Ardent supporters of President Trump are fed up with so-called “RINOs,” who some conservatives claim are opposing the president’s proposed budget cuts because of the negative impact the cuts will have on their “side hustle grifts,” with some speculating that Congress is full of “liars and thieves.”
For context, on June 3, 2025, press accounts confirmed that President Trump’s request to cut $9.4 billion in funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid had reached Congress, and that some Republican representatives were actively opposing the proposed budget cuts. When this news broke, President Trump’s most loyal supporters took to X to express their frustration.
According to coverage from Politico, one of the most vociferous critics of the proposed budget cuts, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), who has been labeled a “RINO” by some, said that she would not support cutting funding to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), saying that the initiative ““saved literally millions of lives, and has been extremely effective.”
Furthermore, Sen. Rand Paul has been openly critical of the budget cuts, saying in a June 3, 2025, X post that he believes “the math doesn’t add up,” and adding, “I refuse to support maintaining Biden spending levels.” In response to Sen. Paul, President Trump issued a fiery Truth Social post, saying, “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”
On the other hand, the House Freedom Caucus posted on X of June 2, 2025, calling for the budget cuts to be officially codified, saying, “When the White House submits its first rescissions package to enact DOGE spending cuts to Congress, the House of Representatives should immediately move this to the floor for swift passage. ”
Continuing, the House Freedom Caucus’s X post argued that there was no reason for Republicans in Congress to oppose the cuts saying, “There is no excuse for a Republican House not to advance the first DOGE rescissions package the same week it is presented to Congress then quickly send it for passage in the Republican Senate so President Trump can sign it into law.”
In addition, the conservative influencer Bruce Ballou called out the RINOs in Congress and the Senate for their opposition to the budget cuts in a post on X, saying, “RINOS will not vote with Trump if it means ending their side hustle grifts.” He added, “We don’t have time to ‘vote people out’, so what TF happens now?! They win?”
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Weighing in on Ballou’s post, a commenter responded by making the case that the president “needs to come home and get in their faces and on fireside chats to let Americans know how two-faced Congress is being.” They added, “Congress is a bunch of liars and thieves.” Another commenter chimed in, “Yup. The grift remains, for now, apparently. Trump needs to call them out individually, on air.”
Watch Sen. Collins oppose the bill’s proposed cuts to the Education Department:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video