Are they tired of winning?

According to a Wall Street Journal exclusive, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other top Republicans are warning President Donald Trump not to cut jobs or slash entitlements as the government shutdown drags on into its second week.

Trump, who predicted during his 2016 campaign that Americans would be tired of winning once he was president, made it clear late last month that a government shutdown would present an “unprecedented opportunity” to drain the swamp, courtesy of obstinate Democrats who were holding out for more spending on health care for illegal immigrants.

“When you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected, and they’re Democrats,” the president said as the midnight deadline approached on Sept. 30.

Trump doubled down on the message on Truth Social after the deadline came and went. “Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted on Oct. 1.

Besides potentially removing thousands of useless government workers permanently from the payroll as initially promised, Trump needled his opposition by adding that he would be “cutting Democrat programs,” the president said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

“We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly,” the president said.

The stage has been set for Democrats to reap what they sow, and the circumstances couldn’t be more advantageous to Republicans.

“The only reason we are forced to have these conversations is because the Democrats shut down the government,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Journal.

Still, Thune and other squishy GOP lawmakers, who perhaps suffer from a sort of PTSD from years of being the losing party, can’t seem to get out of the way and let Trump deliver this delightful payback that comes but once in a lifetime.

“The solution to this is not going to be about what threat you issue,” Sen. Kevin Cramer told the Journal after the sixth round of voting failed to yield any movement toward passing a funding bill.

“The solution is going to be about what off ramp we provide [Democrats] that they can save some face, be assured that for the first year, there’s not going to be a reduction in the premium tax credit,” the North Dakota Republican claimed.

Democrats are holding out to extend Obamacare tax credits left over from the COVID-19 pandemic without budging on the inclusion of subsidies for illegal immigrants.

Some Republicans are afraid Americans will blame them if this translates to higher premiums, but this kind of fear was what kept the GOP from repealing Obamacare in the first place.

Perhaps this cowardice from Cramer and Thune was excusable before Trump shattered the Republican Party’s usual mealy-mouthed and pathologically deferential conventions, but we have a leader ready, willing, and able to cut government to the bone and beat Democrats at their own game.

The Trump presidency — especially in this second term — puts Republicans squarely in a position to actually do the thing that will make the Democrats cry uncle while shrinking the government.

RINOs like Thune — who wasn’t a favorite of Trump supporters when he was picked for the leadership position — can’t seem to grasp that they no longer have to roll over to Democrats or heed warnings from the likes of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that they would be “feeling the heat” if Trump moves on this.

To squander this opportunity now would be the ultimate betrayal of Republican voters who have literally waited decades for something like this to happen, and they may never get the chance again.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s cowardice, treachery, or just that they’re sick of winning for the first time in their political careers — these Republicans have to get out of Trump’s way and let him lead.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.