The GOP's YOLO caucus is small but growing. That may spell trouble for Trump's congressional agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) — The YOLO caucus is in session.

In a Republican-led Congress defined by deference to President Donald Trump, there's a small but steadily growing cohort who have found themselves more willing to break with the White House. Although the president maintains a firm grip on Republican voters, the expanding club could hinder his agenda on everything from the Iran war to immigration funding at a moment when his party holds a tenuous majority on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is the newest member of the club. Just days after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, Cassidy on Tuesday reversed himself on legislation involving the war in Iran and voted with Democrats to rein in U.S. military action.

“The way our Constitution is set up, Congress should hold the executive branch accountable,” he told reporters the day before.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas could be next after Trump endorsed Ken Paxton, Cornyn's rival for the Republican nomination in next week's runoff.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is perhaps a founding member of the YOLO caucus, having frustrated Trump since the president's first term, and his status was solidified after losing his primary on Tuesday to a Trump-backed challenger. Massie has enraged Trump by voting against his signature tax and spending bill and by pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

He hinted there's more to come before he leaves office.

“I got seven months left in Congress,” Massie said with a grin during his concession speech as the crowd erupted.

Other similarly situated Republicans include Sen. Thom Tillis, who was a fierce critic of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and has more recently turned his attention to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. There’s also Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who joined Democrats last week in a bid to curb Trump’s war powers in Iran. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have voted against some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. And in the House, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska has pushed to reclaim congressional power over tariffs.

“If the legislative branch always votes with the president, we do have a king,” Massie said in his concession speech Tuesday.

This hardly amounts to a revival of the Never Trump movement that some Republicans unsuccessfully hoped would curb the president's excesses during his first term or block him from returning to office. Many in the party, including Trump's occasional detractors, have either stood by or been unable to block the president as he launched the war in Iran and presided over an aggressive immigration enforcement operation and the dismantling of the federal workforce.

Today's unencumbered Republicans don't fit into an ideological box. But they are united by a sense of emboldenment that can only be attained in a few ways in Trump's Washington.

Many, like Tillis, McConnell and Bacon, have decided to retire and can cast votes knowing they'll never again have to face Republican primary voters. Others like Collins and Murkowski have more leeway because they represent states that tend to reward political independence. And some like Massie banked on the idea that voters could support both Trump and someone who occasionally crossed him.

It's a paradox for Trump. As he demands total loyalty and pushes out Republican dissenters, he's left with a growing cohort who, for one reason or another, owe Trump nothing.

That could be a problem for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who are already governing with threadbare majorities. Shifting loyalties of even a few Republican lawmakers could dramatically complicate the ability for either chamber to pass substantial legislation ahead of the November midterm elections.

Thune called Cornyn a “principled conservative” and “very effective senator” on Tuesday.

“None of us control what the president does,” he said.

The next tests could come later this week as Thune pushes a funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol designed to pass on a party line basis.

Democrats are eager to pounce.

Speaking at an event in Washington on Tuesday sponsored by the Center for American Progress, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he would aim to drive a wedge between Republicans by using a so-called discharge petition to bring issues directly to the floor for a vote.

That tactic has been successful in securing House passage on issues ranging from the Epstein files to temporary protection of Haitian immigrants.

“When we're disciplined and when we're focused and when we put pressure in particular on the so-called swing seat Republicans, they have been breaking with us,” Jeffries said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters on Tuesday that Trump's endorsement of Cornyn's rival was a sign that his political power lies within the Republican base — not the American public at large.

“He’s showed the only influence he has, and that’s an outsize influence within the base of the party,” the potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender said. “Otherwise he’s shown little to no influence with the American people.”

That leaves Republicans gaming out how they might cobble together the votes needed to pass legislation.

Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota called Cassidy a “good friend” and said the loss was “tough for him.” He said Cassidy “will always vote in line with what he thinks is best” but doubted he will become a less reliable Republican vote.

His fellow Louisianan, Sen. John Kennedy, said Cassidy deploys power “rationally and maturely” and “will continue to do the same thing.”

Cassidy repeatedly rejected the notion that he will spend his final months in Washington as a troublemaker for Trump, saying he's going to do “what's good for my country and my state.”

Yet the independent streak that ended his political career quickly resurfaced. A week after Trump visited China, Cassidy spoke of a western alliance that's “totally falling apart” and will be unable to “push back on the threat China represents.” He seemed stunned that the administration would create a nearly $1.8 trillion fund to compensate Trump allies who they believe have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted.

“I just came off the campaign trail,” he said. “People are concerned about making their own ends meet, not about putting a slush fund together without a legal precedent.”

Associated Press writer Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report.

Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Chair Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., speaks during hearing on the budget request for the EPA on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, left, confers with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as they hear President Donald Trump's funding requests for the Army, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer, File)

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., speaks to supporters during an election night watch party Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The World Health Organization said on Wednesday the risk of spread of the Ebola virus in Congo and Uganda is high at national and regional levels, but low at the global level.

The risk assessment came as the leader of the WHO team in Congo said the outbreak, which has led to over 130 suspected deaths, could last at least another two months as aid efforts intensified to stem the spread.

WHO has declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, requiring a coordinated response. On Tuesday, it expressed concern over the “scale and speed” of the outbreak.

Worried residents in eastern Congo have reported rising prices for face masks and disinfectants following the outbreak of the rare type of Ebola, known as the Bundibugyo virus. It spread undetected for weeks following the first known death, while authorities tested for another, more common Ebola virus, which came up negative, health experts and aid workers said. There are no approved medicines or vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus.

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in Congo's northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, as well as two in Uganda, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. Beyond that, there are 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases, he said.

“We know that the scale of the epidemic is much larger,” he said. “We expect those numbers to keep increasing.”

Congo was expecting shipments from the United States and Britain of an experimental vaccine for different types of Ebola, developed by researchers at Oxford, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a virologist at the National Institute of Biomedical Research, told reporters on Tuesday.

“We will administer the vaccine and see who develops the disease,” he said.

In Bunia, the site of the first known death, schools and churches remained open on Wednesday, and some residents were wearing masks in the street. Residents said that masks have become harder to find and that some disinfectants previously sold for 2,500 Congolese francs (about $1) now cost up to 10,000 francs ($4.4).

“It’s truly sad and painful because we’ve already been through a security crisis, and now Ebola is here too,” said Justin Ndasi, a resident of Bunia. “We have to protect ourselves to avoid this epidemic.”

Trish Newport, emergency program manager at aid group Doctors Without Borders, posted on social media that her team in Bunia identified suspected cases over the weekend at the Salama hospital, which has no isolation ward. They unsuccessfully tried to place them at another health facility in Bunia.

“The team called around to other health facilities to see if they had isolations,” she said. “Every health facility they called said, ‘We’re full of suspect cases. We don’t have any space.’ This gives you a vision of how crazy it is right now.”

In Mongbwalu, the town at the epicenter of the current outbreak, the border with Uganda remains open, and gold mining activities continue, Chérubin Kuku Ndilawa, a local civil society leader, told The Associated Press.

“There’s no panic. People continue with their normal lives, but they’re also starting to spread the word,” said Ndilawa, adding that controlling the outbreak has been hindered by a lack of public handwashing stations.

Dr. Didier Pay, a former director of the Mongbwalu General Hospital, said his clinic was treating around 30 Ebola patients and that a student from the local medical technology institute died on Wednesday morning.

"The deployment is already underway for the construction of a treatment center,” he told the AP.

Health experts said the delayed detection of the virus and large population movements in affected areas, which already suffer a preexisting humanitarian crisis, complicated the response. Parts of eastern Congo are controlled by armed rebels, hampering the delivery of aid.

Congo said the first person died from the virus on April 24 in Bunia, but the confirmation did not come for weeks. The body was repatriated to the Mongbwalu health zone, a mining area with a large population.

“That caused the Ebola outbreak to escalate,” said Congo’s Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba.

Dr. Anne Ancia, the head of the WHO team in Congo, said authorities still haven’t identified “patient zero.” There was a long road ahead, she said, adding that cuts in funding had “a marked detrimental effect on humanitarian actors.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that the Trump administration would “lean into” Ebola response efforts with a priority on funding 50 emergency clinics in affected areas. The U.S. has so far contributed $13 million to the effort and Rubio said more would be coming.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks to the media following an emergency committee during a press conference at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Aid workers set up an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne) Corrects from Bunia to Rwampara

A man sprays a tent at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Congo, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne)

People offload a shipment of more than 15 tons of supplies donated by UNICEF as part of the response to the Ebola virus outbreak at Bunia National Airport in Bunia, Congo, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

People offload a shipment of more than 15 tons of supplies donated by UNICEF as part of the response to the Ebola virus outbreak at Bunia National Airport in Bunia, Congo, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

People offload a shipment of more than 15 tons of supplies donated by UNICEF as part of the response to the Ebola virus outbreak at Bunia National Airport in Bunia, Congo, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)