Senate Republicans are about to do something that would have seemed largely unthinkable over the past four years — and indeed for much of the past decade-plus: provide the votes to pass a major spending bill spearheaded by Democrats on infrastructure. They are also very notably doing so over the continued objections of their party’s still-leader, former president Donald Trump, who has said those who vote for it should be targeted in primaries.

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       It’s way too simple to say that these Republicans are taking it to the former president. Things are never that simple with Trump, who demands loyalty but rarely puts in the work to ensure it, especially in his post-presidency.

       According to its GOP supporters, a more apt summary of Trump’s role in the infrastructure bill would go something like this: Congrats. You paved the way for this. So maybe you should own it?

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       Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) this weekend offered perhaps the most curt response to Trump’s opposition to the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package. Trump ally and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo pitched the bill as a precursor to the Green New Deal and pressed him on whether he was “betraying the Republican base.”

       Asked what he had to say about Trump’s criticism, Cramer basically shrugged it off.

       “Well, he didn’t give one reaso it’s a bad deal, other than it’s Joe Biden’s,” Cramer said.

       This is true. Trump’s case against the bill is essentially 100 percent political — warning that Republicans are giving Biden a bipartisan win, without objecting to any of the particulars. He said, “It will be used against the Republican Party in the upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024.” Trump has urged Republicans to wait until after they find out whether they can win back the House and Senate in 2022, despite the fact that he failed to pass an infrastructure bill when he had both chambers behind him in 2017 and 2018.

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       And there’s a good reason Trump isn’t objecting to the particulars: Because he himself pushed a big infrastructure package, with relatively little of it paid for. And another of the conservative supporters of the bill has called him (and his GOP colleagues) out on that.

       Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) basically accused GOP allies who supported Trump’s proposal but oppose this one of hypocrisy.

       “I will point out that President Trump proposed a $1.5 trillion package, which most Republicans were all for, and only 5 percent of it was paid for,” Cassidy said this weekend on CNN. “We have $550 billion of new spending, of which we can reasonably say is paid for — but certainly one-half by [the Congressional Budget Office] score. And now folks are saying, ‘Oh, can’t vote for that.’ ”

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       Cassidy made the same point last week on Bloomberg TV, saying, “President Donald Trump recommended a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package. Republicans were all onboard. If Republicans were onboard for former president Trump, we are one-third the cost and have it paid for. It seems like something that should be acceptable.”

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       Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has tried a more accommodating approach with the former president. He has suggested to him that perhaps the smart play would be to back off and maybe even claim the win for himself.

       “I have encouraged President Trump to take credit for this,” Portman said last week on CNN. “President Trump’s effort to raise the level of awareness about the need for infrastructure improvement should help us get this done. You know, he proposed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill.”

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       Congrats, Mr. Former President. This thing you now oppose is your handiwork.

       Portman followed that up Sunday morning by again crediting Trump for changing GOP orthodoxy on the issue.

       “Every president, as I said, has tried to get the infrastructure bill done. One of those presidents is our most recent president, President Donald Trump, who pushed to pass a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill during his time in office, in his budget,” Portman said. “And honestly, I think he changed the discussion a little bit on my side of the aisle. … I appreciate the fact that President Trump got the discussion going among Republicans who might not have previously focused on that.”

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       There is little doubt that what Portman is saying is true. Not only did Trump help wean the GOP off its tea party-fueled aversion to government spending, but he pushed an infrastructure package of a similar size. If you’re going to object to this, maybe make an argument about how it differs from what you wanted — beyond, “The Democrats are going to get credit for it.”

       In the end, the expected passage of this bill Tuesday is less a GOP repudiation of Trump and is more about his and his allies’ lack of interest in driving a message beyond the culture wars. But regardless, how Republican supporters of the bill are talking about Trump’s opposition is pretty remarkable, even if it’s not quite thumbing their nose.