- Donald Trump called for Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy to be primaried after Roy sided with Democrats and voiced strong opposition to Thursday’s failed spending bill.
Donald Trump is urging Texans to send someone else to Congress in place of Republican Rep. Chip Roy the next time they get the chance.
Roy defied Trump’s call to raise the debt ceiling and, in a fiery floor speech in the House of Representatives Thursday, said other members of his party who backed the failed spending bill did not have “an ounce of self respect.”
“I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible. It is absolutely ridiculous,” he added.
Roy was one of 38 Republicans who joined Democrats in opposing the Trump-backed bill, which would have increased the nation’s borrowing limit. Trump, however, focused his ire on Roy in a series of social media posts on his Truth Social platform.
“Chip Roy is just another ambitious guy, with no talent,” Trump wrote on Thursday. “I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the Great State of Texas to go after Chip in the Primary. He won’t have a chance!”
Later, he added Roy was “getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with.”
If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement, the government will be shut down at midnight.
Roy has not shown a burning desire to get back into Trump’s good graces, saying “Cut spending” in a post on Twitter/X Friday morning.
Roy came to Congress in 2019 after serving as chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz. He has easily won reelection in each subsequent election. But if Trump’s anger does not cool between now and then, he could find 2026 to be a more challenging year.