Since he took office in 2019, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has sought to place himself on the front lines of orienting the Republican Party around a mix of economic populism and social conservatism to appeal to an increasingly working-class base.
But now, with Republicans in full control of Congress for the first time since he arrived in Washington, Hawley's mission is coming into conflict with members of his party, who are frustrated with his tendency to follow the beat of his own drum as he grows more critical of some of their policy aims.
Republicans, both in Congress and in the White House, are increasingly talking about Hawley's moves with the assumption that he is considering a presidential campaign, five people familiar with such discussions told NBC News.
A senior Senate aide said it appeared that Hawley was "trying to load up policy prescriptions to lay the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid."
"He's aligned himself with Democrats on most fiscal issues. Frankly, it has irked a lot of his Republican colleagues," the aide added.
But Hawley's allies say no 2028 plotting is afoot. Rather, they argue that Hawley continues to pursue the same agenda he has since he took office: aligning the party's policies with its changing electorate.
"Josh believes we're at a critical inflection point in our history about where the party's realigning," a person close to him said. "He's been on the same mission, focusing on the same project since he first ran for office, believing that the Republican Party needs to become a party of working people. What he's done is consistent with that each year he's been in Congress."
"He said many times in the past he's not running for president," this person added. "He has not been to early states, like a lot of other members. He's not even visited Iowa or New Hampshire to campaign for someone. He hasn't done any of that. He's got plenty of work to do in Congress. And the president's still got three more years."
Tensions between Hawley and Republican leaders reached a boiling point late last month when he teamed up with Democrats to advance a ban on congressional stock trading.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and an opponent of stock trading bans, granted Hawley the opportunity to mark up his bill, dubbed the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments -- or PELOSI -- Act. But Paul said he would not support it, requiring Hawley to work with Democrats. Hawley joined forces with Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the ranking member on the panel, but did not consult with fellow Republicans or the White House before he did so, three people familiar with the episode recalled.
"I can imagine he's not on their nice list," a Republican senator told NBC News when asked how the White House views Hawley.
Hawley and Peters reached a compromise under which the legislation would no longer be labeled the "PELOSI Act" and the ban would also apply to presidents and vice presidents. (Hawley secured a tweak that would delay implementation for officials until the start of their next terms, effectively exempting President Donald Trump.) The bill advanced with unified Democratic support plus Hawley's vote.
"The president just endorsed it at the White House," Hawley told NBC News after reporters asked Trump about the bill. But moments later, Trump lashed out.
"I don't think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED," Trump wrote on Truth Social, "because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!"
Hawley said a subsequent conversation with Trump went well, adding that both he and Trump want to see a congressional stock trading ban enacted.
"Every action Senator Hawley takes is rooted in one thing: fighting for the people of Missouri," Bernadette Breslin, a Hawley spokesperson, said in a statement. "He believes the President is doing a great job and is proud to stand with him in putting America First."
The White House pointed to press secretary Karoline Leavitt's comments this month that "conceptually, [Trump], of course, supports the idea of ensuring that members of Congress and United States senators who are here for public service cannot enrich themselves."
Two Trump administration officials familiar with the spat did not deny that Hawley's recent actions have Trump's attention and said some in the White House view him as trying to have it both ways: setting himself up for a future presidential run by differentiating himself from Vice President JD Vance and the White House while also taking credit for Trump's accomplishments.
"It does not work that way," one of the officials said, adding, "To say he's not viewed as a team player in any way would be an understatement."
But in the weeks since the blowup, people close to Trump have renewed a push to pass a congressional stock ban. MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk this month posted approvingly of Hawley's compromise legislation with Democrats. And last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a ban on congressional stock trading.
Hawley's allies sought to highlight his get-things-done mentality, particularly for his home state, even when it required battling members of his own party or teaming up with the opposition. They point to recent examples such as securing the inclusion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals in the "big, beautiful bill" and language to protect a hospital at Fort Leonard Wood as part of a military and veterans affairs funding bill.
At the same time, he has played a leading role in redefining bipartisanship in Washington on consumer and tech issues while providing Republicans a policy road map to reach the working-class voters who have increasingly become part of the party's coalition.
In turn, Democrats who spoke with NBC News had complimentary things to say about Hawley, a hard-line social conservative.
"In the Senate, you have to work across the aisle to get things done, and I appreciate that Senator Hawley and I have been able to do that on a number of issues," Peters said in a statement. "His willingness to stand up to his own party on policies like banning Members of Congress from stock trading is rare in this political climate."
This year alone, Hawley has teamed up with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., on legislation to enhance child labor laws; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on a bill to bar artificial intelligence firms from training models on stolen, copyrighted materials; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on an effort to cap credit card interest rates; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on legislation to further regulate pharmacy benefit managers, among other measures.
"The new bipartisanship that K Street will be talking about in 2029 won't be moderate members of Congress from moderate districts in the suburbs of Chicago getting together on a thoughtful center-out coalition," said Sam Geduldig, a Republican lobbyist and partner at CGCN Group, a lobbying firm. "The new bipartisanship is Josh Hawley and Liz Warren getting together."
Hawley, 45, burst onto the scene six years ago with an array of efforts aimed at taking on big tech firms and found some natural allies on the left.
"He has really led that shift towards a more populist Republican Party," said a GOP operative who has worked with Hawley's team. "Obviously, the president played a big role in a lot of the economic populism, and the senator has been in line with the president on that."
But Hawley was soon written off by Democrats—and some Republicans—after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack when he was seen entering the Capitol raising a fist to protesters assembled outside and later moved forward with his objection to the electoral vote count.
Still, Hawley has managed to overcome the objections. When he was asked last month about his vote to confirm a former top Hawley aide to a lifetime judicial post in Missouri, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, admitted to a reporter that he made "a mistake," given the nominee's anti-abortion rights record, but said: "I took Josh Hawley's advice."
Blumenthal said in an interview: "Well, Jan. 6 remains in the back of a lot of people's minds. At the same time, on issues where we can make progress stopping corporate greed or monopolistic control over markets, there's a need for allies. The iconic Jan. 6 photo of him with a fist in the air can't be erased from memory. But if he can bring Republican support to the table for ideas that will help people, sometimes working together makes sense."
Blumenthal said that while he and Hawley maintain vehement disagreements on many issues, he praised Hawley as "distinctive" for his willingness "to think outside the usual Republican comfort zone."
"Frankly, he is an extremely good partner. He's very smart and insightful. We vote differently most of the time. In fact, probably the vast majority of our votes are different. But he is a public official who seeks common ground, especially on technology issues where privacy and individual rights are at stake," Blumenthal said, adding: "He is regarded as open to new ideas, to kind of forge his own path. He seems to be pretty independent-minded on a number of issues."
Hawley's style has allowed him to carve out a unique space in Congress. Sean O'Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said Hawley was the first Republican his union "actually formed a relationship with." O’Brien would later offer praise to Hawley during a speech before the Republican National Convention last summer—an unheard-of appearance for a major labor union leader.
"We've worked on many issues," O'Brien said, adding he had no sense of whether Hawley would pursue the White House in 2028.
"Look, there's nobody more prepared," O'Brien continued. "If you watch these hearings, whether someone likes Josh Hawley, they don't like Josh Hawley, you can't deny the fact that he is prepared and he does not discriminate against anybody, and he strictly follows a moral compass that's in the best interest of the American people. And look, I'm a huge fan."