Republicans Alarmed as Trump Demands Punishment for Democratic Lawmakers

President Trump’s blistering attacks on Democratic lawmakers — accusing them of being "traitors" who should face jail time — have left many Republicans in Washington both stunned and pessimistic about the chances for bipartisan cooperation before the end of 2025.

GOP officials and strategists warned that Trump’s rhetoric could damage his own standing and make it harder to negotiate agreements before next year’s midterm elections.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday called Trump’s labeling of political opponents as traitors "reckless" and "irresponsible." Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Paul added, "If you take it at face value, the idea that calling your opponents ‘traitors’ — and then specifically saying that it warrants the death penalty — is reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible."

Other Republicans moved quickly to distance themselves from the president’s language. Many were initially incredulous that Trump had suggested incarcerating prominent Democrats — a striking escalation even from a president known for unfiltered posts on social media.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) reacted with visible surprise when a reporter recounted Trump’s Truth Social remarks, in which he accused Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and several House Democrats of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” “Obviously, I don’t agree with that,” Collins said before entering the Senate chamber.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, told ABC’s This Week that Trump’s attacks have altered her "security situation." She said she has noticed a "huge spike in death threats and intimidation" across her phones, email and websites since the president lashed out at her.

Despite the backlash, Trump doubled down late Saturday. On Truth Social he wrote: "THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK. IT WASN'T, AND NEVER WILL BE!"

The exchange comes just two weeks after the end of what the article describes as the longest government shutdown in American history, and it has reopened partisan wounds that complicate negotiations on expiring health insurance premium subsidies and funding the government beyond Jan. 30.

"I think it’s problematic all the way around," said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former House member, describing the sour mood in Washington that he said has been intensified by the Democrats’ video and Trump’s reaction. "They’re going to come back from the [Thanksgiving] holiday all wrapped up in this issue and still relitigating the release of the [Epstein] files and all sorts of stuff that is not going to get them closer to keeping the government funded in the new year," he added.

A bloc of centrist Senate Democrats had been hoping to reach a bipartisan agreement with GOP colleagues by Christmas to extend expiring health insurance premium subsidies beyond December. With tensions running high, achieving that goal in the coming weeks now looks remote.

Lawmakers also face a Jan. 30 deadline to secure longer-term appropriations for the Defense Department and the departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Commerce, Justice and State, among other federal programs. The fraught atmosphere in Washington has cast doubt on the prospects for meeting those deadlines.

Former Republican Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) criticized Democrats for urging military members to defy what they consider unlawful orders while not specifying which orders should be treated as illegal. Gregg called the request "deliberately provocative," but said Trump’s response went "beyond irresponsible."

Gregg described the video — which included Kelly, Slotkin and Democratic Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.), all with national-security experience — as "inappropriate" and "irresponsible." He questioned who would define an illegal order and whether disputes among officers and elected officials could be resolved in court, stressing that democracy depends on the military responding to elected civilian leadership.

Still, Gregg said the president should not accuse members of Congress of treason or suggest execution as an option in a democracy. "A lot of people have incorrect positions. So you’re going to go out and call everybody with an incorrect position a traitor? It borders on the theater of the absurd at a level we haven’t seen before," he added.

Privately, some Republicans said Trump’s explosive reaction may have played into Democrats’ hands. A senior GOP strategist called the Democrats’ video "brilliant tactics" for provoking Trump, and described the president’s response as "crass," even as the strategist also faulted Democrats for urging service members to disobey orders without specifying which orders were unlawful.

"They put out that video … telling the military to disobey orders from the president, they’re basically calling for a military insurrection and then when they get questioned about it, they say, ‘We don’t know of any unlawful orders we’re telling them to ignore.’ They were playing with fire themselves," the source said.

The same GOP insider warned that Trump’s outburst made him appear unpresidential and suggested Democrats could use that portrayal as ammunition in next year’s midterms. "Is it appropriate for the president of the United States to say that senators are treasonous? No. But is it understandable how the language got there? Yeah," the strategist observed.

Rutgers political science professor Ross K. Baker said Trump tends to overreact when attacked. "It could have been dealt with simply by saying that this was an unfortunate statement or their language was inappropriate, but he’s got to raise things to the maximum level, to DEFCON 1," Baker said, referencing the Pentagon’s alert terminology.

He cautioned that constant, over-the-top threats dull the impact of words that are truly significant. "If you’re constantly making these outrageous, over-the-top threats, it becomes part of a pattern and people tend to ignore it," Baker said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) last week described the Democrats’ video urging members of the military and national-security professionals to resist Trump’s orders as "clearly provocative," but added, "I certainly don’t agree with the president’s conclusion on how we ought to handle it."

One immediate question for Republicans returning to Capitol Hill after Thanksgiving is whether they would back possible criminal inquiries into the six lawmakers who urged service members to defy presidential orders.

The Defense Department announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, over what the department called "serious allegations of misconduct." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday accused Democrats of encouraging soldiers to "ignore the orders of their commanders."