President-elect Donald Trump is calling on eager Texans to consider a primary challenge to conservative Rep. Chip Roy.
“Chip Roy is just another ambitious guy, with no talent,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. “I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the Great State of Texas to go after Chip in the Primary. He won’t have a chance!”
Trump said in a separate post that Roy was “getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with.”
Roy has voiced no desire to raise the nation’s debt limit — as demanded by Trump — without corresponding spending cuts throughout the federal government. The Texas conservative also serves as a member of the Rules Committee, which gatekeeps which measures hit the House floor.
The president-elect has made a habit of threatening challengers to Republicans who cross him. Many have been successful, though he’s come up short in challenging some — like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who have not been reflexive votes for his nominees or agenda.
Roy, a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), took office in 2019 and has easily won reelection since then.
