Trump cancels – Less than an hour before President Trump was set to sign a bipartisan housing bill, he reversed course in a social media post, saying he would not sign unless Congress passes the Save America Act voter ID measure he has been pushing for months—deepening public
Roughly an hour before President Trump was set to sign bipartisan housing legislation on Capitol Hill alongside the Republican leaders of both chambers, he detonated the plan with a social media post.
In it. Trump wrote on Wednesday that he would not sign the housing legislation until Congress passes the strict voter ID law he has been pushing for months. the Save America Act. The timing left colleagues across Pennsylvania Avenue absorbing the fallout. as Trump repeatedly changes course and forces Senate Republicans to scramble.
For months. Trump has torched Senate Republicans online and complicated their plans without warning while venting frustration with Senate Majority Leader John Thune for being unable to pass the controversial voting measure. The dynamic is testing Republican unity as the fight for Senate and House majorities heats up ahead of this fall’s election.
Even recent deals haven’t stayed fixed. Just last week. Thune believed he had a path to reauthorize a key spy tool after Democrats refused to renew it unless Trump pulled back his selection of Bill Pulte. a loyal attack dog. as acting director of national intelligence. Thune pressed for a more palatable permanent director, allowing the Senate to swiftly confirm him before Pulte took the reins. Then, just hours before the confirmation hearing was scheduled to begin last week, Trump blew up that plan again.
Trump wrote in a 4 a.m. social media post that he would not sign legislation reauthorizing the spy tool unless it included the Save America Act.
Blowback from Senate Republicans moved quickly, spilling into the open. Trump was set to meet with Senate Republicans for lunch Wednesday. and the meeting was still scheduled to go on. according to the office of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is organizing it. The fact that it was still happening didn’t stop criticism from landing.
Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., accused Trump last week of treating the Senate like a manufacturing department for the executive branch rather than its board of directors, and said that if Trump understood the repercussions of his moves around Pulte and acted anyway, it was a, “colossal mistake.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, compared Trump’s actions last week to a moose startling a pack of sled dogs. “If some big distraction like a moose comes through these trees. and you got half the team going over here and half the team going over there. it is chaos. ” Murkowski explained. using a photo in her office as a visual aid. “What that musher has to do is he’s got to stop and spend all his time untangling this mess.”.
Thune, who frequently finds himself doing damage control, has been trying to untangle more than one mess at once. For days. top congressional Republicans said they were left in the dark on the text of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran. On Tuesday. four Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to advance a war powers resolution directing Trump to pull back forces from the conflict with Iran. which has not been authorized by Congress.
At the same time, another Trump push nearly derailed. A last-ditch effort by Trump to pass the Save America Act nearly derailed a vote on another of his priorities: funding for immigration enforcement. Trump’s support for an “anti-weaponization” fund that could have compensated January 6th rioters resulted in the key spy tool known as FISA 702 lapsing in the first place.
Around the conference room reality is simple: Thune says the votes aren’t there. He has been clear that there are not enough votes in the narrowly divided Senate to pass the Save America Act. which has already failed to advance several times. He also says there are not enough votes to dismantle the filibuster to muscle the measure through. even as Trump demands it.
“It’s a function of the math,” Thune recently said on Fox News. “We’ve got to deal with the real world.”
Trump didn’t accept that. After the latest public outcry from Senate Republicans, he doubled down—calling out Thune by name on social media and writing that anyone who opposes nixing the filibuster is a “fool.”
The White House pushed back against the idea of widening rifts. “The White House and President Trump have enjoyed working closely with Leader Thune and Senate Republicans to deliver on many important promises to the American people,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote in a statement.
Still, the tension is hard to miss. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said last week that the friction with Thune isn’t personal. “If you don’t like John Thune, you don’t like golden retrievers,” Kennedy said.
Most Senate Republicans share that view of Thune’s role—and of his insistence that the math matters—though a few remain more willing to fight Trump’s way. Sen. Mike Lee. R-Utah. continues to insist the Save America Act can pass. saying public support for many of its provisions helps fuel Trump’s push to act.
Why Thune wants to preserve the filibuster comes down to what comes next for Republicans. Thune has told reporters he fears eliminating the filibuster would haunt Republicans the next time Democrats take power again. Scrapping it would eliminate the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation. gutting a rare point of leverage for the minority in the Senate.
Adam Jentleson. a former top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. the late Nevada Democrat. argues the rule has already been hollowed out over time. He points to the way Thune and predecessors have chipped away. including passing more major legislation with a simple majority through the party-line budget reconciliation process.
“What you see is sort of death by a thousand cuts, where both Republicans and Democrats are increasing the number of carve-outs to the filibuster rule,” says Jentleson, who wrote a book on the filibuster, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy.
Former Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia says Thune isn’t a hammer like Reid or Mitch McConnell. the Kentucky Republican. but is “just right for this moment.” Chambliss portrays Thune as defending the Senate’s consensus-driven nature. “He feels very strongly that the institution of the United States Senate matters,” Chambliss says. “And we get the best pieces of legislation when you have input by Republicans and Democrats.”.
Chambliss said he and many former colleagues are frustrated by Trump’s actions. even as Thune tries to keep working relationships intact. He said he regularly speaks with Thune and recognizes his delicate position. “He used to be a guy who would roll with every punch,” Chambliss says. “Right now, every time he twitches, I can see anxiety. But thank goodness he’s there.”.
There is also the question of whether Trump’s fixation on the 2020 election is making the GOP’s path to staying in power this fall harder. For Trump, the Save America Act appears pivotal. In a recent social media post, he wrote that without it, “The Republican Party will never win another Election. I will sadly be the last Republican president.”.
But Trump has complicated that path by pushing out incumbents he says have not been loyal enough. fueling more intraparty tension and pushback—according to the reporting here. This week. Congress passed a sweeping bipartisan housing bill. yet lawmakers have still spent time trying to anticipate and react to Trump’s moves.
Some Republicans have grown frustrated with Trump’s comments too, including saying he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation.”
Asked about whether it’s harder to focus on kitchen-table concerns while Trump concentrates on 2020, Thune answered indirectly last week. “At least as far as I’m concerned. I think our path to keeping the majority in the Senate is going to be focused on the issues that the American people are most concerned about. ” Thune told reporters last week. “Kitchen table pocketbook issues. Is my community safe, is my country safe?. I think those are going to be paramount.”.
When pressed again about the strain of staying focused, Thune said, “I’m doing my best to stay focused,” as he disappeared into his office off the Senate floor.
Trump housing bill Save America Act voter ID John Thune Senate filibuster FISA 702 Bill Pulte Bill reauthorization Republican unity