One of the GOP’s top strategists has warned that the Republican Party could find itself in “deep trouble” in the 2026 midterms.
Karl Rove, a senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush, argued that his party needed to have a clear plan on the hot-button issues of healthcare and the economy.
Both of the issues raised by the former Republican staffer on Fox News’ Journal Editorial Report were at the heart of the government shutdown, when Democrats tried to force the Republicans into reversing their plans to slash Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Rove claimed that the damage caused by the shutdown and the yet-to-be-felt benefits of Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill have left Congressional Republicans “scared to death of the midterm election.”
“If the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ was as instantaneously positive as he thinks, his approval numbers on the economy wouldn’t be in the 30s, and his overall approval wouldn’t be in the low 40s,” Rove warned.
“So Republicans are concerned, and they need to have an agenda going into the 2026 midterms, and they don’t have a forward-looking agenda at this moment,” he added.
The former Bush strategist suggested that his party should consider the words of James Carville, whose “It’s the economy stupid” quote has become the stuff of electoral legend.
The quote means political parties should focus on the core issue voters mainly care about, the economy, if they want to win. However, Carville followed that with an important addendum, as Rove pointed out.
“And ‘don’t forget health care,’ Carville famously said,” Rove added. “The Republicans have got to have a health care agenda, otherwise they’re going to be in deep trouble.”
A win for the Democrats could greatly hinder Trump’s presidential plans, since he needs the approval of the House and the Senate in order to pass legislation.
During the 2025 government shutdown, which was the longest in American history, Trump called for his party to end the filibuster so that Republicans can pass legislation to stay in power, whatever the upcoming midterm result was.
“If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want. We’re not gonna lose power,” he bragged on 60 Minutes.
However, the president also admitted on Truth Social that he believed that the Democrats are “more likely to win the Midterms, and the next Presidential Election.”
His gloomy outlook was echoed by Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most prominent Republicans to turn on Trump in recent months.
Greene, a representative for Georgia who resigned from her seat in November, warned of “Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go from paycheck-to-paycheck.”
She also blasted her former leader’s administration for failing to negotiate with the Democrats, who have increasingly pushed for reforms on insurance premiums.
“That is something I’m really disgusted with,” she said. “It’s an America Last strategy, and I don’t know whose strategy that is, but I don’t think it’s a good one.”
Optimism within the Democratic Party has grown after they swept a series of key elections on November 5, winning the New York City mayoral race, as well as gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey.
However, the party still has to appeal to an electorate that has described them as “out of touch” and “weak” as recently as July.
The poll, which was conducted by Democratic Super PAC Unite the Country, also found that the party was regarded as “woke” and weak on issues such as the cost of living.
