{"id":2579469,"date":"2026-03-13T10:28:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservatives-complain-gop-congress-isnt-doing-enough\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:31:37","slug":"conservatives-complain-gop-congress-isnt-doing-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/conservatives-complain-gop-congress-isnt-doing-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservatives complain GOP Congress isn&#8217;t doing enough"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconservatives-complain-gop-congress-isnt-doing-enough%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2579469&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Conservative activists argue that the GOP\u2019s congressional majorities are not delivering the Trump-era agenda as midterm elections approach.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The central dispute is whether Republicans should push more legislation and codify Trump\u2019s agenda, or rely on executive action, with filibuster rules and the SAVE America Act at the heart of the debate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; A key battle is playing out in Texas between Sen. John Cornyn and his conservative challenger, Ken Paxton. Paxton pressures Cornyn to back stronger measures and to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-executive-action-on-cancelling-student-loan-debt-still-upon-the-table\/\" title=\"Psaki: Executive ...ion on Cancelling Student Loan Debt \u201cStill upon the Table\u201d\">overcome procedural hurdles<\/a>; Cornyn has tentatively backed acting now while acknowledging ongoing debates over the filibuster.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Supporters argue Republicans should use reconciliation to pass major priorities, highlight affordability wins, and force Democrats to defend their positions on record, even as some leaders are wary of changing Senate rules.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Critics, including Sen. Joe Manchin, warn that scrapping or eroding the filibuster concentrates power in the majority and undermines minority protections, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-lists-cuba-as-noncooperating-country-over-harboring-terrorists-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"State Department lists Cuba as noncooperating country over harboring terrorists ... Washington Examiner\">reflecting long-standing tensions<\/a> over how the chamber should function.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The plan includes bringing the Safeguarding American Voter eligibility Act to the floor for a marathon debate, signaling a strategic push to force democrats to take a stand on election integrity and related issues.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Historically,conservatives have framed Congress as \u201cDo Nothing\u201d when Republicans control it,a narrative that now resurfaces as the base presses for a more aggressive legislative agenda amid concerns about midterm performance and base turnout.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Conservatives complain GOP Congress isn&rsquo;t doing enough ahead of midterm elections<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2524287\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Conservative activists don&rsquo;t believe Republicans have done enough with their congressional majorities, just months away from those majorities appearing on the ballot in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It has become arguably the top issue in a contentious primary between Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\">John Cornyn<\/a> (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\">Ken Paxton<\/a>, the subtext of broader debates about the filibuster and the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4489775\/thune-plans-mock-talking-filibuster-save-america-act\/\">SAVE America Act<\/a>, which have ensnared the Senate Republican leadership team.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4489796\/ilhan-omar-faces-primary-challenge-ex-doj-lawyer\/\">Ilhan Omar faces primary challenge from ex-DOJ lawyer who declared &#8216;this job sucks&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4489676\/house-democrat-jim-clyburn-run-reelection-2026\/\">Democrat Jim Clyburn, 85, to run for 18th House term<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4489529\/iran-conflict-hesitance-gop-before-midterms-sarah-bedford\/\">Iran conflict creating &#8216;hesitance&#8217; among GOP lawmakers before midterm elections: Sarah Bedford<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Conservative groups are clamoring for the Republican-controlled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\">Congress<\/a> to pass more legislation and codify President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> agenda, which, outside of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has substantially been implemented through executive action.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Conservative trifectas don&rsquo;t come often,&rdquo; Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KevinRobertsTX\/status\/2032150415102353879\">wrote on X<\/a>, referring to Republicans holding both chambers of Congress and the White House. &ldquo;With a $38 trillion debt growing without restraint, Congress cannot squander this historic opportunity to pass a second reconciliation bill.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The American people handed Republicans a trifecta and a mandate,&rdquo; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepublicanStudy\/status\/2031741894296850600\">posted<\/a> the conservative Republican Study Committee. &ldquo;We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real affordability wins for hardworking families and undo the damage Democrats inflicted on this country over the past four years.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump signed into law the first reconciliation bill passed by this Congress last year, extending his tax cuts, funding immigration enforcement, and strengthening work requirements for certain federal social welfare programs.<\/p>\n<p>Faced with pressure from Paxton, his conservative primary challenger, Cornyn on Thursday <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/11\/opinion\/sen-cornyn-why-the-save-act-matters-more-than-the-filibuster\/\">relented on the filibuster<\/a> in an op-ed for the <em>New York Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Today, Democrats are weaponizing the Senate&rsquo;s rules to block the SAVE America Act, defund the Department of Homeland Security and hurt the American people &mdash; all to spite President Donald Trump,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;But they say openly that if these same rules ever get in Democrats&rsquo; way, they won&rsquo;t hesitate to rip them up.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This is a departure for Cornyn, disappointing some defenders of the effective 60-vote threshold for the passage of most legislation in the Senate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Former Sen. Joe Manchin, who, along with former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, prevented their fellow Democrats from abolishing or curtailing the legislative filibuster during the last Democratic Senate majority, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sen_JoeManchin\/status\/2032112996349079841\">protested on X<\/a>, &ldquo;Eliminating the filibuster would consolidate even more power into the hands of the majority party&rsquo;s leadership &mdash; and take power away from the minority and everyday Americans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I was a U.S. Senator, there was not another person more committed to keeping the filibuster than Senator John Cornyn,&rdquo; Manchin continued, later adding, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s deeply disappointing to see that Senator Cornyn is now willing to scrap the very rule he once praised and personally thanked me for defending.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Like the progressives who once criticized centrist Democrats like Manchin for not letting them get enough out of their congressional majorities, conservatives and Trump-era populists increasingly see rules such as the filibuster and institutional timidity as obstacles to passing legislation while they possess the political power to do so.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You can just do things&rdquo; is a popular saying among the New Right, especially during Trump&rsquo;s second term.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Republicans under pressure from conservative activists and GOP primary challengers are starting to take notice.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We can either unilaterally disarm, or we can stand and fight,&rdquo; Cornyn wrote. &ldquo;We can let the Democrats keep obstructing today and then smash the rules the first chance they get, or we can act now and use the mandate the American people gave this president and this Congress to secure our elections, protect our homeland and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-signs-1-7-trillion-omnibus-spending-bill-into-law\/\" title=\"Biden Signs .7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill Into Law\">bring back common sense<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The answer is clear: We need to stand, fight and win,&rdquo; he concluded. &ldquo;Democrats started this fight. Now Republicans should finish it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Senate Majority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-thune\/\">John Thune<\/a> (R-SD) is also planning to bring the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act to the floor for a marathon debate session, though he is stopping short of the talking filibuster maneuver championed by conservative activists.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t guarantee an outcome on this legislation, but I can guarantee that we are going to put Democrats on the record, that they will be forced to defend their outrageous positions on these issues, and explain to the American people why common sense and the Democratic Party have parted ways,&rdquo; Thune said in a Thursday speech on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p>The perception that Republican elected officials fail to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >enact conservative laws dates back<\/a> at least to Pat Buchanan&rsquo;s 1975 book <em>Conservative Votes, Liberal Victories: Why the Right Has Failed<\/em>. But it really took off in the tea party era, culminating in Trump&rsquo;s decadelong dominance in the GOP and a crisis of confidence in most other Republican leaders.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4484347\/john-cornyn-ken-paxton-great-texas-trump-off\/\"><strong>JIM ANTLE: CORNYN AND PAXTON TO FACE EACH OTHER IN THE GREAT TEXAS TRUMP-OFF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the 1940s, conservatives admired the Republican-controlled &ldquo;Do Nothing Congress&rdquo; that stalled much of President Harry S. Truman&rsquo;s legislative agenda during a period of New Deal liberal political hegemony. But Truman used this Congress as a campaign issue to win in 1948, the fifth straight Democratic presidential victory.<\/p>\n<p>Now, conservatives say they are witnessing another Do Nothing Congress with Republican majorities, and they don&rsquo;t like it at all. It could be a base morale issue in a midterm election where Republicans can ill afford it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conservatives: GOP not doing enough before midterms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2579470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056095849817.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4402,4539,6203,10618,5894],"class_list":["post-2579469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-congress","tag-conservatives","tag-gop","tag-gridlock","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056095849817.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2579469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579473,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579469\/revisions\/2579473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2579470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2579469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2579469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2579469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}