REPORT: GOP Congressman Caught Trash-Talking Trump Behind His Back

A backbencher in Ohio’s Republican congressional delegation sounded off on President Donald Trump and his cost-cutting measures during a meeting with local business leaders, causing conservatives online to accuse him of betrayal.

Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), who has served in the U.S. House since winning his first election in 2018, described President Trump’s litany of executive orders as “getting out of control” during a Westerville Area Chamber business luncheon. He couched his remarks in terms of constitutional authority, saying only Congress has the power of the pursestrings.

“Congress has to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away,” Balderson asserted, according to the Columbus Dispatch. “Not the president, not Elon Musk. Congress decides.”

Balderson said while he respects and shares the desire by Trump and Elon Musk to audit federal agencies and root out waste, he doesn’t believe every order has been lawful. “Congress has to do their work,” he told the business group.

The slip-up is curious for the Zanesville native, a creature of politics who rose in the state legislature before first winning his seat in a special election. After running an unsuccessful car company, he won a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2008 and rose to the state Senate two years later.

Now, conservatives are questioning his judgment, warning that he’s opened himself up to a primary challenger in 2026.

“I guess he is desperate to retire,” one X user wrote in response to the news. Kate Austin, a recognizable MAHA figure on the platform, encouraged others to find a Republican opponent to take on Balderson.

He is not the only member of the Republican caucus to begin fielding concerns from constituents about Trump’s deep cuts to the federal bureaucracy. A Thursday night town hall in Roswell, Georgia, was jam-packed with voters hurling their anger at Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) for supporting Trump’s agenda.

After being pressed, McCormick replied Trump is “trying to do more with less, that’s reasonable – what’s not reasonable is taking this chainsaw approach.”

“My understanding is when you say you have this many employees that you have to cut, that organization decides who to cut,” McCormick said, triggering groans from those in attendance, according to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal.

Unlike Balderson, McCormick holds a center-right suburban seat he lost in 2020 but regained in 2022, even though Trump carried the district last year by 22 points. His verbal contortions illustrate how House Republicans are struggling to confront criticisms of Trump’s agenda upon their return home.

The first real test of their loyalty to Trump will occur next month when Congress must pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded. President Trump has signaled that he wants to extend the debt ceiling by two years and make permanent his 2017 tax cuts, which are expensive proposals that will pit House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) against both moderate and fiscally conservative Republicans.