The Republican Party in the United States includes several factions, or wings. During the 19th century, Republican factions included the Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform; the Radical Republicans, who advocated the immediate and total abolition of slavery, and later advocated civil rights for freedmen during the Reconstruction era; and the Stalwarts, who supported machine politics.
In the 20th century, Republican factions included the Progressive Republicans, the Reagan coalition, and the liberal Rockefeller Republicans.
In the 21st century, Republican factions include conservatives (represented in the House by the Republican Study Committee and the Freedom Caucus), moderates (represented in the House by the Republican Governance Group, Main Street Caucus, and the Republican members of the Problem Solvers Caucus), and libertarians (represented in Congress by the Republican Liberty Caucus). During the first presidency of Donald Trump, Trumpist and Never Trump factions arose within the Republican Party.
21st-century factions
During the presidency of Barack Obama, the Republican Party experienced internal conflict between its governing class (known as the Republican establishment) and the anti-establishment, small-government Tea Party movement. In 2019, during the presidency of Donald Trump, Perry Bacon Jr. of FiveThirtyEight.com asserted that there were five groups of Republicans: Trumpists, Pro-Trumpers, Trump-Skeptical Conservatives, Trump-Skeptical Moderates, and Anti-Trumpers.
In February 2021, following Trump's 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden and the 2021 United States Capitol attack, Philip Bump of The Washington Post posited that the Republican Party in the U.S. House of Representatives consisted of three factions: the Trumpists (who voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump in 2021, voted against stripping Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, and supported efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election), the accountability caucus (who supported either the Trump impeachment, the effort to discipline Greene, or both), and the anti-Trump Republicans (who opposed the Trump impeachment and the effort to discipline Greene but also opposed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results). Also in February 2021, Carl Leubsdorf of the Dallas Morning News asserted that there were three groups of Republicans: Never Trumpers (including Bill Kristol, Sen. Mitt Romney, and governors Charlie Baker and Larry Hogan), Sometimes Trumpers (including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley), and Always Trumpers (including Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley).
In March 2021, one survey indicated that five factions of Republican voters had emerged following Trump's presidency: Never Trump, Post-Trump G.O.P. (voters who liked Trump but did not want him to run for president again), Trump Boosters (voters who approved of Trump, but identified more closely with the Republican Party than with Trump), Die-hard Trumpers, and Infowars G.O.P. (voters who subscribe to conspiracy theories). In November 2021, Pew Research Center identified four Republican-aligned groups of Americans: Faith and Flag Conservatives, Committed Conservatives, the Populist Right, and the Ambivalent Right.
As of 2023, congressional Republicans refer to the various House Republican factions as the Five Families. Derived from The Godfather, the term refers to Mafia crime families. The Five Families consist of "the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, the conservative Republican Study Committee, the business-minded Main Street Caucus, the mainstream Republican Governance Group", and the Republican members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. The House Republican factions overlap with one another, and some members belong to no caucus.
Conservatives
The conservative wing grew out of the 1950s and 1960s, with its initial leaders being Senator Robert A. Taft, Russell Kirk, and William F. Buckley Jr. Its central tenets include the promotion of individual liberty and free-market economics and opposition to labor unions, high taxes, and government regulation. The Republican Party has undergone a major decrease in the influence of its establishment conservative faction since the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
In economic policy, conservatives call for a large reduction in government spending, less regulation of the economy, and privatization or changes to Social Security. Supporters of supply-side economics and fiscal conservatives predominate, but there are deficit hawks and protectionists within the party as well. Before 1930, the Northeastern industrialist faction of the GOP was strongly committed to high tariffs, a political stance that returned to popularity in many conservative circles during the Trump presidency. The conservative wing typically supports socially conservative positions, such as supporting gun rights and restrictions on abortion, though there is a wide range of views on such issues within the party.
Conservatives generally oppose affirmative action, support increased military spending, and are opposed to gun control. On the issue of school vouchers, conservative Republicans split between supporters who believe that "big government education" is a failure and opponents who fear greater government control over private and church schools. Parts of the conservative wing have been criticized for being anti-environmentalist and promoting climate change denial in opposition to the general scientific consensus, making them unique even among other worldwide conservative parties.
Long-term shifts in conservative thinking following the election of Trump have been described as a "new fusionism" of traditional conservative ideology and right-wing populist themes. These have resulted in shifts towards greater support of national conservatism, protectionism, cultural conservatism, a more realist foreign policy, skepticism of neoconservatism, reduced efforts to roll back entitlement programs, and a disdain for traditional checks and balances.
Christian right
The Christian right is a conservative Christian political faction characterized by strong support of socially conservative and Christian nationalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to use the teachings of Christianity to influence law and public policy.
In the United States, the Christian right is an informal coalition formed around a core of evangelical Protestants and conservative Roman Catholics, as well as a large number of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The movement has its roots in American politics going back as far as the 1940s and has been especially influential since the 1970s. In the late 20th century, the Christian right became strongly connected to the Republican Party. Republican politicians associated with the Christian right in the 21st century include Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and former Senator Rick Santorum. Many within the Christian right have also identified as social conservatives, which sociologist Harry F. Dahms has described as Christian doctrinal conservatives (anti-abortion, anti-LGBT rights) and gun-rights conservatives (pro-NRA) as the two domains of ideology within social conservatism. Christian nationalists generally seek to declare the U.S. a Christian nation, enforce Christian values, and overturn the separation of church and state.
Libertarians
Libertarians make up a relatively small faction of the Republican Party. In the 1950s and 60s, fusionism—the combination of traditionalist and social conservatism with political and economic right-libertarianism—was essential to the movement's growth. This philosophy is most closely associated with Frank Meyer. Barry Goldwater also had a substantial impact on the conservative-libertarian movement of the 1960s.
Libertarian conservatives in the 21st century favor cutting taxes and regulations, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and protecting gun rights. On social issues, they favor privacy, oppose the USA Patriot Act, and oppose the war on drugs. On foreign policy, libertarian conservatives favor non-interventionism. The Republican Liberty Caucus, which describes itself as "the oldest continuously operating organization in the Liberty Republican movement with state charters nationwide", was founded in 1991.History of the RLC, Republican Liberty Caucus (accessed August 19, 2016). The House Liberty Caucus is a congressional caucus formed by former Representative Justin Amash, a former Republican of Michigan who joined the Libertarian Party in 2020 before returning in 2024.Robert Draper, Has the 'Libertarian Moment' Finally Arrived?, New York Times Magazine (August 7, 2016).
Prominent libertarian conservatives within the Republican Party include New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul, Representative Thomas Massie, former Representative and Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford,Josh Goodman, South Carolina's "Libertarian" Governor , Governing (August 4, 2008). and former Representative Ron Paul (who was a Republican prior to 1987 and again from 1996 to 2015, and a Libertarian from 1987 to 1996 and since 2015). Ron Paul ran for president once as a Libertarian and twice more recently as a Republican.
The libertarian conservative wing of the party had significant cross-over with the Tea Party movement.
During the 2024 United States elections, the Republican Party adopted pro-cryptocurrency policies, which were originally advocated by the libertarian wing of the party. As the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump addressed the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, pledging support for cryptocurrency, opposing central bank digital currency and expressing support for the commutation of Ross Ulbricht. Trump's 2024 campaign featured greater influence from technolibertarian elements, particularly Elon Musk, who was subsequently nominated to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who was chosen to lead DOGE alongside Musk, has called for a synthesis between nationalism and libertarianism within the Republican Party, while opposing protectionist elements. Musk and Ramaswamy have clashed with elements within the right-wing populist faction over high-skilled legal immigration to the United States.
Moderates
Moderate Republicans tend to be conservative-to-moderate on fiscal issues and moderate-to-liberal on social issues, and usually represent swing states or blue states. Moderate Republican voters are typically highly educated, affluent, socially moderate or liberal and often part of the Never Trump movement. Ideologically, such Republicans resemble the conservative liberals of Europe.
While they sometimes share the economic views of other Republicans (i.e. lower taxes, deregulation, and welfare reform), moderate Republicans differ in that some support affirmative action, LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, legal access to and even public funding for abortion, gun control laws, more environmental regulation and action on climate change, fewer restrictions on immigration and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and embryonic stem cell research. In the 21st century, some former Republican moderates have switched to the Democratic Party.
Prominent 21st century moderate Republicans include Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine and several current or former governors of northeastern states, such as Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Larry Hogan of Maryland, and Phil Scott of Vermont. Another moderate Republican is incumbent governor of Nevada Joe Lombardo, who was previously the Sheriff of Clark County. Moderate Republican Representatives include Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler, and David Valadao.