In the thick of Washington’s political season, all eyes are on the growing rift within the Republican Party as Vice President J.D. Vance and Senator Ted Cruz spar both publicly and behind closed doors. The fault lines, which have been simmering for months, are now erupting into the open, with high-profile battles over party direction, key appointments, and the very soul of the GOP as the 2028 presidential election looms ever closer.
Vice President Vance, speaking on November 20, 2025, at a "fireside chat" in Washington, D.C., delivered his most extensive remarks yet on the internal Republican debates that have been roiling the party. According to Breitbart News, Vance called for robust, open discussions on issues like foreign policy, tax policy, and housing, but urged his fellow Republicans to keep their eyes on what he sees as the real adversary: the radical left. "The disagreements that animate the Republican Party, while they matter and they're important—I think these debates should happen," Vance said. "They should happen in podcasts and they should happen in the media, they should happen on the op-ed pages, it's totally reasonable for the people who make up this coalition to argue about what our foreign policy should be, what our specific tax policy should be, what our housing policy should be."
But Vance’s call for debate came with a warning. He told the audience, "So, I think my attitude is let these debates play out, but don't let the debates that we're having internally blind us to the fact that we are up against a radical leftist movement that murdered my friend a couple of months ago and that would throw many people in the Trump administration in prison, not for doing anything illegal, but for not following the far left's agenda." His message was clear: "Focus on the enemy—have our debates—but focus on the enemy so that we can win victories that matter for the American people."
This plea for unity comes as the party is embroiled in heated arguments over issues like anti-Semitism. The controversy intensified after former Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Nick Fuentes, an avowed neo-Nazi, in a surprisingly cordial exchange. The Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, then defended Carlson, sparking resignations from the think tank’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and, eventually, a formal break between the task force and Heritage. Although Vance has previously labeled Fuentes a "total loser," he’s largely stayed silent since the Carlson interview. In the midst of the Heritage uproar, Vance posted on X, "The infighting is stupid. I care about my fellow citizens—particularly young Americans—being able to afford a decent life, I care about immigration and our sovereignty, and I care about establishing peace overseas so our resources can be focused at home. If you care about those things too, let's work together."
Yet, calls for unity haven’t stopped the jockeying for power and influence. According to NOTUS, Senator Ted Cruz, as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, has been taking positions that many in the White House see as directly at odds with President Trump and Vice President Vance. Cruz’s maneuvers are widely interpreted as attempts to distinguish himself ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run. One of the most visible battlegrounds has been the fight over who would lead NASA. Cruz pushed for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who had served as interim NASA administrator, while Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles backed Jared Isaacman, Trump’s original pick. Ultimately, Vance and Wiles prevailed, and Isaacman was reappointed—but not without resistance from Cruz, who delayed Isaacman’s confirmation hearings until December, despite an earlier hearing in April.
"The roadblocks that Ted is putting up in front of the president’s nominee for NASA administrator — someone who’s gone through the hearing and is qualified — only serve as a desperate attempt to relaunch a political career as a protest candidate," a source close to Trump told NOTUS. Another senior Trump administration official described Cruz’s tactics as "not opaque, it’s been pretty transparent, and it’s a frustration" for many in Trump’s circle.
Cruz’s spokesperson, however, offered a different perspective, stating, "Cruz has been the point of the spear in advancing much of President Trump’s legislative agenda. From leading the fight to secure the border, to serving as the President’s lead defender during both impeachments, to holding the Biden DOJ accountable, to authoring No Tax on Tips, the Take it Down Act, landmark school choice legislation, and the iconic Trump Accounts, Sen. Cruz has repeatedly worked hand-in-hand with President Trump to deliver real results for the American people." The spokesperson added, "Sen. Cruz and President Trump are very good friends, and no amount of sniping from disgruntled anonymous staffers trying to score political points is going to change that."
The tension between Cruz and the White House has extended beyond NASA. Cruz has also clashed with the administration over the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He criticized FCC Chair Brendan Carr for threatening to revoke ABC’s broadcast license after the network suspended Jimmy Kimmel for comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, likening Carr’s behavior to that of a mafia boss. "And I gotta say, that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas,’" Cruz quipped on his podcast. "That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar, going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’" Carr is scheduled to testify before the Commerce Committee on December 17, at Cruz’s insistence.
Many in Trump’s orbit believe Cruz’s recent actions are less about policy and more about positioning himself as a protest candidate for 2028. "He won’t collaborate or support any of the agenda Trump ran on," one source close to Trump said. "Instead, he’s used his role to stifle Trump’s priorities. Ted is quickly going the way of MTG, and I can only imagine what fresh nickname Trump comes up with now to end Ted’s career for the second time."
For his part, Cruz has long championed free speech and has a history of clashing with Big Tech over censorship. In 2024, he declared, "Our First Amendment right to freedom of speech is under attack, as radicals on the left try to silence anyone who disagrees with them. The path forward requires us to stand firm against those who seek to suppress free speech. I remain committed to fighting our ‘first freedoms.’" He has also consistently pledged to investigate the tech industry, stating last year that "Big Tech poses the single-greatest threat to free speech and to democracy."
The rivalry between Cruz and Trump is nothing new. Cruz ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary and famously refused to endorse him at the convention, urging delegates to "vote their conscience." Over time, Cruz, like most Republicans, became a vocal supporter of Trump. On November 19, 2025, Trump called Cruz "a very good guy, he is a very good friend of mine" and said he was "not that surprised" by rumors that Cruz is eyeing a 2028 presidential bid.
Meanwhile, Vance continues to urge the party to embrace its new, more populist base and avoid sliding back into what he calls the "Republican Party of 20 years ago." He warned, "That Republican Party was a Republican Party that lost and that couldn't successfully govern the country." Vance argued that the current divisions are "the natural outgrowth of the fact that we've got a lot of working-class voters who frankly don't care what was Republican orthodoxy 25 years ago, and so they're pushing the party in a different direction."
On foreign policy, Vance also weighed in on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, encouraging an end to hostilities through trade and cultural exchange. "Why don't you stop killing each other and start trading with one another?" he asked. "Why don't they actually engage in some commerce with one another, travel between the two countries, engage in some sort of cultural exchange?"
As the GOP navigates these turbulent waters, the party’s future—and its approach to both internal conflict and external opposition—remains very much up in the air. The coming months will reveal whether the calls for unity can bridge these divides, or if the Republican Party is headed for yet another round of bruising infighting as 2028 approaches.
