Deep red Republican breaks with Trump as president's popularity plummets

As Donald Trump's popularity with voters continues to dwindle, even Republicans from "deep red" districts are beginning to question their degree of loyalty to him, as shown in a Friday report from the Chicago Tribune.

The piece documents the recent reactions to Trump's agenda from Illinois's three Republican House members. One of them, Rep. Darin LaHood, stands out from the rest owing to his increasing tendency to break with the White House on issues that are driving the president's plummeting approval ratings.

LaHood has served in Congress since 2015 and currently represents Illinois' 16th District, which has a consistent history of voting Republican. In 2024, Trump won the district over Harris by 22 points, though the Democrat ultimately carried the state. LaHood, meanwhile, ran unopposed by any Democrat that year, receiving 99 percent of the vote. He last faced a prominent opponent in 2022, winning reelection by nearly 33 points.

Despite that rock-solid GOP base in his district, the Tribune reported that he has spoken out in ways that clash with the Trump administration on issues ranging from immigration to tariffs. He called for a "comprehensive and transparent investigation" involving federal, state and local authorities following the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers, and issued a similar statement after the killing of Renee Good. The Trump administration has so far blocked non-federal authorities from being able to investigate the shootings.

“I don’t think Congress should be in the business of dictating who should do the investigation,” LaHood told the Tribune. “There needs to be, obviously, an independent, thorough investigation that’s done with proper law enforcement and a full vetting of the facts and evidence, and then ultimately, once that’s done … a prosecutorial body will make a decision on whether there should be any charges.”

LaHood also told the Tribune that he believes federal immigration agents do not have "absolute immunity" from criminal charges, or even just from state-level charges, as has been suggested by administration officials, and he said that agents must have judicial warrants in order to enter federal property. He stopped short, however, of saying that agents must be banned from wearing masks.

On tariffs, LaHood said that he opposed Trump's signature economic policy "from an affordability standpoint, from an inflation standpoint and an open market standpoint."

“When you get into a trade war, which these tariffs have caused us to do, in many ways, the first pawn in the trade war is agriculture,” he told the Tribune. “So I have concerns about blanket tariffs, particularly on many of our allies, and the economic effect that it’s had on my farmers and my manufacturers.”

LaHood did not, however, vote against the recent House measure to end Trump's tariffs on Canada. He does believe that the Supreme Court will ultimately rule against Trump's tariff authority altogether.

Elsewhere in the state, the Tribune noted that GOP Rep. Mary Miller "has continued to push a hard line on immigration and shown little light between her beliefs and Trump’s," according to the Tribune. The state's third GOP congressman, Mike Bost, could not be reached by the outlet.

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