Overview
- White House officials increasingly believe Sen. Josh Hawley is preparing a 2028 bid, pointing to his new antiabortion political group, Axios reported.
- Trump has publicly blasted Hawley, calling him a "second-tier senator" and saying he "should never be elected to office again" after Hawley briefly backed a measure to limit the president’s military authority in Venezuela before reversing.
- Hawley has split from the administration on multiple fronts, criticizing nominees such as Mehmet Oz for CMS and Energy Secretary Chris Wright over a Midwest power line, and opposing a move to preempt state AI rules.
- He has promoted ethics and oversight measures at odds with the White House, including a congressional stock-trading ban, a New York Times op-ed against Medicaid cuts in Trump’s signature bill, and a push to release DOJ files on Jeffrey Epstein.
- Trump allies call Hawley’s approach politically unwise, while GOP operatives note his stances track with conservative Missouri voters, and some sources say creating daylight from Vice President JD Vance is part of the calculus.