President Donald Trump pulled his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd on Saturday, one day after the Colorado Republican took to X to champion Congress's constitutional authority over tariffs in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that limited the president's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Trump didn't just withdraw his support. He replaced it, endorsing Hope Scheppelman, a critical care nurse practitioner and Navy veteran, to challenge Hurd in Colorado's 3rd District.
"Based on 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 message was clear: if you use a Supreme Court ruling as cover to undermine the tariff agenda, the president will find someone who won't.
On Friday, hours after the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling blocking Trump's use of IEEPA for tariff authority, Hurd posted a series of statements on X that read less like a reaction and more like a brief filed against the administration's trade posture.
"The Supreme Court has clarified the scope of IEEPA, and that clarification matters."
He went further, invoking Article I of the Constitution and arguing that "major trade decisions should rest on clear statutory authority, not expansive emergency interpretations." He called for Congress to "debate them and vote on them directly," framing the administration's approach as constitutionally suspect.
"Strong trade enforcement must be grounded in durable legal footing."
There's nothing controversial about a congressman referencing the Constitution. But timing matters. Context matters. And when a Republican lawmaker's first instinct after a hostile court ruling is to publicly validate the court's reasoning and cast doubt on the legal foundation of a signature presidential initiative, it's not a civics lesson. It's a signal.
According to Fox News, Trump characterized Hurd as someone who "is one of a small number of Legislators who have let our Country down." He accused the congressman of being "more interested in protecting Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for decades than he is the United States of America."
Earlier on Saturday, before the endorsement withdrawal, Trump had already announced he would raise the global tariff rate from 10% to 15%, effective immediately, in direct response to the Supreme Court's ruling. The order was issued under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Trump called the Supreme Court decision "ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American," making it unmistakable that he viewed the ruling as an obstacle to navigate around, not a reason to retreat. He found the legal authority to continue. Hurd found a reason to question it.
The contrast writes itself.
Trump acknowledged that rescinding an endorsement is not something he does lightly, noting he has only done it once before, with former Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks. That history underscores the severity. This wasn't a casual rebuke or a social media spat. It was a deliberate, public severance.
The broader lesson here is one that Republican incumbents should have learned by now. The base didn't send representatives to Washington to play constitutional law professor on social media while the president fights to rebalance decades of trade arrangements that gutted American manufacturing. They sent them to have the president's back.
That doesn't mean Congress has no role in trade policy. Of course it does. But there is a difference between working within the party to shape trade legislation and rushing to the nearest platform to publicly align yourself with a court ruling that the administration is actively working to overcome. One is governance. The other is positioning.
Hurd chose positioning.
Trump described his new pick as a "distinguished Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, and a brave U.S. Navy Veteran, who knows the America First Policies required" to move the country forward. He closed with the kind of line that doubles as both endorsement and epitaph for her opponent.
"Unlike RINO Jeff Hurd, HOPE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"
Scheppelman has yet to make public statements in response to the endorsement, but the political dynamics in Colorado's 3rd District just shifted dramatically. A Trump endorsement in a Republican primary isn't just an advantage. In most districts, it's the ballgame.
The tariff fight is not going away. The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling limiting IEEPA authority forces the administration onto different legal ground, but Trump's immediate move to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 shows this White House does not accept judicial setbacks as final answers. It adapts and advances.
For Republican members of Congress, the calculation is straightforward. You can disagree with specific policy mechanics behind closed doors and work to shape legislation that gives the tariff agenda durable statutory backing. Or you can do what Hurd did: run to social media to publicly second-guess the legal foundation of the president's most visible economic policy, hours after a court tried to kneecap it.
One path keeps you in the fight. The other gets you replaced by a Navy veteran.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hurd's office for comment, but did not receive an immediate response. The silence, at this point, speaks loudly enough.
