1. Mitt Romney
Romney, a senator for Utah, is a well-known Trump critic who was the only Republican senator to vote in favor of impeaching the President when it came before the senate last year.
Speaking after the election, Romney confirmed that he did not vote for Trump and has ripped Trump’s attempts to overturn the result, saying: ‘It’s difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President.’
2. Marco Rubio
Rubio, a senator for Florida, ran against Trump during the 2016 presidential primary and launched some personal attacks on him as his candidacy floundered in its later stages.
But since then, Rubio – like others in the Republican party including Ted Cruz – has pivoted to become a public supporter of the President
During the election, Trump appeared at a rally alongside Rubio and the senator aped the president’s performances, referring to Biden as ‘sleepy Joe’ and applauding Trump supporters who tried to run a Biden campaign bus off the road in Texas
3. Susan Collins
Collins won reelection in Maine in November despite representing a blue state, but did so by avoiding the topic of Trump as much as possible.
A known Trump-skeptic, Collins voted against his move to confirm Amy Comey Barrett to the Supreme Court before the election.
That prompted multiple attacks by Trump, who said Collins was ‘not worth the effort’ of re-electing.
She pointedly refused to endorse Trump for president, and refused to say whether she voted for him. She did not vote for him in 2016, and instead wrote in another Republican candidate
4. Chuck Grassley
Grassley, the longest-serving Republican on Capitol Hill, has been a reluctant ally of Trump’s – coming to the president’s defense when his tax returns were leaked and offering token resistance to some of his bolder actions.
A lifelong advocate of government oversight, Grassley sent two letters to Trump attacking his decision to fire top watchdogs back in May, then refused to confirm any of Trump’s nominees until he explained why
Trump did eventually explain, an explanation that Grassley said he didn’t agree with – but he agreed to stop blocking nominees anyway
5. Rick Scott
A senator for Florida, Scott’s private opposition to Trump would be surprising as he has backed the president publicly, especially around the election
His political action committee paid six figures for TV ads supporting Trump in Florida ahead of the election, and he has backed Trump’s efforts to dispute the result – tweeting that ‘Trump will and should use every avenue at his disposal to make sure every legal vote is counted’
6. Lisa Murkowski
Murkowski, a senator from Alaska, has been a vocal critic of Trump in recent weeks – and was one of only two senators to refuse to confirm Amy Comey Barrett to the Supreme Court, alongside Susan Collins
She has called on him to begin the transition process to Joe Biden, and attacked his legal efforts to overturn the result as being ‘without merit’
7. Martha McSally
A senator for Arizona, McSally will have to give up her seat to astronaut Mark Kelly in January after losing the election to the Democrat
Despite records showing that she voted with Trump’s agenda 95 per cent of the time while in office, she failed to win over the president, who gave her the short shrift at a rally in October
Hurrying her up to the stage to speak, Trump told the crowd: ‘You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don’t want to hear this.’
8. Ben Sasse
While on a call with constituents in his native Nebraska in October, Sasse launched a scathing attack on Trump – accusing him of ‘kissing dictator’s butts’, ‘spending like a drunken sailor’, and ‘flirting with White Supremacists’
‘The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership,’ he said. ‘The ways I criticized President (Barack) Obama for that kind of spending I’ve criticized President Trump for as well’
‘He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity,’ he added.
9. Richard Burr
As head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr fell foul of Trump and his allies during the Russian election meddling investigation
He oversaw his panel’s investigation, including issuing a subpoena against Trump’s eldest son – Donald Trump Jr
He also approved a report that backed the intelligence community and found that Trump expected to benefit from Russian interference
10. Richard Shelby
A Trump ally, the senator from Alabama backed Trump during his impeachment trial, calling for an investigation into Joe Biden’s dealings in Ukraine and China instead
He also praised Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address, touting the president’s record on the economy
11. Jerry Moran
Another reluctant Trump ally, Moran – a senator for Kansas – has occasionally spoken out against the President in public, including to denounce him when he told member of the Democrat ‘Squad’ to go back to their home countries
He also voted in favor of a resolution to limit actions Trump can take against Iran, and opposed Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from Syria
However, he voted to acquit Trump during his impeachment trial and praised his Middle East peace efforts as a string of Arab countries agreed to recognize the state of Israel
12. John Cornyn
While the Texas senator has not been an outspoken critic of Trump, he has been far from the president’s greatest ally
Speaking ahead of the election – and with Texas then looking like a battleground – Cornyn compared his relationship with Trump to a marriage
‘I think what we found is that we’re not going to change President Trump. He is who he is. You either love him or hate him, and there’s not much in between.
‘What I tried to do is not get into public confrontations and fights with him because, as I’ve observed, those usually don’t end too well.’
13. John Thune
An early opponent of Trump, Thune suggested the candidate should quit the Republican ticket after his now-infamous ‘grab ’em by the p****’ tape became public during the 2016 election
Representing South Dakota and the second-highest ranking GOP senator, Tune also warned Trump before the 2020 vote that he was heading for defeat, urging the President to ‘change strategy’ and moderate his ‘tone’
14. Roy Blunt
A Trump loyalist, the Missuori senator has voted in-line with the President’s wishes 93 per cent of the time, according to Senate records
He has also backed Trump’s lawsuits following defeat on November 3, saying: ‘The president wasn’t defeated by huge numbers. In fact, he may not have been defeated at all’
15. Pat Toomey
A Pennsylvania senator who now finds his state the target of Trump’s post-election lawsuits, Toomey is among just a handful of senior Republicans to congratulate Biden on his win while asking Trump to concede
Speaking after Trump’s Pennsylvania lawsuit was thrown out, Toomey said: ‘I am deeply disappointed that President Trump and Vice President Pence were not re-elected. I endorsed the president and voted for him.
‘[But] to ensure he is remembered for [his] outstanding accomplishments, and to help unify our country, President Trump should accept the outcome of the election and facilitate the presidential transition process’
16. Rob Portman
Another critic of Trump over his infamous ‘p****’ tape, Portman confirmed that he did not vote for the president in 2016
The Ohio senator has been a reluctant ally since then, telling the Cincinnati Enquirer that ‘you’ve got to work with [Trump.]’
‘I express myself as I think I should,’ he said. ‘But my job is not to take on Trump every day. My job is to represent Ohioans and get things done’
17. Todd Young
A sometimes-critic of Trump, he spoke out against the administration early on over its alliance with Saudi Arabia during the war in Yemen
Young led efforts to get the Senate to block support for the war, and personally blame leader Mohammed bin Salman for the crisis
He also hit out at the White House’s ‘tone’ during the election, calling on Americans ‘to be more respectful and loving towards one another’
But he backed Trump’s Supreme Court pick Amy Comey Barrett, voted to support Trump during impeachment, and has largely toed the presidential line post-election, calling on ‘all legal ballots’ to be counted
18. Tim Scott
Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, has been a vocal backer of Trump, speaking at the RNC after Trump was nominated in 2020
But he recently spoke out against the President, saying he ‘needs to correct’ statements made during the first debate with Biden over White Supremacy
‘White supremacy should be denounced at every turn. I think the president misspoke, and he needs to correct it,’ he said.
19. Mike Braun
Elected in Indiana in 2018 as a pro-Trump candidate, Braun’s support for the President has waned since
He is one of a few Republicans back the idea of reforming qualified immunity for police officers, a demand that surfaced during the BLM protests
He has also vowed to reform healthcare, saying ‘no one should go broke because they get sick’, and wants action on climate change
‘In life, you’ve got to stick your neck out, take a few risks,’ he said, ‘[and] sometimes it will even be aimed at groups, sectors that might support you.’
20. Pat Roberts
Senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts has been quick to praise Trump when necessary – such as passing coronavirus relief funding – and quick to dodge questions when things look nasty
During the Black Lives Matter protests, and as Trump pushed conspiracy theories about a protester shoved over by police in Brooklyn, Roberts claimed that he hand’t seen Trump’s tweet and ‘I don’t want to’
21. Lamar Alexander
A senator for Tennessee, Alexander has seldom opposed Trump in voting – siding with the president more than 90 per cent of the time, according to senate records
But in recent days he has broken with Republican ranks by urging Trump to begin the process of transition to a Biden administration
While not going so far as to tell Trump to concede, he said there is ‘a very good chance’ that Biden won, and should be allowed to prepare for power