Conservatives hope to enlist Trump in their spending war. It won't be that easy.

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

73% : For now, fiscal conservatives are banking on Trump being their best hope after losing battle after battle the last two years.
56% : Other, more centrist Republicans, are also embracing the idea of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, even if they aren't aligned on the specifics.
46% : Conservatives will also have two notable allies in the middle of the White House budget process: Russ Vought, who Trump intends to nominate to lead the Office of Management and Budget, and outgoing North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop, who is being tapped for the No. 2 OMB spot.
41% : But last week's meltdown over government funding underscored that Trump doesn't always share their fiscal restraint.
39% : "I think unified government helps us, because I think President Trump is going to tell some of these guys: 'Get in line,'" said centrist Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), noting, without naming anyone, that the GOP is also losing some of its most "incendiary" members.
38% : And they're not the only ones courting Trump and Musk.
37% : And Speaker Mike Johnson has worked diligently for months to keep Trump on his side, with mixed results.
36% : Even appropriators are opening the door to having outside eyes on the federal budget process -- they have their own ideas for where Trump and his allies should look to cut spending.
34% : After the debt ceiling battle last week, the fiscal rebels, GOP leadership and Trump appeared to land on a handshake agreement to raise the debt limit next year in exchange for $2.5 trillion in spending cuts.
30% : Some are actively hoping Trump can help them tame their hardliners instead of emboldening them.
28% : Trump could be effective at pushing for cuts if he wants, or he could end up amplifying the GOP's existing internal fights and cause more chaos.
23% : That move is a reminder that Trump exploded the deficit and greenlit billions in additional spending during his first term -- two overall budget concerns that the House Republicans who opposed last week's bill say they want to fix.
23% : "If this DOGE group really wants to do something, they should look at the mandatory spending, how we can fix that problem," said Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), referring to a bucket of government funding that involves things like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.
22% : Though Trump and Musk helped upend an initial bipartisan appropriations deal loathed by fiscal hardliners, 38 House Republicans later balked at Trump's big demand in the next bill: a looser limit on Washington's borrowing authority.
8% : Trump may be unhappy with Johnson after the spending battle, but he hasn't publicly crossed him ahead of the Jan. 3 speaker vote -- where Johnson appears to be on thin ice.

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