RESIGNATION RUMBLINGS AND A MAGA CIVIL WAR: HOW TRUMP’S GRIP ON HIS PARTY IS SLIPPING
WASHINGTON — The warning signs have been flashing for months, but this week they began to feel impossible to ignore. As new polling shows President Trump sinking to historic lows and internal dissent inside the Republican Party spilling into public view, the MAGA coalition that once appeared immovable is now showing visible cracks — some of them severe enough to trigger talk of resignations from Congress itself.
At the center of the latest turmoil is Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, a Republican who has long styled herself as an independent-minded conservative but who rose to prominence within the MAGA era. According to reports first detailed by The New York Times, Ms. Mace is now seriously considering resigning her House seat early, citing deep frustration with Republican leadership and what she describes as a toxic environment for women under Speaker Mike Johnson.
Her potential departure would not be an isolated act of protest. Instead, it would land amid a broader intra-party conflict that has intensified as Trump’s political power wanes.
The backdrop is grim for Republicans. A new Gallup poll paints a devastating picture for the president: an approval rating hovering around 36 percent, with 60 percent of Americans disapproving. On nearly every major issue — crime, foreign policy, trade, and immigration — voters reject his performance by double-digit margins. On immigration, the issue most closely associated with his political brand, disapproval outpaces approval by roughly 25 points.
For a president who built his movement on dominance, loyalty, and fear of political retribution, those numbers matter. Republican lawmakers increasingly believe that T.r.u.m.p no longer has the power to protect them — or punish them — the way he once did. As midterm elections approach, many are no longer focused on primary threats but on the risk of a general-election backlash.
That shifting calculus helps explain why lawmakers who once defended the president at all costs are now breaking ranks.
Ms. Mace’s deliberations echo the recent trajectory of Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, another high-profile MAGA figure whose relationship with the White House has deteriorated. Ms. Greene, according to allies, had sought encouragement to run for Senate — encouragement that never came. After her ambitions were reportedly shut down by T.r.u.m.p’s team, she embarked on what colleagues privately describe as a “revenge tour,” increasingly criticizing party leadership and the direction of the movement itself before announcing her own resignation.
Democrats see a pattern. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has argued that figures like Ms. Greene and Ms. Mace embody a deeper contradiction within MAGA politics: women who rail against elite power structures while remaining aligned with a movement that often marginalizes them. Rather than confronting systemic issues, critics say, these lawmakers personalize their grievances — and lash out when their individual ambitions are blocked.
Still, the anger is real, and it is spreading. According to reporting by Annie Karni of The New York Times, Ms. Mace has told confidants she is “sick” of how Speaker Johnson runs the House, particularly when it comes to the treatment of women. She is expected to meet soon with Ms. Greene to discuss her next steps.
Speaker Johnson’s position looks increasingly precarious. He ascended to the role only after a chaotic struggle in 2023 that ended with the removal of Kevin McCarthy, a revolt in which Ms. Mace herself played a role. Now, with Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority and Democrats outperforming expectations in special elections, complaints about Johnson’s leadership are surfacing from across the conference. Some Republicans openly question whether he can survive the remainder of his term.
Layered atop this power struggle is another combustible issue: the renewed push to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The House Oversight Committee, led in part by Democrats such as Representative Robert Garcia, has released more than 150 previously unseen images and videos from Epstein’s private island. Yet critics accuse the White House and Republican leadership of dragging their feet, despite subpoenas and bipartisan legislation demanding full transparency.
Garcia and others point fingers at officials including Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, accusing them of stalling. They also criticize Oversight Chairman James Comer for subpoenaing only a small fraction of the financial institutions tied to Epstein, leaving many questions unanswered. While T.r.u.m.p has repeatedly claimed the Epstein files are already public, lawmakers say that claim does not withstand scrutiny.
For many Republicans, the Epstein controversy is emblematic of a deeper betrayal: campaign promises made, but not kept — transparency pledged, but denied.
Together, the collapsing poll numbers, the leadership revolt, the Epstein files, and the resignation talk paint a picture of a movement in open conflict with itself. What was once enforced unity through fear and loyalty is now giving way to fragmentation, grievance, and public defiance.
Whether Nancy Mace ultimately resigns or not, the message is already unmistakable. The MAGA coalition is no longer marching in lockstep, authority is slipping, and the struggle for the party’s future is playing out in real time — across cable news, congressional hallways, and social media feeds that are melting down as the internet continues to explode.