We’re less than a year away from the 2026 Midterms and seven months from America’s 250th birthday. Republicans hold the White House and both chambers, but that advantage is not permanent, and voters are demanding results.
Trump’s return brought order back to the border and ended the chaos of the Biden years. But to keep this majority — let alone expand it — Republicans must focus on the issues Americans argue about every night at their kitchen tables, as well as those most critical to America’s future.
Here are five priorities the GOP must champion (or continue to champion) heading into 2026:
1. Accelerate Deportations and Impose a Moratorium on Immigration From High-Risk States
Illegal immigration is down dramatically, but there are still tens of millions of illegal migrants in the country, many who arrived during the Biden border collapse. Trump’s $1,000 self-deportation incentive is smart policy, but incentives only work on the willing. For everyone else, enforcement must continue to accelerate.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, over 500,000 illegal aliens have been removed since January, with DHS projecting 600,000 by year’s end. But some have questioned how DHS counts removals, suggesting some preliminary returns may be included. Even so, enforcement has clearly surged.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan puts the numbers higher, with more than 2 million, including self-deportations.
“We’re bringing 10,000 more agents on. If you think the numbers look good this year, wait till next year. You ain’t seen s**t yet,” said Homan.
That urgency is necessary because the financial and criminal costs are real. An Afghan national admitted under Biden-era policy recently murdered a National Guard member in Washington, D.C., and critically wounded another.
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In Minnesota, Somali migrants are accused of one of the largest welfare-fraud cases in American history. Federal prosecutors confirmed roughly $300 million was stolen through Feeding Our Future, but it’s alleged the total fraud across multiple social-service programs may exceed $1 billion. And much of these funds ended up in the hands of the terror group Al-Shabaab.
Republicans should push for:
- Accelerated (2-3x) deportations for illegal migrants who refuse to self-deport
- A full moratorium on immigration from high-risk countries (which has already been announced, at least in part)
- Greater (or mandatory) cooperation between states and federal immigration authorities
A nation that cannot control who enters or who stays is not serious about its survival.
2. Fix the Affordability Crisis — Starting with Housing
Life feels more expensive, and Americans aren’t imagining it. Groceries, insurance, utilities, rent — costs are up across the board. But nothing illustrates the crisis like housing.
The median first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. That is not normal in a healthy country. You cannot maintain a middle class if younger Americans can’t afford to buy homes, start families, or build stability.
Republicans need to lead with a real plan:
- A national homebuilding push (cut red tape, clear bottlenecks, and incentivize construction)
- Open more federal land (thoughtfully) for residential development
- Stop institutional and foreign investors from buying up housing supply
- Relax with the 50-year mortgages, which have become a punchline
- Targeted cost-relief that doesn’t drastically increase inflation
Housing is the backbone of a stable society. If Americans can’t afford to live, they won’t support whoever’s in charge.
3. Stop Elevating Fringe Personalities and Ideologies
This is delicate but necessary: Republicans must stop elevating fringe online personalities who turn real issues into circus acts.
Nick Fuentes is the clearest example. He insists he’s not an antisemite — which is about as reassuring as a murder suspect professing innocence over a warm body — yet he’s suddenly everywhere again: Patrick Bet-David, Tucker Carlson, Steven Crowder, Piers Morgan, and others who know his controversy draws clicks.
Candace Owens drifted into conspiratorial territory long before Charlie Kirk’s assassination and has only gotten worse.
Do these figures sometimes talk about real problems? Yes. But pairing these issues with resentment, antisemitism, and conspiracy theories is political poison. It alienates average voters and gives Democrats a cartoonish villain to run against.
Republicans won seven swing states in 2024 because they were the sane party, yet Trump is now underwater with Independents (-14 pts since his first weeks in office), who comprise 30 percent of the electorate.
If we cede too much ground to the fringes, the GOP becomes virtually unelectable.
That doesn’t mean there needs to be some dramatic purge or woke-era struggle sessions. We just need to stop conflating a big tent with a circus, in which every clown (and aspiring provocateur) is invited to alter the course of MAGA.
4. Bring the War in Ukraine to a Responsible End
The Russo-Ukrainian War is entering its fourth year, and support for an open-ended conflict (especially on the heels of the war in Gaza) is evaporating. That being said, to the non-interventionists and isolationists, I say this: you can pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist, but that won’t make it so. Putin has threatened broader war with Europe, a war that would inevitably involve the United States.
Trump and advisor Steve Witkoff have struggled to make progress, but we must do all we can to bring this war to a close. But ending a war, especially one involving Vladimir Putin, requires a full-court press:
- Conditioning U.S. aid (Ukraine) and sanctions relief (Russia) on diplomacy
- Pressuring Russia to negotiate seriously, not escalate endlessly
- Pressuring Europe to lead on peace and stop treating the conflict as an endless project
- Ensuring any settlement protects Ukrainian sovereignty and long-term security (better than the Budapest Memorandum did)
Americans want peace, and Trump is the president to give it to them. Republicans should be the party that ends wars responsibly.
5. Make America’s 250th Birthday a National Celebration of Patriotism
July 4, 2026, will be the United States Semiquincentennial. It will also mark 200 years, to the day, since the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who both died on the nation’s 50th birthday. Trump has proposed a number of efforts, including a “Great American State Fair” in Iowa and a new monument (some are calling it the “Arc de Trump”) in Washington. Republicans must capitalize on this historic moment.
There is a divide on the Right, however, about our national identity.
Most of us still believe in 1776, the Constitution, and the American story.
But some on the post-liberal “new right” seem more inclined toward critiquing the Founding, rewriting the Constitution, attacking men like Reagan, and replacing America with something else.
Republican patriotism means continuing to be the party that believes America is worth defending and improving, rather than dismantling.
The 250th anniversary is our chance to make this fundamental belief crystal clear. Our nation, our system of government (if not the government itself, at times), and our Founding give us much to be proud of as Americans. We’re the party that is proud of our history, not the one that wants reckless revolution.
Conclusion
If Republicans focus on these five priorities — accelerated deportations and a moratorium on high-risk migration, a serious affordability plan, shutting out the fringe, a responsible end to the Ukraine war, and a patriotic national celebration — they will enter the Midterms from a position of strength.
We won in 2024 by being the sane, serious option.
We can do it again by acting like the party ready to lead America into its next 250 years.
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