The Hill reports:

Senate Republicans are warning that they no longer view former President Trump as the leader of the party amid growing signs that they are ready to turn the page after a chaotic four years.

Though only seven of the 50 GOP senators voted to find Trump “guilty” at the end of his second impeachment trial, Republicans, including those who voted to acquit, are plotting a future where Trump is no longer their center of gravity after years of dominating their day-to-day lives.

Trump is showing no signs of going away, saying in a statement after the trial concluded that the MAGA movement was just getting started. But Republicans say he has a diminished following and competition for the party’s top spot.

“He’s made it pretty difficult to gain support. As you can tell, there’s some support that will never go away, but I think that is a shrinking population and probably shrinks a little bit after this week,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who has aligned himself closely with Trump since being elected in 2018.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), asked about the chance that Trump would take a victory lap, floated that Trump should carefully consider his next steps. [Continue reading…]