Donald Trump is reportedly discovering that some Republicans do not take orders and that more senators are willing to back a particular leader over him. The Senate Majority Leader is standing firm even as a frustrated president pushes back. Trump has grown increasingly impatient with the refusals on key priorities.
John Thune leads Senate resistance to Donald Trump’s demands
The breaking point is a voting bill. Trump wants the SAVE America Act passed before November’s midterms. The legislation would tighten voting rules and significantly cut back mail-in ballot access. Donald Trump has demanded that John Thune kill the filibuster to push it through.
Thune has said no repeatedly, and the vote count backs him up. Even Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of the bill’s own co-sponsors, said Monday the situation is clear: “It doesn’t have the votes, and so it’s time to talk about something else.”
Trump is not convinced. When asked about Thune’s resistance this week, he kept the pressure on. “That’s what being a leader is about,” Trump said. “John is a leader, and hopefully he can get the votes.”
Thune is not just holding the line on the voting bill. Across more than a dozen interviews with Senate staff and members, a consistent picture seems to emerge: the majority leader has spent months absorbing Trump’s most politically risky demands and turning them away. He has refused to fire the Senate parliamentarian and even refused to gut the filibuster.
Retiring North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said, “The president is creating terms that will never ever be satisfied, so why are we walking into a boxed canyon? That’s what John is confronted with. John Thune is an extraordinary leader. He has the patience of Job.” He added, “I could not do his job” (via CNN).
The voting bill is not the only rupture. This week, the Senate passed a resolution demanding that Trump end the war with Iran or bring the matter to Congress for authorization.
