Indiana GOP Senate Pro Tem Who Defied Trump Steps Down

Trump added later that he would “certainly support anybody who wants to go against him.”

Following the failed vote, Bray said in a statement per PBS that while Republicans in the state Senate want to see a GOP majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, “the issue before us today was how to get there, and many of my caucus members don’t think redrawing our Congressional map mid-cycle is a guaranteed way for Indiana – or our country – to achieve that outcome.”

In a post on X, Vice President JD Vance also ripped Bray and indicated that the Indiana Senate leader had privately indicated to him and the president that he would not work against passage of the measure.

“Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn’t fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it,” Vance said.

“That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side,” Vance wrote.

The failure of the GOP supermajority in the state Senate to pass the measure also drew the ire of GOP Gov. Mike Braun, who was fully supportive of it.