplified by another lawmaker who represents a majority Republican constituency.
Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), whose district Trump won by 33 percentage points last year, told an Ohio chamber of commerce on Thursday that the president’s executive actions were “getting out of control” and that, for example, “Congress has to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away.”
Later that day, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) encountered angry constituents during a town hall in Georgia, who wanted to know what he was doing “to rein in the megalomaniac in the White House” and expressed concerns over Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mass firings.
Leaving MAGA’s Logis, who stopped supporting Trump in 2022 over the president’s election denialism and vaccine skepticism, said those comments sounded familiar to him, arguing “a lot” of Trump voters are already having “buyer’s remorse” a month into the new administration.
“They are skeptical that the president is going to be able to deliver on a lot of his promises,” he continued. “There’s a variety of reasons that they’re saying that. Some has to do with DOGE and one individual in particular pointed out, just made a comparison for me of the president’s statements pre-election and post-election [regarding] groceries.”
Before the election, Trump repeatedly promised to reduce inflation on Day One but has since tried to decrease expectations, with Vice President JD Vance reiterating during his own appearance at CPAC this week that “it’s gonna take some time to fix what [former President] Joe Biden broke over four years.”
Another Principles First speaker, Republican Voters Against Trump’s Kyle Sweetser, emphasized Logis’s economic argument after the Alabama steelworker’s own opinion of Trump started morphing in 2018 in response to the president’s tariff policy.
“If you look at Trump’s base or core voter group, you’re going to see them impacted negatively the most by things like tariffs and Trump’s economic policies,” Sweetser told the Washington Examiner. “I’ll get people that’ll send me messages, or people that will talk to me, and sometimes people that have trolled me for a year will come around and say, ‘Hey, you know, I see what you’re talking about.'”
Trump’s average approval rating is 49% approve-48% disapprove, but multiple polls conducted by the same pollsters have captured a decline in his popularity since his second inauguration, according to RealClearPolitics. Gallup had his approval rating at 47% approve-48% disapprove in January, but it was 45% approve-51% disapprove last week.
In addition to the Russia-Ukraine war and DOGE, Republican strategist Duf Sondheim described Senate Republicans embarking on their own two-track budget reconciliation process as another form of “dissent” despite Trump and House Republicans’s preference for “one big, beautiful bill,” at least in the words of the president.
“Perhaps the closest thing to dissent is happening in the U.S. Senate, where, under John Thune’s leadership, they are going down their own road — but they’re being vewy, vewy quiet,” Sondheim told the Washington Examiner, imitating the cartoon character Elmer Fudd.
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Regardless of any dissent, the White House, namely communications director Steven Cheung, has mocked the Principles First Summit as Trump prepares for his own competing CPAC appearance on Saturday.
“Aka the Cuck Convention,” Cheung posted on social media this week.