By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Several congressional Republicans are harshly criticizing President Donald Trump's White House over its handling of a proposed Ukraine peace plan they say favors Russia, a sharp departure for a party that has adhered closely to almost all of Trump's initiatives.
Backers of Ukraine have worried that a U.S.-based 28-point framework for ending the war in Ukraine, first reported last week, means Trump's administration might be willing to push Kyiv to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Moscow.
"This so-called 'peace plan' has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace," Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Friday.
Those fears escalated when Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, in an October 14 telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy aide Yuri Ushakov, said they should work together on a ceasefire plan and that Putin should raise it with Trump.
WITKOFF 'CANNOT BE TRUSTED': REPRESENTATIVE
"For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired," Republican Representative Don Bacon said on X.
While Trump's party remains overwhelmingly behind him, the criticism from Republican lawmakers is notable, given the president's recent setbacks, including Democratic election victories this month and Congress backing the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome Trump fought for months.
Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick called for a shift in approach, describing the call on social media as "a major problem. And one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop."
Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate leader, suggested Trump might need to find new advisers. "Rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests," he said in a statement.
PUSHBACK FROM TRUMP'S CIRCLE
Members of Trump's inner circle have pushed back against the lawmakers.
Vice President JD Vance, a former Republican senator who has criticized aid to Ukraine, accused McConnell of making a "ridiculous attack" on the plan to end the war.
The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., said on social media that McConnell was "just bitter and lashing out against my father."
But the attacks from members of Trump's own party, along with recent political headwinds, could signal a bigger problem for the administration, said analysts.
"All of this suggests he's much more politically vulnerable than he's seemed for the last nine, 10 months," said Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
Additionally, with opinion polls showing most Americans want to support Ukraine as it battles Russia's invaders, Republicans are likely looking toward the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake, and many Republican candidates in tight races will have to appeal to independent voters.
Some of the strongest criticism has come from Republicans like Bacon and McConnell, who are not running for reelection, but Anderson said they are saying publicly what others would be saying in private meetings.
"They are so vocal, they are so targeted ... It almost certainly reflects a private element of messaging from the part of the party they represent," Anderson said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and Rod Nickel)
