GOP Feud Heats Up as Exasperated Republican Scolds Trump for Breaking the Law

The simmering tension between Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and President Donald Trump just boiled over again — this time over Trump’s disregard for basic legal procedure.

Grassley, long considered one of the GOP’s institutional guardians, didn’t hold back Friday when he took to X to scold Trump for illegally firing an agency watchdog without notifying Congress.

“Pres Trump takes an oath to uphold the constitution & the laws but he hasnt told Congress he was firing the Ex-Im Inspector General,” Grassley wrote. “The law says POTUS has to specifically inform Congress abt IG firings and unless the courts say otherwise thats still the law.”

He’s referring to the inspector general overseeing the Export-Import Bank, who was abruptly ousted without the legally required notice to Congress. That notice requirement exists for a reason: it’s supposed to protect oversight officials from political retaliation — something Grassley has fought for consistently, even when it means butting heads with his own party.

This isn’t just a one-off. At the start of his term, Trump gutted dozens of inspectors general across the federal government, blatantly ignoring the 30-day notice law. A federal judge ruled those firings illegal in September — but didn’t reinstate them, pointing out that Trump could just comply with the law and do it again anyway.

Now, it seems he’s not even bothering to do that.

For Grassley, this is a repeat offense. And he’s clearly had it.

“Unless the courts say otherwise,” he warned, “that’s still the law.”

The clash isn’t limited to watchdog firings either. Trump and Grassley have been at odds over the Senate’s “blue slip” tradition — an obscure but powerful rule that lets home-state senators block federal prosecutor nominations in their own states. Trump sees it as a bureaucratic nuisance standing in the way of ramming through partisan picks in blue states. Grassley sees it as a check worth keeping.

Trump has labeled the rule “old and ridiculous” and hasn’t hesitated to attack Grassley directly over it. But Grassley’s not budging.

He’s said he won’t be swayed by “personal insults.”

That stubborn posture — or what Trump loyalists might call disloyalty — has turned Grassley into one of the rare Republicans still willing to openly challenge the president.