President Trump pulled his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd on Saturday and threw his support behind Hope Scheppelman, the former Colorado GOP vice chair who will face Hurd in the June 30 primary for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. The move came one day after the Supreme Court struck down the bulk of Trump's tariffs in a 6-3 decision, and weeks after Hurd joined five other House Republicans in siding with Democrats to repeal Trump's tariffs on Canada.
Trump announced the switch on Truth Social, calling it only the second time he has revoked an endorsement:
"Based of a lack of support, in particular for the unbelievably successful TARIFFS imposed on Foreign Countries and Companies which has made America Richer, Stronger, Bigger, and Better than ever before, I am hereby WITHDRAWING my Endorsement of RINO Congressman Jeff Hurd, of Colorado's 3rd District, and fully Endorsing Highly Respected Patriot, Hope Scheppelman, to take his place in Congress."
The president also noted that withdrawing an endorsement is not something he does lightly, but framed it as necessary: "These are the decisions that must be made, however, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Earlier this month, Hurd was among a group of six House Republicans who crossed the aisle to pass a resolution repealing Trump's tariffs on Canada by terminating the national emergency the president had used to justify them. It was a direct challenge to executive authority on trade, and Trump took it personally, as The Hill reports.
Trump did not mince words about what the vote signaled:
"Congressman Hurd is one of a small number of Legislators who have let me and our Country down. He is more interested in protecting Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for decades than he is the United States of America."
Hurd, for his part, defended his decision on X, casting it as a constitutional stand rather than a policy disagreement. He argued that the administration's tariff approach harmed people and businesses in Colorado and invoked the separation of powers:
"If we normalize broad emergency trade powers today, we should expect that a future president—of either party—will rely on the same authority in ways many of us would strongly oppose. Institutional consistency matters. The Constitution does not shift depending on who occupies the White House. My responsibility is to defend the separation of powers regardless of political convenience."
It's a tidy little speech. The kind that plays well on editorial boards and in committee rooms. But voters in Colorado's 3rd District didn't send Hurd to Congress to write law review articles. They sent him to fight for their interests, and siding with Democrats to kneecap the president's trade leverage is a strange way to do that.
Hurd's framing deserves scrutiny. He presents himself as a principled defender of congressional authority over trade. Fair enough. Congress does have constitutional power to regulate foreign commerce. But where was this constitutional vigilance when previous administrations exercised sweeping executive authority on matters far less connected to their enumerated powers?
The separation-of-powers argument is always available. It's evergreen. And it conveniently allows a Republican to oppose a Republican president while sounding high-minded rather than oppositional. The question voters should ask is simple: Does Jeff Hurd fight this hard against executive overreach when it's a Democrat in the Oval Office, or does the constitutional conscience only flare up when it's politically useful?
The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act has been on the books for nearly half a century. Presidents of both parties have used it. The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision limiting Trump's use of that authority is a significant legal development, and the president responded by introducing a new universal 15 percent tariff on imports from countries around the globe. He adapted. Hurd chose a different path: he sided with the people trying to strip that authority entirely.
Trump noted this is only the second time he has pulled an endorsement. The first was former Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, whom Trump slammed as "woke" and disloyal. Brooks ultimately lost to Katie Britt in the 2022 Republican primary after Trump switched his support.
That precedent should concentrate the mind. A Trump endorsement in a GOP primary is one of the most powerful forces in American politics. Losing one is the opposite. Scheppelman now enters the June 30 primary with presidential backing, and Hurd enters it with a target on his back and a voting record that puts him shoulder-to-shoulder with House Democrats on one of the defining issues of Trump's agenda.
This is about more than one congressman in one mountain district. Trump has been clear that Republicans who undermine his trade agenda will face consequences. Six House Republicans voted with Democrats on the Canada tariff resolution. One of them just lost a presidential endorsement. The other five are watching.
The broader message is strategic. The Supreme Court may have narrowed one legal pathway for tariffs, but the president pivoted immediately to a universal tariff framework. He is not retreating on trade. And he is making clear that Republican members who try to erode that position from within will be treated no differently than Democrats who oppose it from without.
Hurd can talk about institutional consistency all he wants. But in a primary, voters don't grade on constitutional theory. They grade on loyalty, results, and whether their representative is fighting for them or auditing the people who are. Colorado's 3rd District will render its verdict on June 30.
