These 17 GOP senators still haven't endorsed Trump — and some of them probably never will
Anna Moneymaker, Kevin Dietsch and Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
- Trump is the likely GOP nominee, and most Republican senators have endorsed him.
- But there's still a rather conspicuous group of holdouts.
- Some voted to convict Trump and may never back him, while others will do so once he's the nominee.
After victories in several early primary states, former President Donald Trump's ascent to the Republican nomination in 2024 is all but certain — even as Nikki Haley vows to continue her campaign.
That reality has spurred a rush of endorsements from members of Congress in recent weeks, bringing Trump to a solid majority among Republicans in both chambers while leaving Haley with just one: Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Yet in the Senate, long a bastion of Republican resistance (or at least hesitancy) to Trump, there are still a number of holdouts.
As of February 26, there are still 17 Republican senators — out of 49 total — who have not endorsed Trump's 2024 bid.
Some of those senators can be expected to get behind Trump when his nomination becomes official, or at least uncontested. Even Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader known to have a frosty relationship with the former president, has said that he'll back Trump if he's the nominee.
On February 25, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota — the second-highest ranking Senate Republican and a longtime Trump skeptic — endorsed the former president after his victory in South Carolina.
But there are at least a few who may never get behind their party's nominee. Four current GOP senators — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah — voted to convict Trump for incitement of an insurrection following January 6.
But it's not just those four: Others, such as Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, have expressed staunch resistance to supporting Trump in 2024.
"Are you trying to get a gut check — am I joining everyone else in joining the Trump establishment? Hell no," Young told reporters ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Yet GOP lawmakers have faced pressure, both from Trump and their voters, to fall in line. And further resistance to the former president could have negative consequences for them if Trump were to end up winning this year.
"The biggest risk is that voters see them as disloyal to the party's core message going in 2024," Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, an early Trump endorser, told POLITICO in January. "That is a real risk. And that's why I've encouraged a lot of folks to endorse the former president."
Here are the 17 GOP senators who haven't endorsed Trump:
John Boozman of Arkansas
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Susan Collins of Maine
Joni Ernst of Iowa
Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
James Lankford of Oklahoma
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Jerry Moran of Kansas
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Rand Paul of Kentucky
Pete Ricketts of Nebraska
Mitt Romney of Utah
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Dan Sullivan of Alaska
Thom Tillis of North Carolina
Todd Young of Indiana
This story will be updated as this list inevitably shrinks.